Budget 2014 : Complete Highlights

– HIGHLIGHTS BUDGET 2014 –

PUBLIC FINANCE

• Government committed to achieve fiscal deficit of 4.1% for 2014-15: Fiscal deficit target of
• 3.4 per cent in 2015-16 and 3 per cent in 2016-17 to be set
• Revenue deficit pegged at 2.9 per cent of GDP.
• Non-plan expenditure pegged at Rs 12,19,892 crore for 2014-15, including fetilizer subsidy and defence spending.
• Gross tax receipts pegged at Rs 13,64,524 crore; non-tax revenue Rs 2,12,505 crore; capital receipt Rs 73,000 crore in 2013-14.

PERSONAL FINANCE

• No change in Income Tax rates.
• Tax exemption limit increased from Rs. 2.0 to Rs 2.5 lakhs;  Tax exemption limit for senior citizens changed from Rs. 2.5 lakh to Rs. 3.0 lakhs
• Increase in investment limit under Section 80C from Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 1.5 lakhs
• Housing loan rebate has been hiked from 1.5 lakh to 2 lakhs for self occupied property
• Public Provident Fund (PPF) investment limit increased to Rs 1.5 lakh from current Rs 1 lakh:
• Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) is being re-introduced to encourage rural people to invest in this instrument.
• Special scheme to encourage saving for girl child education and marriage to be introduced.
• 60 more Ayakar Sewa Kendras to be set up in the country

TAX ADMINISTRATION

• Government committed to providing stable and predictable tax regime that will protect investment and spur growth
• The govt will not ordinarily change policies retrospectively which creates a fresh liability
• Govt proposes to strengthen authority for advance ruling in tax, set up more benches.
• All future indirect transfers under the retro tax regime will be scrutinised by a high level committee of CBDT before action is taken:
• Expenditure Management Commission will be constituted to look at expenditure reforms
• Changes in transfer pricing regulation proposed

AGRICULTURE

• Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayin Yojana” to be started for irrigation development.
• Technology driven second Green Revolution with focus on “Protein revolution” to be implemented
• Government proposes to provide finance to 5 lakh landless farmers through NABARD
• Govt will initiate scheme to provide a soil health card; 100 cr set aside. Rs.56 cr for soil testing labs across country;
• A new urea policy to be formulated
• National Adaption Fund for climate change to be set up
• Agriculture University in AP and Rajasthan, and Horticulture University in Haryana and Telangana proposed.  Rs. 200 cr set aside

RURAL DEVELOPMENT

• Rs. 14,389 cr outlay for Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana for development of rural roads.
• Rs. 3600 cr set aside for National Rural Drinking Water for providing safe drinking water in 20,000 habitations.
• Deen Dayal Upadhaya Gram Jyoti Yojana to be launched to augment power supply in rural areas.
• Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission will be launched to deliver integrated project based infrastructure in the rural areas.
• “Swach Bharat Abhiyaan” to be launched aimed at total sanitation
• National Rural Internet and Technology Mission to be started.

DEFENCE

• FDI in Defence sector raised to 49 per cent
• War memorial to be set up along with a war museum; Rs. 100 cr set aside for this
• Rs. 5000 cr set aside for defence outlay over and above amount provided under interim budget; Total outlay Rs 2,29,000 crores

INDUSTRY

• Definition of MSME to be revised for high capital ceiling
• Rs 10,000 crore venture capital fund to be set up for MSME sector
• Investment allowance at 15% for 3 yrs to manufacturing companies which invest more than Rs 25 cr in plant and machinery
• 10-year tax holiday to be extended to companies that start power generation by March 31, 2017.
• Biotech clusters to be set up in Bangalore and Faridabad to take science and technology to new heights
• Eight mega Textile Clusters at Varanasi, Bareily, Lucknow, Surat, Kuttch, Bhagalpur, Mysore and one in Tamil Nadu to be set up.
• Trade facilitation centres will be set up at a cost of Rs 50 crore to help handloom development.
• Basic Custom duties reduced on certain items to encourage investment and domestic production, they include LCD, LED TV panels, machinery required for setting up Bio-CNG plants,
• Basic customs duty reduced on items used in chemical and petrochemical sector to encourage investment.
• Manufacturing units will be allowed to sell their products through retail and e-commerce
• Apprentice Act to be suitably amended to strengthen the Apprentice Training Scheme

