Finance minister Arun Jaitley on Monday presented the Union Budget 2016-17 in the Lok Sabha. Here are the highlights of the budget 2016.
* Amidst global headwinds, the Indian economy has held its own
* Infaltion has come down even though there was a fall in monsoons
* Foreign exchange reserves are at highest ever level
* CPI inflation has declined to 5.4%
* The growth of GDP has accelerated to 7.6%
* Government has to prioritize expenditure. Focus on the rural and social sectors, infrastructure and recapitalization of bank
* Recapitalization of banks will be done during next financial year
* Nominal premium and highest ever compensation in case of crop loss under the PM Fasal Bima Yojana
* Aim to double the income of farmers in five years. Rs 35,984 crores total allocation for farmers' welfare
* Farm, rural sector, infra, social sector to have more government expenditure
* Dedicated irrigation fund worth Rs 20,000 crore to be set up under NABARD
* A unified agriculture market e-platform will be dedicated to the nation on the birthday of Dr. BR Ambedkar
* 5 lakh acres to be brought under organic farming over three years
* Aim to double farmers' income in 5 years. Rs 35,984 crore allocation for their welfare
* 65 eligible habitats to be connected via 2.23 lakh km of road. Current construction pace is 100 km per day
* Government is launching a new initiative to provide cooking gas to BPL families with state support
* Will enact a law to confer benefits on deserving sections on aadhar platform
* Govt to provide incentive for deepwater gas exploration
* Work for passage of insolvency and bankruptcy laws, to undertake significant reforms
* Allocation of Pradhanmatri Gram Sadak Yojna to be increased to Rs 19,000 crore
* Rs 38,500 crores allocated to MNREGA
* Rs 5,500 crores allocated to PM Fasal Bima Yojana
* 300 rurban clusters to be set up under Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission
* 100% rural electrification to be achieved by 1st May, 2018
* Rs 87,765 crores for rural development as a whole have been allocated in the budget
* 6 crore additional households to be covered under digital literacy scheme in next 3 years
* Appreciation for 75 lakh middle class and lower middle class for willingly giving up LPG subsidy
* New restructured scheme to increase the governance capabilities of PRIs to be launched: Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan
* Rs 9,000 crores allocated to Swaccha Bharat Abhiyaan
* Allocation of Rs 35,984 crore for farm sector
* Govt to set apart Rs 412 crore to encourage organic farming
* Rs 2.87 lakh crore to be given grant-in-aid for gram panchayats and municipalities; it is quantum jump of 228%
* Stand Up India scheme allocated Rs 500 crore for SC, ST and women entrepreneurs
* 2 projects under Stand Up India to be promoted per bank branch per category
* 62 new Navodaya Vidyalayas will be opened in the next 2 years
* National Skill Development Mission has imparted training to 76 lakh youth.
* 1,500 multi skill training institutes to be set up
* Objective to skill 1 crore youth in the next 3 years under the PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana
* Health insurance of upto Rs 1 lakh per family.
* 300 generic drug stores to be opened under PM Jan Aushadi Yojana
* 85% of stalled road projects back on track
* Rs 97,000 crore allocated to road sector including PMGSY
* Total outlay for infrastructure Rs 2,21,246 crores in 2016/17
* Target of 10,000km of national highway and upgradation of 50,000km of state highways in 2016/17
* Rs 1,000 crore for higher education financing
* Govt drawing a comprehensive plan to exploit nuclear energy to be implemented in the next 15-20 years
* 100% FDI to be allowed through FIPB route in Food Products Produced and Marketed in India
* New Financial Data Management Centre to facilitate integrated data analysis
* Department of Disinvestment to be renamed as Department of Investment and Public Asset Management
* RBI Act to be amended to give statutory backing for monetary policy
* Amount sanctioned under PM Mudra Yojana has reached Rs 1 lakh crore to cover 2.5 crore borrowers by Feb, 2016
* 25,000 crore for recapitalization of public sector banks
* DBT on pilot basis in fertilizers to be introduced in some districts
* A bill on targeted delivery of financial services using Aadhar to be introduced
* FDI Policy: Changes proposed in areas - Insurance & Pension, Asset Reconstruction Companies, Stock Exchange
* More number of benches of Security Appellate Tribunal to be introduced by amending SEBI Act to reduce pendency
* Fiscal deficit for FY 2016-'17 targeted at 3.5%
* Tax proposals to provide relief to small taxpayers through rebates
* Ceiling of tax rebate for tax payers with up to Rs 5 lakh annual income to be raised to Rs 5,000 from Rs 2,000
* Relief of Rs 3,000 per year to taxpayers with income below Rs 5 lakh per year, 1 crore tax payers to benefit
* Deduction for rent payers raised from Rs 20,000 to Rs 60,000 to benefit those living in rented houses
* Consolidation roadmap for public sector banks next year
* Suitable changes to be made in customs and excise duty rates to improve competitiveness and boost Make in India
* Incentives for new manufacturing companies and smaller enterprise companies
* Service Tax Exemption for services under the Deen Dayal Gram Jyoti Yojana
* HRA deduction up from 24,000 to 60,000 per annum
* 100% deduction for profits of undertakings from housing projects in cities during Jun'16 - Mar'19
* Krishi Kalyan cess to be imposed on all taxable services for agricultural sector
* 15% surcharge on income tax for those with incomes exceeding 1 crore per annum
* Clean energy cess increased from RS. 200/ton to 400/ton on coal, lignite and peat
* Limited period compliance window for taxpayers to declare undisclosed income. Declarations to have immunity from prosecutions
* Govt to introduce bill to amend Companies Act for ease of doing business; to enable registration of companies in a day
* Clean Energy Cess to renamed as Clean Environment Cess
* Limited tax compliance window: 45% including surcharge and penalties and immunity from prosecution
* Levy of heavy penalty for non payment of tax has led to high litigation. Proposal to modify scheme for penalties
* To reduce multiplicity of taxes and cascading - 13 taxes with collection less than Rs 50 crore a year abolished
* Income tax department will expand e-sahyog to assist small taxpayers
* Govt will pay interest rate of 9% over 6% if delay is more than 90 days
* Net revenue gain of Rd 19,610 crores due to surplus from indirect taxes
* Govt will pay interest rate of 9% over 6% if delay in implementation of appellate order is beyond 90 days
* 14 crore farmers to be brought under soil health card scheme by March, 2017