Union Budget 2017-18 Live updates from Finance Minister`s budget speech in Parliament today. Follow us for the latest updates on Budget 2017-18.
Highlights of Union Budget 2017-18
- Decided against changing railway passenger fares for next Financial Year: FM
- First few months of GST will be experimental: FM
- Parts used for manufacture of LED lights will attract basic CustomsDuty of 5% and CVD of 6%
- To make MSME companies more viable, govt proposes to reduce IT tax with annual turnover of Rs 50 core up to 25%.
- Excise Duty on cigars, cheroots hiked to 12.5% or Rs 4006 per thousand, whichever is higher, from 12.5% or Rs 3,755.
- Net revenue loss from direct tax proposals to be about Rs 20,000 cr.
- Solar tempered glass used for manufacturing of solar cells/panels exempted from CustomsDuty.
- Actual revenue loss on tax proposals is Rs 22,700 cr; gain from additional resource mobilisation is Rs 2,700 cr.
- Not possible to remove MAT levied on advance tax for now; carry forward allowed for 15 yrs instead of 10 yrs
- Customs Duty on printed circuit board for manufacture of mobile phones hiked to 2% from nil.
- Excise Duty on pan masala hiked to 9% from 6%; on un-manufactured tobacco raised to 8.3% from 4.2%.
- GST implementation to bring more taxes to Centre and states: FM
- Customs duty on LNG to be reduced from 5% to 2.5%, says FM.
- Excise Duty on pan masala containing tobacco (gutkha) raised to 12% from 10%.
- I-T for smaller cos with turnover of up to Rs 50 cr up to 25 per cent.
- Import duty on aluminium ores and concentrates raised to 30% from nil presently.
- Relaxation in norms for Start Ups for getting tax exemption.
- Excise duty on non-filter cigarettes of length not exceeding 65 mm raised to Rs 311 per thousand from Rs 215.
- 17% growth in direct tax revenue for the second year in a row in 2016-17.
- Increase in personal tax collections is 34.8% in last three quarters. Demonetisation has played a role: FM
- 10% surcharge on individual income above Rs 50 lakh and upto Rs 1 cr to make up for Rs 15,000 cr loss due to cut in personal I-T rate.
- All cash transactions above Rs 3 lakh banned from April 1: FM
- 15% surcharge on income above Rs 1 cr to continue: FM
- Income Tax rate cut to 5% for individuals having income between Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh: FM
- Direct Tax collection not commensurate with income and expenditure pattern: FM
- Of 3.7 cr individuals who filed tax returns in 2015-16, 99 lakh showed income below exemption limit
- Govt pegs FiscalDeficit target at 3.2 per cent for 2017-18 and 3 per cent for next year: FM
- Revenue deficit reduced to 2.1% from 2.3% for 2016-17: FM
- CustomsDuty on LNG halved to 2.5%: FM
- With abolition of plan and non-plan expenditure, govt`s focus is on revenue and capital expenditure: FM
- Political parties can receive donations in cheque, electronic mode; electoral bonds to be issued by RBI: FM
- FPI to be exempt from indirect transfer provisions: FM
- Max amount of cash donation a political party can receive will be Rs 2000 from any one source as part of effort to clean political funding
- Capital expenditure stepped up by 25.4% in FY18 over previous year: FM
- Duty exempted on various POS machines and iris readers to encourage DigitalPayments: FM
- Total expenditure in FY18 at Rs 21.47 lakh cr
- Rs 7,200 cr revenue loss due to reduction in tax on smaller companies
- Head post offices to issue passports: FM
- Govt considering option to amend Negotiable Instruments Act to ensure that holders of dishonoured cheques get payment: FM
- FRBM review committee has recommended 60 pc debt to GDP ratio; 0.5% of GDP deviation from stipulated fiscal deficit targets: FM
- Payment regulatory board to be set up in RBI to regulate electronic payments, replacing BPSS
- 3 yr period for long-term capital gains tax on immovable property reduced to 2 yrs; base year indexation shifted to 1.4.2001: FM.
- Govt to introduce two new schemes to promote BHIM App - referral bonus for users and cash back for traders: FM
- A proposal to receive all government receipts beyond a certain threshold through e-modes under consideration: FM
- Govt doubles distribution target under Mudra Yojana to Rs 2.44 lakh crore for 2017-18
- After demonetisation on Nov 8, deposit of between Rs 2 L and Rs 80 L made in 1.09 cr bank a/cs at an avg of Rs 5.03 L till Dec 30: FM.
