Thaindian News

New Delhi, Feb 26 (IANS) Highlights of 2010-11 budget presented by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in parliament Friday:
– Petrol and diesel prices to go up as basic duty of 5 percent on crude petroleum, 7.5 percent on diesel and petrol and 10 percent on other refined products restored; central excise duty on petrol and diesel enhanced by Re.1 per litre each

– Taxes on large cars and SUVs increased 2 percent to 22 percent

– Income up to Rs.1.6 lakh per year exempt from income tax; up to Rs.5 lakh to be taxed at 10 percent; income of Rs.5-8 lakh to be taxed at 20 percent and income above Rs.8 lakh to be taxed at 30 percent

– Deduction of an additional amount of Rs.20,000 allowed, over and above the

existing limit of Rs.1 lakh on tax savings, for investment in long-term infrastructure

bonds as notified by the central government

– IT return forms for individual tax payers to be further simplified

– If tax has been deducted on payment by way of any expense and is paid before the

due date of filing the return, such expenditure to be allowed for deduction; interest

charged on tax deducted but not deposited by the specified date to be increased

from 12 to 18 percent per year

– Service sector tax retained at 10 percent to aid the introduction of GST; more services to be taxed

– Rs. 26,000 crore revenue loss due to reduction of direct taxes

– Rate reduction in central excise duties to be partially rolled back and the standard

rate on all non-petroleum products enhanced from 8 to 10 percent ad valorem

– Tax on cigarettes, cigars and chewing tobacco increased

– Current tax surcharge of 10 percent on domestic companies reduced to 7.5 percent

– Rate of Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) increased from 15 to 18 percent of book profits

– Partial roll back of reduction in central excise duty

– Government actively engaged in finalising structure of general sales tax regime; hopes to implement it from April 1, 2011

– Implementation of direct tax code from April 1, 2011

– Benefit of investment linked deduction extended to new hotels of two-star category and above

– Allow pending projects to be completed within a period of five years instead of

four years for claiming a deduction of their profits, as a one-time interim relief to

the housing and real estate sector

– Norms for built-up area of shops and other commercial establishments in housing projects to be relaxed to enable basic facilities for their residents

– Gross tax receipts estimated at Rs.7,46,651 crore

– Non Tax revenue receipts estimated at Rs.1,48,118 crore

– Fiscal deficit to come down to 5.5 percent in 2010-11

– FDI flows in April-December 2009 $20.9 billion

– FDI policy to be made more user-friendly with one comprehensive document

– Rs.35,000 crore raised from divestment in 2009-10; will be higher in 2010-11

– New banks as Indian Banking Association to give additional licences to private players

– Provision for further capital for regional rural banks

– Banking facilities to be provided to all habitations with a population of 2,000 and more

– Total budget expenditure Rs.11,08,749 crore, an increase of 8.6 percent over last year.

– Plan expenditure Rs.3,73,092 crore, Non Plan expenditures Rs.7,35,657 crore; 15 percent increase in Plan expenditure, 6 percent in Non Plan expenditure

– Plan allocation for power sector excluding Rajiv Gandhi rural electrification programme doubled from Rs.2,230 crore in 2009-10 to Rs.5,130 crore in 2010-11

– The spending on social sector has been gradually increased to Rs.1,37,674 crore in

2010-11, which is 37 percent of the total plan outlay

– Fifty percent hike in allocation for schemes for women and child development

– Rs.4,500 crore allocated for ministry of social justice and empowerment, a hike of 80 percent

– Rs.2,600 crore allocated for ministry of minorities affairs

– Rs.1,900 crore for Unique Identification Authority of India

– Rs.147,344 crore allocated for defence

– Allocation on primary education raised from Rs.26,800 crore to Rs.31,300 crore

– Rs.66,100 crore allocated for rural development in 2010-11; Rs.40,100 crore for National Rural Employment Scheme; RS.48,000 crore for Bharat Nirman

– Rs.1,270 crore allocated for Rajiv Awas Yojana for slum dwellers, up from Rs.150 crore, an increase of 700 percent with the aim of creating a slum free India

– Forty-six percent of plan allocations in 2010-11 will be for infrastructure development

– Allocation for new and renewable energy sector increased 61 percent from Rs.620 crore to Rs.1,000 crore in 2010-11

– Rs.200 crore to be provided in 2010-11 for climate-resilient agricultural initiative

– Involvement of private sector in grain storage to continue for another two years

– In view of drought and floods, debt repayment period extended to June 2010

– New fertiliser policy from April 2010

– Economy stabilised in first quarter of 2009-10; strong rebound in second quarter; overall growth at 7.2 and could be higher when Q3 and Q4 are taken into account

– India has weathered global economic crisis well; Indian economy in far better position than it was a year ago. In 2009 Indian economy faced grave uncertainty; delay in southwest monsoon had undermined agricultural production

– First challenge now is to quickly revert to 9 percent growth and then aim for double digit growth; need to make recovery more broadbased

– Second challenge is to make growth more inclusive; have to strengthen food security

– Third challenge is to overcome weakness in government’s public delivery mechanism; a long way to go in this.