Finance Minister P Chidambaram presented one of the most highly anticipated budgets of recent years today, a blueprint for austerity that forms the centrepiece of India's efforts to stave off a damaging credit ratings downgrade. Here are the highlights of this year's budget:
- Leather products get cheaper
- Mobile phones, dinning out, cigarettes, SUVs, motorbikes, set-up boxes get expensive
- Excise duty on cigarettes raised by 18 per cent
- Mobile Phones, SUVs to get more expensive: On mobile phones priced at more than Rs. 2000, excise duty hiked to 6%. Excise duty on SUVs raised from 27% to 30%
- Duty free limit for Gold raised to Rs. 50,000 in case of a male passenger and Rs. 1 lakh for female passengers
- The current slabs were introduced last year. Hence there is no case of revising either
- Some tax credit of Rs. 2000 for every person who has an annual income of upto Rs. 5 lakh
- Tax Administration Reforms Commission to be set up to review tax laws
- In 2007-08 Tax GDP ratio touched a peak; in short term we must regain that peak
- The current slabs were introduced last year. Hence there is no case of revising them
- But will give some tax relief of Rs. 2000 for every person who has an annual income of up to Rs. 5 lakh
- Rs. 1000-crore Nirbhaya Fund announced for the empowerment of women
- All Regional Rural Banks and cooperative banks to be e-linked by this year-end
- National Housing Bank (NHB) to set up urban housing bank fund and Rs. 2,000 crore will be allocated in this regard
- Standing Council of Experts in Ministry of Finance to examine transaction cost of doing business in India
- Rs. 14,000 crore capital infusion into public sector banks in 2013-14
- PSU banks to have ATMs at all their branches by March 31, 2014
- Rs. 6,000 crore to be allocated for rural housing fund in 2013-14
- Defence allocation increased to Rs. 2.03 lakh crore
- Rs. 6,275 crore to ministry of science and technology, Rs. 5,880 crore to Department of Atomic Energy
- Coal imports during Apr-Dec 2012 crossed 100 million tonnes and expected to go up to 185 million tonnes in 2016-17
- Finance Minster asks state governments to prepare financial restructuring plan for power distribution companies at the earliest.
- Simpler SEBI rules:Securities and Exchange Board of India to simplify procedures for foreign portfolio investors
- Two new ports to be set up in West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh to ad 100 million tonnes handling capacity
- Gas handling terminal at Dabhol in Maharashtra to be fully operational during 2013-14
- State governments urged to sign restructuring plans with electricity discoms
- Tax-free infrastructure bonds of Rs.50,000 crore to be issued
- Textile ministry allocated Rs.50 crore for establishing apparel parks
- Handloom sector allocated Rs.96 crore to benefit 150,000 weavers
- Infrastructure debt funds to be encouraged
- Regulator to be appointed for road projects; 3,000 km of road projects to be awarded in first six months of 2013-14
- Incentive allowance of 15 percent over and above permitted depreciation to those investing over Rs.100 crore in infrastructure projects
- Rajiv Gandhi Equity Scheme to be liberalised
- Seven new cities identified along Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor
- Preliminary work begun on Bangalore-Mumbai Industrial corridor
Foodgrain production during 2013-13 estimated at 250 million tonnes - Household sector must be incentivised to save in financial instruments rather than gold. Person taking a home loan for his first home during the period 2013-14 will be entitled to an additional deduction of Rs. 1 lakh, announces Mr Chidambaram
- Re-financing capacity of SIDBI increased to Rs. 10,000 crore from Rs. 5,000 crore for Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises
- Rs. 27,049 crore allocation to the Agriculture Ministry in 2013-14
- Rs. 7 lakh crore target fixed for agriculture credit for 2013-14 compared to Rs. 5.75 lakh crore in the current year.
- Eastern Indian states to get Rs. 1,000 crore allocation for improving agricultural production
- Infrastructure Development Funds will be encouraged
- Funds to raise resources for the development
- Govt committed to food security bill. 10,000 crores set apart for expenditure likely under the act
- Rs. 37,330 crore allocated for Ministry of Health & Family Welfare
- Rs. 110 crore to be allocated to the department of disability affairs
- Rs. 3511 crore allocated to Minority Affairs Ministry which is 60 per cent of the revised estimates
- Additional sum of Rs. 200 crore to Women and Child Welfare
- Ministry to address issues of vulnerable women
- Rs. 37,330 crore allocated for Ministry of Health & Family Welfare
- Faced with huge fiscal deficit, I have no choice but to rationalise expenditure
- Development must be sustainable - economically and ecologically
- Cannot spurn foreign investments, that is an imperative
- Great worry is the current account deficit
- Without growth, there will be neither development nor inclusiveness
- The job of a finance minister is to create the economic space and find resources to achieve it
- Only China and Indonesia growing faster than India
- By 2013 only China will grow faster than India
- I seek support as we navigate the Indian economy through crisis that has enveloped the whole world I intend
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