- The shares of railway CPSEs like IRCTC and IRFC to be listed on various stock exchanges: FM
- Of 76 lakh individuals who reported income of over Rs 5 lakh, 56 lakh are salaried: FM
- New ETF with diverse stocks will be launched in 2017-18: FM
- Integrated public sector oil major to be created to match global giants: FM
- Urgent need to protect poor from chit fund schemes, draft bill placed in public domain: FM
- Govt will amend the Multi-state Cooperative Act to protect the poor and gullible investors: FM
- Dispute resolution in #infrastructure projects in PPP mode will be institutionalised: FM
- Computer emergency response team to be set for cyber security of financial sector: FM
- Govt to further liberalise FDI policy: FM
- Rs 2,74,114 cr allocated for defence expenditure, excluding pension; This includes Rs 86,000 cr for defence capital: FM
- Over 90 per cent of FDI proposals are now processed through automatic route: FM
- Second phase of solar power development to be taken up with an aim of generating 20,000 MW: FM
- Trade Infrastructure Export Scheme to be launched in 2017-18; total allocation for infra at record Rs 3.96 lakh cr: FM
- Digi Gaon will be launched to promote tele-medicine and education: FM
- Crude oil strategic reserves to be set up in Odisha and Rajasthan apart from 3 already constructed: FM
- Coverage of Fasal Bima Yojana to go up from 30 pc of cropped area to 40 pc in 2017-18 and 50 pc next year: FM
- Government provides Rs 2.41 lakh crore for transport sector, including railways, road and shipping: FM
- Allocation of Rs 10,000 cr for Bharat Net project for providing high-speed broadband in FY18: FM
- Government is considering stricter provisions on cheque dishonour: FM
- Allocation for national highways stepped up to Rs 64,000 cr from Rs 57,676 cr: FM
- A web-based pension distribution system for defence forces will be established
- Select airports in tier-II cities to be taken up for operations, development on PPP mode: FM
- Railway tariffs to be fixed on the basis of cost, social obligation and competition: FM
- New metro rail policy to be unveiled: FM
- Delhi and Jaipur to have solid waste management plants and five more to be set up later: FM
- Proposes to create an integrated state-run energy company to take on other big companies in this sector : FM
- Another Rs 10,000 crore provided for recapitalisation of banks, more will be provided if required: FM
- 500 railway stations will be made differently-abled friendly by providing lifts and escalators: FM
- Government proposes Coach Mitra facility to redress grievances related to rail coaches: FM
- Service charge on e-tickets booked through IRCTC will be withdrawn: FM
- Unmanned railway level crossings to be eliminated by 2020: FM.
- Railway line of 3,500 km will be commissioned in 2017-18 as against 2,800 km in 2016-17: FM
- Rs 1 lakh cr corpus for railway safety fund over five years
- A scheme for senior citizens to ensure 8 per cent guaranteed returns: FM
- Capital and development expenditure pegged at Rs 1.31 lakh cr for railways in 2017-18 from Budget: FM
- 35 per cent increase in allocation for SC to Rs 52,393 crore: FM
- Model Shops and Establishment Bill to open up additional opportunities for employment of women: FM
- For senior citizens, Aadhaar based health cards will be issued: FM
- New rules regarding medical devices will be devised to reduce their cost: FM
- Two new AIIMS to be set up in Jharkhand and Gujarat: FM
- Rs 10,000 crore for BharatNet project to expand broadband coverage: FM
- National Housing Bank will refinance indiviual loans worth Rs 20,000 cr in 2017-18: FM
- 1.5 lakh health sub centres to be converted to Health Wellness Centres: FM
- For transport sector as whole, Rs 2.41 lakh crore for 2017-18; it will boost infra sector: FM
- Rs 500 cr allocated to set up Mahila Shakti Kendras; Allocation raised from Rs 1.56 lk cr to Rs 1.84 lk cr for women & child welfare
- PMKaushalKendras to be extended to 600 districts; 100 int`l skill centres to be opened to help people get jobs abroad: FM.
- Rs 1.31 lakh crore for Railways for developmental work, which includes Rs 55,000 crore from Budget, says FM
- The allocation for rural, agri and allied sector in 2017-18 is record Rs 1,81,223 crore: FM
- In higher education, we will undertake reforms in UGC, give autonomy to colleges and institutions: FM
- A system of annual learning outcome in schools to be introduced; innovation fund for secondary education to be set up: FM.
- Sanitation coverage in villages has increased from 42 pc in Oct 2016 to 60 pc, a rise of 18 pc: FM.
- We propose to provide safe drinking water to 28,000 arsenic and fluoride affected habitations: FM
- To construct 1 crore houses by 2019 for homeless, PM Awas Yojana allocation raised from Rs 15,000 cr to Rs 23,000 cr: FM
- 27,000 cr on to be spend on PMGSY; 1 cr houses to be completed by 2017-18 for houseless: FM
- National Testing agency to conduct all examinations in higher education, freeing CBSE and other agencies: FM
- 133-km road per day constructred under PradhanMantri GramSadakYojana as against 73-km in 2011-14: FM
- Govt to set up dairy processing fund of Rs 8,000 crore over 3 years with initial corpus of Rs 2,000 crore: FM
- 1 cr households to be brought out of poverty under AntodyaScheme: FM.
- Modern law on contract farming will be drafted and circulated to states: FM
- Spacetechnology to be used for monitoring MNREGA implementation: FM.
- Dedicated micro-irrigation fund to be created with a corpus of Rs 5000 crore: FM
- Market reforms will be undertaken, states will be asked to denotify perishables from EssentialCommoditiesAct: FM.
- Allocation under MNREGA increased to 48,000 crore from Rs 38,500 crore. This is highest ever allocation, says FM.
- Rs 9,000 cr higher allocation for payment of sugarcane arrears: FM
- Pace of remonetisation has picked up; demonetisation effects will not spill over to next year: FM.
- Target of agriculture credit fixed at Rs 10 lakh cr in 2017-18: FM
- Pace of remonetisation has picked up; demonetisation effects will not spill over to next year: FM.
- FM: Propose to measure learning outcome at schools especially in science
- India`s Agriculture expected to grow at a record INR10 lakh crore,:FM
- Agricultural sector is expected to grow at 4.1 per cent this fiscal :FM
- 187223 crore allocation for rural and agri sectors. Higher by whopping 24% :FM
- No. of global reports show India has considerably improved its policies, profile and practice: FM
- Housing scheme PMAY budget increased from 15k cr to 23k crore :FM
- Rs 19,000 crore for PMGSY in 2017-18 : FM
- 100% village electricity is on track for 1st May 2018: FM
- Govt announces highest ever allocation, Rs 48,000 crore for MGNREGA: FM
- FM : My approach in preparing the #Budget2017 is to spend more on rural areas, infrastructure & poverty alleviation with fiscal prudence.
- Arun Jaitley begins Budget`s speech in Parliament.