Union Budget 2009-10 Highlights• Budget spells out the target for the UPA: To bring back the 9% growth
• Commodities Transaction Tax (CTT) to be scrapped
• 10% surcharge on personal Income tax scrapped
• Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) to be scrapped
• IT exemption limit for Women hiked to Rs 190,000
• IT exemption limit for Senior Citizens hiked to Rs 240,000
• Rs 12000 crore earmarked for expenditure on rural roads in FY 2010
• Drugs related to heart diseases to be cheaper
• Service Tax to be now apllicable on law firms
• Bio-diesel custom duty lowered
• Customs Duty on import of Gold and Silver increased
• Branded women's jewellery to be cheaper
• Rs 16300 Crore to be set aside for the upcoming Commonwealth Games
• IITs and NITs to get Rs 2113 crore
• Corporate Tax unchanged
• One rank-one pension scheme to be in place for Ex-Servicemen
• National Ganga Project allocation to go up to Rs 562 Crore
• Unique Identification (UID) project under Nandan M. Nilekani to be out in 12-18 months
• NRHM allocation to be raised by Rs 257 crore
• A national level action plan in place for climate change
• National Employment Exchanges to be modernised
• Interest subsidy for home loans up to 1 lakh
• Indira Awaas Yojna bolstered up by 63% to Rs 8883 crore
• Saral 2 forms to simply tax filing process
• Emphasis on fertiliser subsidy reaching out directly to farmers
• Petroleum price expert panel to set petroleum prices which would be in sync with the global levels
• Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna allocation increased by 30%
• IIFCL, a new company would look into the infrastructure needs
• Extension of farm loan waiver scheme by 6 months
• Allocation of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) increased by 23%
• Fiscal stimulus at 3.5% pf the GDP
• Small scale businesses to be exempted from advance tax
• 50% reduction in the Custom Duty on LCD panels
• Set top boxes to be costlier
• Goods and Services Tax (GST) to be in effect from April, 2010
• Textile units to enjoy continued tax holidays
• Pranab praises the 3 stimulus packages which were rolled out by the UPA to fight the global economic meltdown
• Signals of revival in the domestic market: Pranab Mukherjee
• GDP increased by 7.5, 9.5, 9.7 and 9 percent in the first four years from fiscal 04-05 to 07-08 reflecting a sustained progression of more than 9 % for three successive years.
• Fiscal deficit down to 2.7% in 07-08 as compared to 4.5% in 03-04.
• Gross capital formation in agriculture as a proportion of agriculture GDP increased from 11.1% to 14.2% in 03-04 and 07-08 respectively.
• Tax to GDP ratio increased from 9.2% in 03-04 to 12.5% in 07-08.
• Annual growth of agriculture rose to 3.7% during 03-04 and 07-08.
• Exports grew at an annual average growth rate of 26.4% (USD terms) in the period 04-05 to 07-08.
• Manufacturing sector recorded a growth of 9.5% between the period 04-05 to 07-08.
• Communication and construction sector grew at the rate of 26 and 13.5 percent respectively.
• Domestic Investment rate as a proportion of GDP increased from 27.6% to 39% in 03-04 and 07-08 respectively.
Rs. 1,41,703 cr for Defence Sector:
Mr. Mukherjee, in his union budget speech announced the allocation of Rs. 1,41,703 for the defence sector. He justified this allocation by saying that increase had to be made considering the present security situation around the country especially in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks.
The Finance Minister increased Plan expenditure for Defence this year to Rs 86,879 crore. Last years Plan expenditure was only Rs 73,600 crore, which contributed to an increase of Rs 13,279 crore this year.
India's Fiscal Deficits:
It was brought to the knowledge of the parliament that the revenue deficit has outgrown four-fold as a result of extension of stimulus package provided to lot of industries in the light of the global economic meltdown.
No Alteration to Tax Rates:
In his effort towards battling the on-going recession Mr. Mukherjee, allocated Rs. 30,100 cr to the rural development program of the government. He refrained from making any alteration in the tax and duty rates.
• Tax collections in 08-09 to race ahead of the ones in 07-08.
• Rs. 6705 cr to be put in to child development schemes.
• Infrastructure investment to be hiked to 9% of the GDP by 2014.
• 109 maiden vessels sanctioned for the customs department.
• Per capita income increased 7.4% p.a. during the tenure of the U.P.A. government.
• Export industry subsidy extended for some sectors.
• Rs. 8,300 cr earmarked for mid-day meal scheme.
• No tax changes in the budget speech.
• Rs. 1200 cr for Total Sanitation Program.
• The defence sector allocation has been set at Rs. 141703 crore.
• Subsidies to food, petroleum and fertiliser to go up.
• Export rate in the first nine months of the fiscal year has fallen to 17.1 %.
• Mr. Mukherjee acknowledged that the global economic conditions are not encouraging
