Highlights of interim budget for 2014-15

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SME Times News Bureau | 17 Feb, 2014
The following are the highlights of the interim budget for 2014-15 presented in the Lok Sabha by Finance Minister P. Chiddambaram on Monday:

* No change in income tax rates

* Rs.3,370 crore transferred to 2.1 crore LPG beneficiaries

* 57 crore Aadhaar cards issued so far

* Allocation of Rs.115,000 crore for food subsidy

* Rs.65,000 crore for fuel subsidies

* Defence expenditure enhanced 10 percent to Rs.224,000 crore

* One rank one pension demand accepted; to be implemented with Rs.500 crore in 2014-15

* Excise on small cars/two-wheelers lowered to 8 percent, on SUVs to 24 percent, on large cars to 20 percent

* Excise duty on mobile handsets to be restructured

* Plan expenditure in 2014-15 at Rs.555,322 crore; non-plan expenditure at Rs.12,07,892 crore.

* WPI inflation at 5.05 percent in January

* Core inflation at 3 percent

* Fiscal deficit at 4.6 percent in 2013-14, to be at 4.1 percent in 2014-15

* Current account deficit at $45 billion

* Growth estimated at 4.9 percent in 2013-14

* India's economy at 11th globally; aiming to be third

* More than 41 lakh women's self-help groups provided credit of Rs 36,893 crore by December 2013

* Major relief for education loan borrowers, 900,000 student borrowers to benefit

* Modernization plan of over Rs.11,000 crore for Central Armed Police Forces.

* Ministry-wise allocations for flagship schemes: Rs.82,200 crore rural development, Rs.67,398 crore for human resource development, Rs.33,725 crore for health and family welfare, Rs.21,000 crore for women and child development, Rs.15,260 crore drinking water and sanitation

* Government succeeds in obtaining information in 67 cases of illegal offshore accounts; prosecution launched in 17 cases

* Capital infusion of Rs.11,200 crore in public sector banks

* Public sector general insurance companies opened 1,849 offices in towns with population of 10,000 or more in 2013-14

* Lending to minority communities soars to Rs.66,500 crore in 2013-14; minorities have 43,52,000 accounts in areas where there is concentration of minorities; loans to minorities stood at Rs.211,451 crore at the end of December 2013

* Additional assistance of Rs.1,200 crore to northeastern states, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand

* Allocation of Rs.48,638 crore for Scheduled Castes sub-plan, Rs.30,726 crore for tribal sub-plan

* To promote entrepreneurship among the Scheduled Castes and to provide concessional finance to them, IFCI to set-up venture capital fund of Rs.200 crore, which can be supplemented every year

* 100 million jobs to be created in a decade

* During 2013-14, 68,043 youth enrolled and 77,710 completed their training under National Skill Certification and Monetary Reward Scheme

* Target of agriculture credit of Rs.800,000 crore for 2014-15

* Steps to deepen Indian financial market: To liberalise the rupee-denominated corporate bond market; to deepen and strengthen the currency derivatives market to enable Indian companies to fully hedge against foreign currency risks; to create one record for all financial assets of every individual; to enable smoother clearing and settlement for international investors looking to invest in Indian bonds; Forward Contracts (Regulation) Act (FCRA) be amended to strengthen the regulatory framework of the commodity derivatives market.

* No policy paralysis

* Budgetary support to railways at Rs.29,000 crore in 2014-15

* Central assistance of Rs.338,562 crore in 2014-15

* Over 29,000 MW of power capacity added during 2013-14

* Construction underway for 50,000MW of conventional power

* Four solar generation plants of 500 MW each to be constructed in 2014-15

* Direct Taxes Code (DTC) to be posted on finance ministry website for public discussion

* Duties cut to revive economy

* All taxes on exports to be waived for manufacturing sector

* Exports estimated at $326 billion in current fiscal

* Two projects sanctioned under Nirbhaya Fund; original Rs.1,000 crore made non-lapsable; another Rs.1,000 crore granted

* Blood banks exempted from service tax

* Research funding organisation to be created to promote scientific R&D

* PPP model to be increasingly viewed

* Community radio to be promoted with Rs.100 crore

* 19 oil blocks allocated in 2013-14

* Seven new airports under construction

* Food grain production in 2013-14 estimated at 263 million tonnes

* Hope to add $15 billion to forex reserves

* Challenges we face common to emerging economies

* India not unaffected by events in global economy