Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented his second budget in the parliament for the financial year 2016-17.
The minister assured that the economy is on the right track despite sluggish manufacturing activity and taking financial and commodity markets.
Here are some of the highlights of the Budget 2016-17
More Cess:
- Excise duty on tobacco products & beedis up from 10 to 15%
- 0.5% Krishi Kalyan Cess on all services.
- 1% Excise on articles of jewellery, excluding silver
- 1% Pollution cess of on compact LPG, CNG and petrol cars;
- 2.5% on diesel cars of certain specifications
- 4 % on higher-end models
- 4% high capacity tax for SUVs
- Infrastructure & agriculture cess
- 1% service charge on luxury cars above Rs. 10 lakh and in-cash purchase of goods & services over than Rs. 2 lakh
- Companies with revenue less than Rs 5 crore will be taxed at 29%+surcharge
Limited tax compliance window: From Jun 1 – Sep 30 to declare undisclosed income at 45% (incl. surcharge and penalties) - 10% additional tax on income from Dividend in excess of Rs. 10 lakh per annum
Personal Finance
- To boost affordable housing, exemption of Rs 50,000 for loans upto Rs 35 lakh, if the cost of house is below Rs. 50,00,000
- For super-rich, 15% surcharge on income above Rs. 1 crore
- No changes to existing income tax slabs
- Rs 1,000 crore allocated for new EPF (Employees’ Provident Fund) scheme
for first 3 years government to pay EPF contribution @ 8.33% for all new employees - Deduction on rent paid to be raised from Rs 20,000 to Rs 60,000
- Service tax is exempted for housing (construction of houses less than 60 sq. mtrs)
Health Plan
- PM Jan Aushadhi Yojana: 300 generic drug stores to be opened
- Duty relief for Basic Dialysis equipment
- New health insurance scheme: Cover of upto 1 lakh per family (below poverty line), additional cover of Rs 30,000 for senior citizens
- National Dialysis Service Prog: funding through PPP model to provide dialysis at all district hospitals
Education Plan
- Higher education financing: Rs. 1,000 crore allocated
- Digital literacy scheme: yet to be launched will cover 6 crore additional rural households
- National Skill Development Mission: 1500 Multi-skill training institutes to be set up
- For Primary & Secondary Education: 62 new Navodaya Vidyalayas
- Rs.500 cr for promoting entrepreneurship among SC/ST
- 10 public &10 private educational institutions to be made world-class
- 1500 multi-skill development centres: Rs. 1,700 crore
Sector Announcements
- Swacch Bharat Abhiyan: Rs.9,500 crores allocated
- New initiative to provide cooking gas to BPL families
- 300 urban clusters to be set up
- LPG connections for female members of family: Rs 2000 crore allocated for 5 years for BPL families
- To gram panchayats and municipalities: Rs 2.87 lakh crore allocated
- MGNREGA: Rs. 38,500 crore allocated for 2016-17
Energy Plan
Nuclear power: Rs. 3000 crore allocated
Investments and Infrastructure
- Total allocation for road construction, including PMGSY: Rs 97,000 crore
Roadways: Rs. 27,000 crore to be spent
Roads and highways: Rs. 55,000 crore - Total outlay for infrastructure in Budget 2016: Rs. 2,21,246 crore
- Revival of underserved airports: Centre to Partner with States to revive small airports for regional connectivity
- 100 per cent FDI in marketing of food products produced and marketed in India
- MAT applicable for startups that qualify for 100 per cent tax exemption
Agriculture Plan
- Total allocation for agriculture & farmer welfare: Rs 35984 crores
- Organic Farming: 5 lakh acres to be brought under cultivation over a 3 year period
- Focus On Drought Hit Areas: Rs 60,000 crore for recharging of ground water
NABARD Dedicated irrigation fund: Rs.20.000 cr - PM Fasal Bima Yojna: Nominal premium and highest ever compensation in case of crop failure
Banking Plan
Recapitalisation of public sector banks: Rs. 25,000 crore
Target of disbursement under MUDRA: increased to Rs. 1,80,000 crore
Govt to increase ATMs, micro-ATMs in post offices in next three year
INSURNACE: General Insurance companies can be listed in the stock exchange
Here’s a list of what’s dearer and what is made cheaper by FM Arun Jaitley in the Budget 2016-17: