Highlights of Union Budget 2016-17

The Union Budget of 2016-2017 presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, 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 entrepreneurs

-          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