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Highlights of Union Budget 2016-17

  • Affirming that the economy is right on track, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the Union Budget for 2016-17. Citing that the CPI inflation has come down to 5.4% from 9 plus, he said it is huge relief for the public.
Tax
  • Infrastructure and agriculture cess to be levied.
  • Excise duty raised from 10 to 15 per cent on tobacco products other than beedis
  • 1 per cent service charge on purchase of luxury cars over Rs. 10 lakh and in-cash purchase of goods and services over Rs. 2 lakh.
  • SUVs, Luxury cars to be more expensive. 4% high capacity tax for SUVs.
  • Companies with revenue less than Rs 5 crore to be taxed at 29% plus surcharge
  • Limited tax compliance window from Jun 1 - Sep 30 for declaring undisclosed income at 45% incl. surcharge and penalties
  • Excise 1 per cent imposed on articles of jewellery, excluding silver.
  • 0.5 per cent Krishi Kalyan Cess to be levied on all services.
  • Pollution cess of 1 per cent on small petrol, LPG and CNG cars; 2.5 per cent on diesel cars of certain specifications; 4 per cent on higher-end models.
  • Dividend in excess of Rs. 10 lakh per annum to be taxed at additional 10 per cent.
Personal Finance
  • No changes have been made to existing income tax slabs
  • Rs 1,000 crore allocated for new EPF (Employees' Provident Fund) scheme
  • Govt. will pay EPF contribution of 8.33% for all new employees for first three years
  • Deduction for rent paid will be raised from Rs 20,000 to Rs 60,000 to benefit those living in rented houses.
  • Additional exemption of Rs. 50,000 for housing loans up to Rs. 35 lakh, provided cost of house is not above Rs. 50 lakh.
  • Service tax exempted for housing construction of houses less than 60 sq. m
  • 15 per cent surcharge on income above Rs. 1 crore
Social
  • Rs. 38,500 crore for Mahtma Gandhi MGNREGA for 2016-17
  • Swacch Bharat Abhiyan allocated Rs.9,500 crores.
  • Hub to support SC/ST entrpreneurs
  • Government is launching a new initiative to provide cooking gas to BPL families with state support.
  • LPG connections to be provided under the name of women members of family: Rs 2000 crore allocated for 5 years for BPL families.
  • 2.87 lakh crore grants to gram panchayats and municipalities - a quantum jump of 228%.
  • 300 urban clusters to be set up under Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission
  • Four schemes for animal welfare.
Health
  • 2.2 lakh renal patients added every year in India. Basic dialysis equipment gets some relief.
  • A new health protection scheme for health cover upto 1 lakh per family.
  • National Dialysis Service Prog with funds thru PPP mode to provide dialysis at all district hospitals.
  • Senior citizens will get additional healthcare cover of Rs 30,000 under the new scheme
  • PM Jan Aushadhi Yojana to be strengthened, 300 generic drug store to be opened
Education
  • Scheme to get Rs.500 cr for promoting entrepreneurship among SC/ST
  • 10 public and 10 private educational institutions to be made world-class.
  • Digital repository for all school leaving certificates and diplomas. Rs. 1,000 crore for higher education financing.
  • Rs. 1,700 crore for 1500 multi-skill development centres.
  • 62 new navodaya vidyalayas to provide quality education
  • Digital literacy scheme to be launched to cover 6 crore additional rural households
  • Entrepreneurship training to be provided across schools, colleges and massive online courses.
  • Objective to skill 1 crore youth in the next 3 years under the PM Kaushal Vikas Yojna-FM Jaitley
  • National Skill Development Mission has imparted training to 76 lakh youth. 1500 Multi-skill training institutes to be set up.
Energy
  • Rs. 3000 crore earmarked for nuclear power generation
  • Govt drawing comprehensive plan to be implemented in next 15-20 years for exploiting nuclear energy
  • Govt to provide incentive for deepwater gas exploration
  • Deepwater gas new disc to get calibrated market freedom, pre-determined ceiling price based on landed price of alternate fuels.
Investments and infrastructure
  • Rs. 27,000 crore to be spent on roadways
  • 65 eligible habitats to be connected via 2.23 lakh kms of road. Current construction pace is 100 kms/day
  • Shops to be given option to remain open all seven days in a week across markets.
  • Rs. 55,000 crore for roads and highways. Total allocation for road construction, including PMGSY, - Rs 97,000 crore
  • India's highest-ever production of motor vehicles was recorded in 2015
  • Total outlay for infrastructure in Budget 2016 now stands at Rs. 2,21,246 crore
  • New greenfield ports to be developed on east and west coasts
  • 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
  • Dept. of Disinvestment to be renamed as Dept. of Investment and Public Asset Management
  • Govt will amend Motor Vehicle Act in passenger vehicle segment to allow innovation.
  • MAT will be applicable for startups that qualify for 100 per cent tax exemption
  • Direct tax proposals result in revenue loss of Rs.1060 crore, indirect tax proposals result in gain of Rs.20,670 crore
Agriculture
  • Total allocation for agriculture and farmer welfare at Rs 35984 crores
  • 28.5 lakh heactares of land wil be brought under irrigation.
  • 5 lakh acres to be brought under organic farming over a three year period
  • Rs 60,000 crore for recharging of ground water recharging as there is urgent need to focus on drought hit areas cluster development for water conservation.
  • Dedicated irrigation fund in NABARD of Rs.20.000 cr
  • Nominal premium and highest ever compensation in case of crop loss under the PM Fasal Bima Yojna.
Banking
  • Banks get a big boost: Rs 25,000 crore towards recapitalisation of public sector banks. Jaitley says: Banking Board Bureau will be operationalised, we stand solidly behind public sector banks.
  • Target of disbursement under MUDRA increased to 1,80,000 crore
  • Process of transfer of government stake in IDBI Bank below 50% started
  • General Insurance companies will be listed in the stock exchange
  • Govt to increase ATMs, micro-ATMs in post offices in next three years

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