Consolidated Budget Highlights

New Delhi, Feb 28: Highlights of the budget for 2015-16 presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Lok Sabha on Saturday: * Personal income tax rates unchanged * Increase in limit of deduction in health insurance from Rs.15,000 to Rs.25,000 * For senior citizens, this limit to be increased from Rs.30,000 from present Rs.10,000 * Deduction limit of Rs.60,000 on account of serious diseases to be enhanced to Rs.80,000 for senior citizens * Exemption on contributions to Pension Fund hiked from Rs.1 lakh to Rs.1.5 lakh per year * All investment payments in 'Sukanya Scheme' will be fully exempted from tax * Transport allowance exemption raised from Rs.800 to Rs.1,600 per month * Universal social security system for all Indians, especially poor and disadvantaged sections * Atal Pension Yojna for economically disadvantaged * PPF and EPF corpus to be utilised for senior citizens' welfare fund * Physical aids and assisting devices for physically challenged senior citizens * Wealth Tax to be abolished and additional two percent tax on super rich to yield Rs.9,000 crore annually * GDP growth at 7.4 percent in 2014-15 and at 8-8.5 percent in 2015-16; double-digit growth feasible * Non-Plan expenditure in 2015-16 estimated at Rs.1,312,200 crore; Plan expenditure estimated at Rs.465,277 crore * Tax collection in 2015-16 estimated at Rs.1,449,490 crore * Adequate provision for defence with Rs.246,727 crore earmarked for 2015-16 * Investment on infrastructure to go up by Rs.70,000 crore in 2015-16 over 2014-15 * Education sector allocated Rs.68,968 crore; rural development gets Rs.79,526 crore * Nirbhaya Fund gets another Rs.1000 crore in 2015-16 * Facilities at eight World Heritage Sites to be restored * Government to soon launch National Skills Mission * During 2015-16 AIIMS-like institutes to be set up in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh; Bihar to get second AIIMS-like institution * Karnataka to get an IIT; Indian School of Mines in Dhanbad to be upgraded to IIT * Fully IT-based student-help facility for needy students * Corporate tax to be reduced to 25 percent from 30 percent in four years * Tax exemption for contributions to 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan' and 'Clean Ganga Fund' by corporates as part of CSR * In last nine months several steps taken to effectively deal with problem of black money * Comprehensive new law to be brought against black money * Rigorous imprisonment of up to 10 years for concealing income * Prevention of Money Laundering Act to be amended to provide for forfeiture of property in India if the one abroad cannot be attached * Law against Benami property in fight against black money * Quoting PAN essential in property transactions * Forwards Markets Commission to be Merged with Sebi * Splitting of transaction not to be permitted * Changes in excise on tobacco items, including cigarettes, paan masala and gutkha * Excise duty on footwear with leather uppers to be reduced to six percent * Service tax and education levy to be consolidated from 12.36 percent to 14 percent * Swachh Bharat cess of two percent, if necessary * Tax regime to be rationalised * Applicability of General Avoidance Rules (GAR) to be deferred by two years in view of problems faced in its implementation * New structure to be put in place in banking sector for seamless integration of data * Eastern states to be given opportunity to develop faster. Special boost to Bihar and West Bengal as in the case of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana * Good progress in DMIC corridor and other infra-projects. Rs.1,200 crore earmarked and additional funds if pace of work picks up on ongoing projects * Procurement law to be drawn up to ensure transparency and remove corruption * Centenary of Deen Dayal Upadhyay to be celebrated; committee for this to be set up soon * Good progress being made on Digital India * To discourage transactions in cash, Rupee debit card to incentivise credit transactions * In line with 'Act East Policy', steps to catalyse investment in this sector through a project development company to oversee investments in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam * Tourism has increased after Visa on Arrival introduced for 43 countries. This facility to be increased to 150 countries in different stages * Public Debt Management Agency to be created to strengthen the bond market * Gold Monetisation Scheme to be introduced; sovereign gold bonds to be introduced; working on developing Indian gold coin with Ashok Chakra on face * Vision of making India cashless society * Foreign Investment in alternative investment funds to be permitted * Ports in public sector to be encouraged to utilise land under their control * Make India investment-destination by streamlining permission procedures * Five ultra-mega power projects each of 4,000 MW to be set up; Second unit of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Station will be commissioned in 2015-16 * Self Employment and Talent Utilisation (SETU) to be Established * Integrated education and livelihood scheme to be launched * National investment and infrastructure fund to be launched with corpus of Rs.20,000 crore to generate more funds * Innovation initiative to be launched in NITI Aayog in the name of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee * Government committed to increasing access of people to the banking system * Postal network across the country to be used for increasing access to formal financial system * Main challenges: increasing agricultural production; increasing investment in infrastructure; with manufacturing declining, Make in India will create jobs; cooperative federalism * Agriculture credit targetted at Rs.8.5 lakh crore * Rural jobs scheme to get Rs.34,699 crore; Allocation to be enhanced by Rs.5,000 crore if additional funds available; Every poor to get a job * To work with NITI Aayog for creating a National Agricultural Market * Need well-targeted system for subsidies. * Direct transfer of subsidy to LPG consumers * Appeal to well-off consumers to surrender subsidised LPG connections * Organic farm schemes of agriculture ministry to be supported * 'Per drop More crop' scheme for better irrigation * Three achievements - Jan Dhan Yojna, coal auctions, Swachh Bharat * Two more gamechanging reforms: Goods and Services Tax, JAM trinity (Jan Dhan Yojna, Aadhar, Mobile number) to ensure transparency * Our achievement to conquer inflation, CPI inflation at five percent by year-end * We are in an economic environment far more positive than in the recent past * Undertaken several significant steps to energise the Indian economy in last nine months * India's chance to fly * Budget proposals lay down roadmap for economic growth. * "The Everlasting Flame" exhibition on Parsis to be launched