28 February,2015 11:13 AM IST | | Agencies
Falling short of big bang reforms called for by his own economic survey, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Saturday presented a Rs.17.78 lakh crore national budget for the next fiscal year
Presenting the national budget for the next fiscal, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Saturday said the state of the country's economy was better placed today with its credibility re-established by a series of measures taken by his government. Following are the highlights
The highlights
No change in Income Tax slab
Individual tax payers to get income tax benefit of Rs 4,44,200 in a year from the exemptions announced
Transport allowance increased to Rs 1600 per month
100% tax deduction for contribution to Swachh Bharat Fund
Mandatory requirement of PAN number required for purchase above Rs 1 lakh
Increase in limit in deduction of health insurance premium from Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000
Health insurance premium deduction for senior citizens to be Rs 30,000
For middleclass, for contribution to National Pension Scheme, exemption raised from Rs 1,00,000 to Rs 1,50,000
Yoga to be included in the ambit of charitable purposes for Income Tax
To increase clean energy cess to Rs 200/tonne of coal
Economic environment far more positive than in the recent past
Wealth tax abolished; 2% addition surcharge on super rich with income of over Rs 1 crore
7-year imprisonment for non filing of return on foreign asset
Tax evasion with foreign links will be made criminal
Penalty for holding of blackmoney will be 300 pc of the tax; tax offenders cannot go to tax settlement commissions
Reduction in rate of corporate tax from 30 to 25% over next 4 years
Allocation for Defence for next financial year will be Rs 2,46,727 crore
AIIMS to be set up in J&K, Punjab, TN, Himachal Pradesh and Assam
Visa on arrival scheme to be expanded to 150 countries from the current 43 countries
12.5 crore families under Jan Dhan Yojna
Postal offices to function as payment banks
Govt to allocate Rs 75 crore for electric vehicles
Ports and public sectors to be privatised
Investment in infrastructure to go up by 70,000 cr
New scheme called Nayi Manzil to enable minority youth
Integrated education and livelihood scheme for minorities
At least 1 member of each family to have job by 2022
Electrification of remaining 20,000 villages by 2020
11.5 crore LPG consumers transfered subsidy directly
Allocation of Rs 30,851 crore for SCs, Rs 79,258 crore for women in Budget 20-15-16
Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Yojana to cover accident death at a premium of Rs 330 per year
Addition of Rs 1,000 crore for Nirbhaya fund
Tax free infrastructure bonds for projects in roads, rail to be introduced
Five ultra mega power projects each with capacity of 4000 mw to be set up
50 lakh toilets constructed, target 6 crore toilets
Housing for all to be implemented by 2022
Conquering inflation is an achievement of my govt, says Jaitley
Likely to end FY15 with 7.4 GDP
1 lakh km of roads to be constructed
Plan to give medical facilities in all villages
GDP growth to be 8-8.5 pc in 2015-16
GST to be in place by April 2016
Our objective is to keep inflation below 6%
Direct cash transfer for subsidies to be expanded to Rs 1 crore
Fiscal gap target of 3% to be met in 3 years
Allocate Rs 34,699 crore for MNREGA
Top tax bracket will give up LPG subsidy voluntarily
Rs 25,000 crore for rural infrastructure development fund
Will meet the fiscal deficit target of 4.1 percent of GDP this fiscal
Public investment of Rs 1.25 lakh crore over the and above the revised budgetary target
To create a senior citizens' welfare fund
Allocate Rs 5,300 crore for micro irrigation
Govt to work towards creating universal social security system for all Indians, especially the poor
