New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today presented India's national budget for 2015-16 amid high expectations from all stakeholders in lifting overall growth, reinforced by the positive agenda set by the Economic Survey for "big bang" reforms.
Here are the highlights of Budget 2015:
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presents Union Budget 2015 in Lok Sabha
As the PM has mentioned many times - We are a round the clock, round the year Government
Economic environment far more positive than in the recent past
People wanted that scam, scandal, corruption raaj should end
Our actions have not only being confined to core & macro economic areas alone
With all humility I submit that this opportunity has risen because we have created it
Domestic and international investors are seeing us with renewed hope
The rupee has become stronger by 6.4 %
The latest CPI inflation is 5.1 % and whole sale price inflation is negative
We are round the clock, round the year Government
Of the work we have done, I'd like to talk of three achievements, 1st is success of Jan Dhan Yojana
Objective is to improve quality of life and to pass benefits to common man
50 lakh toilets already constructed, we will achieve target of building 6 crore toilets
One of the achievement of myGovt has been is to conquer inflation
We expect the CPI inflation to remain close to 5% towards the end of year
4 achievements of Govt: PM's Jan Dhan Yojana, transparent auctions & Swachh Bharat, controlling inflation
Estimated GDP is 7.4 %
We have to think in terms of a quantum jump
Roof for each family in India,to fulfill Housing by 2022 must build 2crore houses in rural India, 4 crore in urban areas
Providing medical facilities to each one of village and city is essential
Increase in agriculture productivity is essential for welfare for rural population,we should commit to increase irrigation area
2/3 rd of our population is below 35, to ensure employment we have to aim to make India the manufacturing hub
Coal bearing states will get several lakhs of crores of rupees as royalty following transparent auction process
GDP growth to be 8-8.5% in 2015-16
Embarked on GST and JAM Trinity to use bank accounts, Aadhar and Mobile number to transfer government benefits
We will move to amend the RBI Act this year to form Monetary Policy Committee
Manufacturing has declined from 18% to 17% of the GDP
Agricultural incomes are under stress, have to increase investment in infrastructure
Public Investment needs to step in to catalyze the investment in PPP
We need to cut subsidy leakage not subsidy themselves
This Govt is committed to regain pre-eminence as a just and compassionate society
Tax buoyancy is lower but still we will meet the promise of Fiscal deficit of 4.1% of GDP this year
The states get 62% of the total resources
Our commitment to farmers run deep, an ambitious soil health card has been introduced to improve soil fertility
To support agricultural sector, I propose to allocate 25000 crore in 2015 to rural development fund
To increase income of our farmers, we propose to create a national agriculture market
Public investment of Rs 1.25 lakh crore over the and above the revised budgetary target
The Govt is committed to utilize the vast postal network spread across villages of country
Will bring a bankruptcy code in the year 2015-16 that will meet global standards & provide for judicial capacity
Proposes a Mudra Bank of corpus of Rs 20000 crores to refinance the MFI's
I propose to work towards universal social security system for all
We will also launch the 'Atal pension yojana', which will provide a defined pension
We will also launch the 'Atal pension yojana', which will provide a defined pension
FM Arun Jaitley's Fiscal Deficit targets: FY15-16 3.9%, FY16-17 3.5%, FY 17-18 3%
To encourage participation, Govt will contribute 50% of beneficiary premium in its new accounts opened before 31st December 2015
I propose a new scheme of providing physical aids for senior citizens living below poverty line
Propose the 'Nayi Manzil' scheme for the youth minorities
Rs 34,699 crore allocated for MNREGA scheme, focus will be on improving quality and effectiveness
11.5 crore LPG consumers transfered subsidy directly; Well-offs including MPs and Ministers will give up subsidised LPG voluntarily
Some strategic disinvestments will happen besides disinvestment in loss making PSUs
I intend to establish a national investment and infrastructure fund
Tax free Infrastructure bonds for projects in railways and roads
Tax free Infrastructure bonds for projects in railways and roads
8.5 lakh farm credit targeted in 2015-16
