New Delhi: Finance Minister P Chidambaram presented one of the most highly anticipated budgets of recent years March 1,2013.
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
• Development must be sustainable - economically and ecologically
• Cannot spurn foreign investments, that is an imperative
• Great worry is the current account deficit (Read)
• Without growth, there will be neither development nor inclusiveness