INFRASTRUCTURE

• Institutions to mainstream PPP projects to be set up; priority being given to shipping, inland waterways, airports and road development.
• National Industrial Corridor Authority, with its headquarter in Pune, is being set-up with an amount of Rs. 100 crore, to coordinate the development of industrial corridors with smart cities
• Rs. 4200 cr set aside for Jal Marg Vikas project on river Ganga connecting Allahabad to Haldia,over 1620 km
• ‘Namami Gange”, an integrated Ganga Development Project announced; Rs. 2037 cr set aside for this
• NRI fund for conservation of river Ganga to be set up
• To complete gas grid,15,000 km of additional pipeline to be developed through the PPP mode
• Metro rail services to be launched in Lucknow and Ahmedabad; Rs 100 crore set aside for it:

URBAN DEVELOPMENT

• Rs 7,060 crores outlay for the development of 100 smart cities
• Urban renewal to address drinking water, use of recycled water,solid waste management, digital connectivity;
• Mission for low cost housing proposed to incentivise development of low cost housing; Rs. 400 cr announced
• Slum development to be included in Corporate Social Responsibility activities
• National Housing Banking programme announced with an outlay of Rs 8,000 crores

BANKING & FINANCE

• A Financial Inclusion Mission will be launched from Independence Day this year as a time bound programme to provide all households in the country with banking services.
• RBI to Create A Framework for Licensing Small Banks
• Six new Debt Recovery Tribunals at Chandigarh, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ernakulam, Dehradun, and Siliguri to address the problem of Non Performing Assets.
• FDI in  insurance sector is being increased to 49 per cent from the current level of 26 per cent with full Indian management and control.

HRD

• A national multi-scale programme called Skill India to be introduced to provide training and support for employment
• 5 new IITs in Jammu, Chhatisgarh, Goa, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala to be set up
• 5 new IIMs in HP, Punjab, Bihar, Odisha and Maharashtra to be set up
• 4 new AIIMS to be set up in  AP, West Bengal, Maharashtra (Vidarbha) and Uttar Pradesh ( Purvanchal)
• Jai Prakash Narayan National Centre for Excellence in Humanities to come up in Madhya Pradesh.

MEDIA

• Rs 100 cr set aside for Community Radio Centres; 600 new and existing ones to be supported
• ‘Kisan’ TV channel to be launched by DD at cost of Rs 100 crore: Rs 100 crore for Community radio stations proposed: FM.
• 24 x 7 Arun Prabha channel announced for the North Eastern region.

SPORTS

• Govt tol set up national sports academy for different sports in different parts of India
• Sports University to be set up in Manipur; Rs. 100 cr provided in current financial year

TOURISM

• In order to give major boost to tourism, e-visas would be introduced at 9 airports. This facilitates visas on arrival:
• Rs 200 cr set aside to support Gujarat govt in the Sardar Patel statue installation

WELFARE MEASURES

• Subsidy regime to be made more targeted to provide full protection to the marginalized, SCs and STs.
• Rs 100 crore allocated for the modernization of Madarsas; Program for upgradation of skills and ancient arts for the minorities to be implemented
• Rs 50,548 cr proposed for SC development
• 15 new Brail presses to be established to produce literature for visually impaired; Govt to print currency notes with braille like signs to help the blind
• “Beti padhao, beti badhao yojana” announced to promote girl child education. Outlay  Rs. 100 cr
• Crisis Management Centre for women to be set up in Delhi.