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Highlights of Budget 2014-2015

  • The government has put target of achieving fiscal deficit of 4.15% by the end of this financial year. Road map for fiscal consolidation outlines fiscal deficit of 3.6 % for 2015-16 and 3 % for 2016-17.
  • Budget has raised the personal income-tax exemption limit by Rs. 50,000/- that is, from Rs. 2 lakh to Rs. 2.5 lakh in the case of individual taxpayers, below the age of 60 years. Exemption limit raised from Rs. 2.5 lakh to Rs. 3 lakh in the case of senior citizens. However there is no change in the rate of surcharge either for the corporates or the individuals, HUFs, firms etc. The budget proposes to continue education cess at 3 percent. 
  • Investment limit under section 80C of the Income-tax Act has also been raised from Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 1.5 lakh and Deduction limit on account of interest on loan in respect of self occupied house property raised from Rs.1.5 lakh to Rs.2 lakh.
  • To incentivize small entrepreneurs an Investment allowance at the rate of 15 percent to a manufacturing company that invests more than Rs. 25 crore in any year in new plant and machinery. The benefit to be available for three years i.e. for investments upto 31.03.2017. Investment allowance to manufacturing company investing more than Rs.100 crore announced last year to continue in parallel till 31.03.2015. 
  • To remove tax arbitrage, rate of tax on long term capital gains has been increased from 10 percent to 20 percent on transfer of units of Mutual funds, other than equity oriented funds. 
  • The Government will constitute an Expenditure Management Commission (EMC). EMC will look into various aspects of expenditure reforms to be undertaken by the Government. The Expenditure Management Commission will give its interim report within this financial year.The Finance Minister said he proposed to overhaul the subsidy regime, including food and petroleum subsidies, and make it more targeted while providing full protection to the marginalized, poor and SCs/STs. A new urea policy would also be formulated. 
  • Rs. 100 crore is being provided for development of organic farming in North Eastern States in the current financial year.Budget proposed a sum of Rs. 1000 crore for development of rail connectivity in the North Eastern Region over and above the amount provided for in the interim budget.
  • To provide a strong platform to rich cultural and linguistic identity of the North-East, a new 24x7 channel called “ArunPrabha” will be launched for the expression of cultural identity and for creating greater awareness of the richness of the diversity of our country. 
  • The Government has announced to set-up five more IITs in the Jammu & Kashmir, Chattisgrah, Goa, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. Similarly, five new IIMs will be set-up in the States of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Bihar, Odisha and Maharashtra
  • Budget announced “Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya New Teachers Training Programme” to infuse new training tools and motivate teachers with an initial corpus of Rs.500 crore.
  • To set up fifteen Model Rural Health Research Centres in the States for better health care facilities in rural India. The Health Centres will take up research on local health issues concerning rural population.To move towards “Health for All”, two key initiatives like the Free Drug Service and Free Diagnosis Service would be taken up on priority. 
  • Government is committed to endeavour to have housing for all by 2022 by extending additional tax incentive on home loans to encourage people, especially the young, to own houses. It has proposed to set up a Mission on Low Cost Affordable Housing to be anchored in the National Housing Bank.A sum of Rs 4,000 crore has been earmarked for National Housing Bank with a view to increase the flow of cheaper credit for affordable housing to the urban poor/EWS/LIG segment.
  • For the welfare of the tribals “Van Bandhu Kalyan Yojna” launched with an initial allocation of 100 crore.
  • A sum of Rs. 7060 crores in the current financial year for developing 100  ‘Smart cities’ as satellite towns of larger cities and by modernizing the existing mid-sized cities. W development reaching an increasingly large number of people, the pace of migration from the rural areas to the cities is increasing. The new cities should be developed to accommodate the burgeoning number of people. Otherwise, the existing cities would soon become unlivable. 
  • Legislative and administrative changes to sort out pending tax demands of more than 4 lakh crore under dispute and litigation.
  • Government has introduced a new scheme called Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao, which will help in generating awareness and improving the efficiency of delivery of welfare services meant for women with an initial corpus of Rs 100 crore. Outlay of 50 crores provided for pilot testing a scheme on “Safety for Women on Public RoadTransport”.
  • Centre has proposed to launch a pan India Programme called “Digital India” to further bridge the divide between digital “haves” and “have-nots”. This would ensure Broad band connectivity at village level, improved access to services through IT enabled platforms, greater transparency in Government processes and increased indigenous production of IT hardware and software for exports and improved domestic availability.
  • Government has also proposed to set-up A National Rural Internet and Technology Mission for services in villages and schools, training in IT skills and E-Kranti for government service delivery and governance scheme with an initial corpus of Rs. 500 crore. A programme for promoting “Good Governance” will also be launched and a sum of Rs.100 crore will be set aside for this.
  • The facility of Electronic Travel Authorisation (e-Visa) shall be introduced in a phased manner at nine airports in India. This would further facilitate the Visa-on-Arrival facility.
  • The Government has proposed to initiate the scheme “Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana”.It is supposed to provide assured irrigation to mitigate risk to the farmer since bulk of the farm lands are rainfed and depend on monsoon. This scheme would facilitate access to irrigation. A sum of Rs.1,000 crores is being set aside for this scheme. 
  • Government will establish two agriculture research institutions of excellence in Assam and Jharkhand with a initial sum of Rs 100 crore in the current financial year.
  • The Government has announced the launch of a national Multi-Skill programme called Skill India. This programme would skill the youth with an emphasis on employability and entrepreneur skills. It will also provide training and support for traditional professions like welders, carpenters, cobblers, masons, blacksmiths and weavers etc. Convergence of various schemes to attain this objective is also proposed. 
  • Budget announces to establish a “National Adaptation Fund” for climate change. As an initial sum, an amount of Rs 100 crore will be transferred to the Fund.also announced a sum of Rs 500 crore for establishing a “Price Stabilization Fund” to mitigate price volatility in the agriculture produce which create uncertainties and hardship for the farmers. 
  • “Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana” for feeder separation will be launched to augment power supply to the rural areas and for strengthening sub-transmission and distribution systems.  A sum of Rs. 500 crores has been set aside for this scheme. 
  • Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission will be launched to deliver integrated project based infrastructure in the rural areas. This will also included development of economic activities and skill development. The preferred mode of delivery would be through PPPs while using various scheme funds. 
  • “Swachh Bharat Abhiyan” to cover every household with sanitation facility by the year 2019
  • Budget announced that a 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 linked to transport connectivity. 
  • Budget proposed to set-up an institution to provide support to mainstreaming PPPs called 3P India with a sum of Rs. 500 crore. The institution will facilitate nuanced and sophisticated models of contracting and developing quick dispute redressal mechanism of PPPs. 
  • Budget announced a project on the river Ganga called ‘Jal Marg Vikas’ (National Waterways-I) to be developed between Allahabad and Haldia to cover a distance of 1620 kms, which will be completed over a period of six years at an estimated cost of Rs. 4,200 crore.Further 2037 crores provided for Integrated Ganga Conservation Mission “NAMAMI GANGE”.100 crore provided for Ghat development and beautification at Kedarnath, Haridwar,Kanpur, Varanasi, Allahabad, Patna and Delhi.‰ NRI Fund for Ganga will be set up.` 100 crore provided for Detailed Project Reports for linking of rivers
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