Finally at 11:00 am on February 2017, the Union Budget 2017-18 gets underway. The start of the Budget session was chaotic, and there were even doubts whether the budget will be presented today or not. But even after protest from opposition, the Budget was presented.
Here are the highlights of this much expected Union Budget 2017-18
- According to IMF, India is going to be the fastest growing economies in the world
- India is now 6th largest Manufacturing country in the world, up from the 9th rank earlier
- FDI in India increases by 36% despite global dip in FDI inflow by 5%.
- India’s Current Account Deficit decreased from about 1% of GDP last year to 0.3% of GDP in 1st half of 2016-17
- Emerging Economies face 3 challenges: US Fed rate hike, global crude prices & rise of protectionism
- Forex Reserves Offer A Comfortable Cover For 12 Months Of Imports.
- IMF estimates world GDP to grow at 3.1% in 2016 and 3.4% in 2017
- Pace of remonitisation has picked up; impact of DeMonetisation will not spill over to next year
- Merger of Railway budget with general budget is a historic step
- 10 Lakh Crore have been fixed as target for Agricultural credit to farmers
- Total allocation for Rural agricultural and allied areas for 2017-18 is Rs. 1,87,223 Cr
- NAM – electronic national agricultural market to be expanded to over 500 markets next fiscal
- Allocation of Rs 48,000 cr for MNREGA in 2017-18- Highest ever. Increased from Rs 40,000
- Participation of women in MGNREGA up to 55%
- PMGSY roads work accelerated to 133 km roads/day in 2016-17 as against 73 km/day between 2011-14
- India is on the way to 100% Electrification by March 2018
- Crop insurance cover to be raised by 50% to safeguard farmers
- One crore houses to be built for houseless by 2019. Allocation for this has gone to 23,000 Crore
- 350 online courses have been created under ‘Swayam’ plan for skill strengthening of Youth
- 100 India International Skill Centres to be launched across the country
- Innovation Fund To Be Created For Secondary Education
- Propose to launch skill knowledge awareness at Rs 4000 cr to provide market training to youth
- To set up National Testing agency who will conduct all exams for higher education so that CBSE can focus on academics
- Two new AIIMS institutes to be set in Jharkhand and Gujarat
- Allocation for welfare of women and children stepped up from Rs 1.5 lakh crore to Rs 1.84 lakh crore
- Aim to make 50,000 Gram Panchayat poverty free
- Additional 5000 post graduate medical seats per annum will be created
- Aadhaar based smart cards with health details for senior citizens in 2017-18
- Mudra Yojana lending target doubled to Rs 2.44 lakh crore, priority to Dalits, tribals and backward class
- Govt to set up dairy processing fund of Rs 8,000 crore over 3 years with initial corpus of Rs 2,000 crore
- By 2019, All Indian Railway coaches will be fitted with Bio-Toilets
- Cashless Railway Bookings have moved up to 68%
- 35% increase in funds allocation for schedule castes.
- Senior citizen to get assured 8% p.a assured income in pension schemes
- Rail safety fund of Rs 1 lakh crore to be created for 5 years.
- SMS based “Clean my coach” service has been started.
- Stepped up Bharat Net Allocation to 10,000 Crore. Optical Fibre has already been laid for 150,000 kms.
- Service charges on rail tickets booked through IRCTC to be withdrawn
- 500 railway stations will be made differently-abled friendly by providing lifts and escalators.
- Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to be abolished in FY 2017-18
- Special schemes (as for textiles) will be launched in leather & footwear sector
- Infrastructure Sector will get allocation of Rs. 3.96 Lakh Cr highest till date
- Computer Emergency Response Team for financial sector will be established
- Govt will list IRCTC, IRFC and IRCON on stock exchange to increase public accountability and unlock value of these PSUs
- Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana lending target to be doubled to Rs 2.44 lakh crore
- Referral Bonus scheme for consumers and merchant cashback scheme will be launched for BHIM App
- 1.25 crore people have already adopted the BHIM App
- The government proposes to create to create payment regulatory board with RBI
- 2500 cr worth of Digital Transactions targeted in FY 2018
- 20 Lakhs Aadhaar based ‘Point Of Sale’ systems to be setup in 2017
- Post Offices will now be use as front offices Passport Services
- Introduction of new law to confiscate assets of people who flee the country on Economic Offenses
- Defence outlay (excluding pensions) at Rs 2,74,114 cr
- Total expenditure of this year’s budget is 21 lakh 47 thousand crore rupees
- Fiscal deficit pegged at 3.2% of GDP. Remain committed to achieve 3% in following year
- Out of 13 lakh odd companies registered only 5 lakh odd cos have filed returns
- Of 76 lakh people who declared income of Rs 5 lakh and above, 56 lakh are salaried employees
- The net tax revenues of 2013-14 was 11.38 Lakh Crores, grew by 9% in 14-15, and 17% by 15-16 and 16-17
- 24 lakh people show income above Rs 10 lakh. 1.7 crore people file returns out of 4.2 crore salaried people
- Only 1.72 lakh show income of Rs 50 lakh, but 1.25 Cr cars were sold in three years 2 Crore toured abroad
- Affordable Housing carpet area of 30 sq mt will now apply in semi urban and rural area, metros and periphery of metro 50 sq mt
- Long-term Capital gains exemption limit for housing brought down to two years
- Profit linked deductions for startups now 3 out of 7 years (earlier, 3 out of 5 years)
- MAT (Minimum Alternative Tax) carry forward to 15 years from 10 years
- Tax Reduction from 30% to 25% for companies who have less than 50 crore revenue. 96% companies will get benefit of this proposal.
- Basic customs duty on LNG to be reduced from 5% to 2.5%
- No transaction in cash over Rs 3 lakh will now be permitted henceforth.
- A political party cannot accept more than Rs. 2000 as donation in cash from any single source.
- Personal Income Tax reduced for individual assesses from 2.5 Lakh to 5 lakhs to 5% – Earlier it was 10% tax for this bracket
- A 10% surcharge on people earning Rs 50 lakh-Rs 1 cr annually
- 15% surcharge on incomes above Rs. 1 cr to continue
- 5% TDS On Insurance Agents Removed
- A single one-page form for filing IT returns for taxable income up to 5 lakh rupees
We are updating as the Budget is being presented!