- BCTT
stands withdrawn; Exemption norms for charitable trusts/institutions
to be tightened;
- STT like
Commodity Exchange Tax introduced;
- Sponsorship
of employees sportspersons + guest houses taken outside FBT;
- Short-term
capital gains tax hiked to 15%; No change in STT rate;
- Parent company
allowed to avail dividend distribution tax ;
- Tax holiday
for hospitals in rural India announced;
- Five-year
Tax holiday for hotels in UNESCO-recognised sites;
- Outsources
researched : weighted deduction of 125% allowed
- Income Tax
exemption limit hiked to Rs 1.5 lakh from Rs 1.1 lakh; Exemption for
women assessees hiked to Rs 1.8 lakh; Sr citizens exempted upto Rs
2.25 lakh;
- No change
in corporate tax rate;
- Sec 80C
benefits extended upto Rs 15000/- for medical insurance of parents;
- Exemption
limit for small service providers hiked to Rs 10 lakh;
- Four new
services under service tax net : Asset management service + customised
software + games of change;
- 1 % NCCD
shifted from textile to cellular industry;
- Specific
duty levied on unbranded petrol;
- Bulk cement
and packaged cement : Duty parity achieved;
- Anti-AIDS
drugs exempted from excise duty;
- Small cars
and two-wheelers : Excise duty reduced from 12% to 8%;
- Cenvat rate
reduced to 14%; All pharma goods to attract only 8% excise duty;
- Export duty
on chrome hiked ;
- Duty exemption
to Naptha withdrawn but not for fertiliser;;
- Sports goods
: Duty on machinery reduced to 5%; Duty for diamond industry reduced;
- Specified
life-saving drugs : Customs duty reduced to 5%; exempt from excise
duty;
- Peak rate
for non-agri products not changed; Duty for project imports reduced
to 5%;
- Revenue
defict is 1.4%; Fiscal deficit to be 3.1 %;
- Central
Plan Scheme Monitoring System to be set up to monitor 1000 Central
Schemes ;
- Rs 50 Cr
allocated for tiger protection force;
- Climate
change : Institutional mechanism to be put in place;
- Defence
outlay hiked by 10%;
- Funds for
22 Sainik Schools; Smart card-based PDS delivery system to be introduced
by Haryana + Chandigarh on pilot basis;
- Rs 750 Cr
earmarked for ITIs upgradation;
- Non-profit
corpn to be set up for skill imparting; Rs 1000 Cr earmarked;
- Pan Indian
market for Securities : Empowered Committee of States to be urged to
look into stamp duty;
- Bond trading
to be encouraged;
- Rs 2000
Cr Risk Funding scheme to be introduced by SIDBI;
- Banks to
launch total financial inclusion scheme;
- Coal Regulator
to be in place soon; Allocation for IT Ministry hiked;
- Allocation
for roads in N-E hiked;
- Budget announces
National T & D Fund for power sector;
- Rs 5500
cr for Rajiv Gandhi rural electrification scheme;
- Rs 3003
cr budget support for CPSEs;
- Debt relief & debt
waiver scheme to be completed by June, 2008; Over 1 cr farmers to get
benefits; Total package to be worth Rs 60,000 Cr;
- Scheme for
debt waiver & debt relief for farmers : All agri loans upto Dec,
2007 to be covered - marginal & small farmers to get complete waiver;
One-time settlement scheme for other farmers; Rescheduled loans also
to be eligible for waiver;
- Nutrient-based
subsidy scheme being examined for agri sector;
- Plantation
crops like tea, coffee, rubber etc to get budget support;
- Rs 500 Cr
more for drip and sprinkler water irrigation scheme;
- Gross Capital
Formation in agri sector to be hiked to 16% to realise 4% growth rate;
- LIC to cover
all women Self Help Groups; Rs 500 Cr earmarked;
- 54 Ministries
/ Depts set up cells for gender budgeting - Rs 1000 Cr for women specific
schemes;
- Budget support
for Minorities Ministry hiked to Rs 1000 Cr;
- Arunachal
gets Rs 500 Cr;
- Budget allocation
for N-E hiked to Rs 16447 Cr;
- Budget support
for Rajiv Gandhi Drinking Water Scheme hiked;
- Allocation
for Rural and Urban employment scheme hiked;
- AIDS control
programme to get Rs 993 Cr;
- Healthcare
budget outlay hiked by 15%; Wages for Anganwadi workers hiked to Rs
1500;
- Health insurance
scheme for workers in unorganised sector; Two National Institutes for
ageing to be set up;
- 6000 Model
Schools Scheme to be introduced; 20 Navodaya Vidayalaya in SC/ST districts;
- Allocation
for education hiked to Rs 34400 Cr;
- Budget allocation
for Bharat Nirmal hiked to Rs 31800 Cr;
- 52 villages
getting telephone connections every day;
- Govt to
moderate capital inflows on temporary basis;
- Agri sector
projected to grow at 2.6 % this fiscal;
- CBDT Member
(Budget) A J Majumdar is retiring today; Farewell at 2.30 PM;
- Will PC
extend tax holiday for EoUs? (See 'Breaking News');
- Survey hints
at taxing e-commerce;
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