Govt proposes to create senior citizen welfare fund with unclaimed deposit of Rs 9000 crore in PPF/EPF schemes
Govt is establishing a mechanism 'self employment' to support all aspects of start up business
PPP model of Infrastructure to be revitalized and realigned, setting aside Rs 1000 crore for this purpose
Soon to be launched Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Yojana to provide accident insurance of Rs 2 lakh on a premium of Rs 12 per year
Atal Innovation Mission to be launched to encourage a culture of innovation in the country
Govt proposes to set up 5 ultra mega power projects, each of 4000 MW, will be plug and play projects
Allocation of Rs 30,851 crore for SCs, Rs 79,258 crore for women in Budget 20-15-16
Capex of PSUs pegged at Rs 3,17,889 crore in 2015-16, up Rs 80,844 cr over previous year; overall investment will go up by Rs 75,000 crore from central funds in 2015-16 over 2014-15
I intend to create a direct tax regime which is internationally competitive on rates
India is the largest consumer of gold in the world, I propose to introduce a gold monetization scheme
I propose to work on developing Indian gold coin which carries the Ashok Chakra, will help recycle gold available in country
Will deepen Indian Bond Market at par with the World standards
Govt allocates Rs 1500 crore for Integrated Child Development Scheme, Rs 500 crore for Integrated Child Protection Scheme and Rs 3000 crore for PM's Irrigation scheme
I have decided to provide another Rs 1000 crore to Nirbhaya fund
Govt to do away with distinctions between FII and FDI and replace it with Composite Caps
Visas on arrival to cover 150 countries
Government proposes to bring in a regulatory reform law
An expert committee will be appointed to examine possibility and prepare draft legislation to replace multiple prior persmission with a preexisting regulatory mechanism
We intend to launch a national skills mission, which will consolidate skill initiatives spread over all Ministries
Special assistance to Bihar and west Bengal as has been provided in the case of Andhra Pradesh
For NE: Centre for Fim Production, Gaming in Arunachal Pradesh.
DIgital India: 7.5 lakh km speeded up
Govt permitted FDI in defence already. Pursuing Make in India for greater self sufficiency
Defence allocation for this fiscal is Rs 2,46,727 Crore
Unplanned expenditure for 2015-16 is estimated at 13 lakh 12 thousand and 200 crore
Taxation is an instrument of social economic engineering
Tax receipts: 14,49,490 crore
GST will play transformative role in economy
We're moving on various fronts on GST from next year
Propose to reduce rate of corporate tax from 30% to 25% over the next 4 years. This will lead to more investment and jobs
No changes in income tax slabs
Bill to check black money will give jail term of 10 years for those stashing non taxed money abroad
Benami Transaction Prohibition bill to seize property in case of domestic black money
GAAR implementation deferred by 2 years
Markets cheer Budget. Sensex up 233. Nifty up 60 points
Propose to undertake series of steps to attract capital
Reduced taxes on Technical Services to 10% from 25%
I propose to reduce rate of basic custom duty on certain imports to minimize impact of duty inversion
PAN number quoting made compulsory for transactions for more than 1 Lakh
Rich & wealthy must pay more tax, propose to abolish wealth tax & replace it with an additional 2% surcharge on the super rich
Customs duty reduced on 22 items
Retrospective Tax: To reduce hassles, propose to increase threshold limit from Rs 5 crore to Rs 20 crore
Excise duty raised to 12.5%: Cigarette and tobacco products to become costlier
Cess on coal to fund clean energy initiatives
Increase in limit of deduction for health insurance from Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000. For elder citizens it is 30,000. It will be Rs 80,000 in the case of serious diseases for elder citizens
100% tax exemption in CSR activities for Clean Ganga Fund and Swachh Bharat Kosh
To boost domestic leather industry, excise duty on footwear having retail price of more than 1000 per pair reduced by 6%
Consolidated Service tax increased to 14%
All contributions to Sukanya Samridhi scheme to be tax free
Transport allowance, which is currently 800 per month, has been increased to 1600 per month
Service tax exemption for senior citizens
An additional Rs 50,000 contribution to pension under 80 CCD to be allowed to make the society pensioned instead of pensionless
Negative list in service tax has been pruned by bringing some services under tax net
Expectations have been high. I have unveiled a roadmap for future. We can claim intellectual honesty. We did what we promised
