Indian Union Budget Speech 2009 - 2010

Union Budget 2009 - 2010 Highlights

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee begins presentation of Union Budget 2009-10 in Lok Sabha. Some of the major excerpts of the budget speech are:

• Excise duty on fibre for cheaper cloth reduced
• Excise duty on petrol-driven small trucks reduced to 10%
• 100% deduction in donation to electoral trusts
• Service tax to be levied on law firms
• Exemption of duty on goods made at construction sites restored
• Drugs for heart diseases to become cheaper
• Customs duty on gold and silver import increased
• Customs duty of 5% being levied on import of set-top boxes
• Drugs for heart diseases to become cheaper
• Customs duty on gold and silver import increased
• Commodities Transaction Tax to be rolled back
• Exemption of duty on goods made at construction sites restored
• Mobile phone accessories to become cheaper
• New direct tax code in 45 days
• Set-top boxes to cost more
• Anonymous funds to charitable bodies to get some tax relief
• Small businesses exempt from advance tax
• Custom duty on LCD panels halved
• Customs duty on bio-diesel reduced
• Tax holiday extended for textile units
• Total budget expenditure for 2009-10 will Rs 10,28,032 cr
• Higher public investment in infrastructure
• One lakh dwelling units for paramilitary forces to be built
• Allocation for rehab of Lankan Tamils
• New pension benefits for 12 lakh jawans and JCOs
• Pension of non-commissioned officers to be hiked
• Defence outlay has gone up
• Fringe Benefit Tax to be scrapped
• Eliminate the surcharge on personal Income tax by 10%
• Hike in IT exemption for women to Rs 1,90,000
• Hike in IT exemption to Rs 2,40,000 for senior citizens
• General Sales Tax model will have a Central GST and State GST
• GST to come into effect from April 01, 2010
• Corporate tax unchanged
• Interest subsidy on students' loans in higher education
• Rs 1,000 cr for Aila rehabilitation programme to West Bengal
• Rs 25 cr each for AMU campuses in Murshidabad and Mallapuram
• Rs 2,113 cr for IITs and NITs
• Government to spend Rs.12K cr on rural roads in FY'10
• Commonwealth allocation hiked to Rs 16,300 cr
• Govt to hike allocation to National Ganga Project to Rs 562 cr
• Rs 7000 cr for rural electrification
• Rice, wheat at Rs 3 per kg to the poor
• One rank, one pension for ex-servicemen from July 1
• Allowances to para-military forces at par with defence forces
• Unique Identification ID project to tap private talent
• National action plan on climate change
• Full interest subsidy for students in approved institutions
• Modernisation of national employment exchanges
• 50% cent of rural women in self-help groups
• Real wage of Rs.100/day provided under NREGA
• Allocation of Rs 50 cr to Chandigrah University

• Rs 100 cr one-time grant to expand banks in unbanking areas
• Allocation for PM Gram Sadak Yojna up by 59 per cent
• Work on National Food Security scheme for subsidised food
• Government to shift to nutrient based fertiliser subsidy regime
• Rural mega clusters in Bengal and Rajasthan
• Interest subsidy on education loans
• National Mission for female literacy
• Rural mega clusters in Bengal and Rajasthan
• Interest subsidy for home loans up to Rs 1 lakh
• LNG infrastructure in the country being expanded
• Government to introduce food security bill
• Scheduled commercial bks can set up offsite ATM
• Will create close to 12 million jobs
• Institutional refo reform measures to stabilise BOP
• Aiming for direct transfer of subsidy to farmers
• Rs 4000cr fund to incentivise banks & SFCs to lend
• To provide all possible relief to exporters
• Banking network to be expanded
• One banking centre in every bloc
• Rs 31,100 crore allocation for NREGA
• NREGA gave employment opportunities to more than 4.479 cr households
• Banks, insurance to stay with Government
• Raise threshold for non-promoter public listed companies
• Indira Awaas Yojna hiked by 63% to Rs 8,883 cr
• 1% int subvention to farmers making timely payment
• Allocation to NHAI increased by 23%
• An expert group will look into petroleum product pricing
• GDP grew at 6.7% in 2008-09
• Move towards energy security via Integrated Energy Act
• Saral-II forms to simplify taxation process
• Domestic oil prices must be in sync with global prices
• Raise threshold for non-promoter public listed companies
• Hike in allocation for Mumbai flood management
• LNG infrastructure in the country being expanded
• Total fiscal stimulus during '08-09 is Rs 1,86,000 cr
• Set up a task force for farmer lending
• Allocation of Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna stepped up by 30%
• Additional budget allocation to farmers
• Will ensure farm sector growth at 4%
• Need to strengthen improve regulatory framework
• Private investment has been the key growth driver
• FIIs have returned to India in last few months
• Print media stimulus package extended by six months
• Target for agriculture credit raised to Rs 3,25,000 cr in 2009-10
• Export Credit Guarantee scheme extended till March 2010
• Incentives in interest rates to farmers to pay back
• Agriculture loans in time
• Storm-water drainage project fund hiked to Rs 500 cr
• Blueprint for national gas grid
• IIFCL will refinance 60% of commercial bank loans in PPP
• IIFCL will look at new projects
• IIFCL will also look at incremental lending by banks
• JNNURM allocation hiked by 87 per cent
• Hike infrastructure investment to over 9% of GDP by 2014
• Fund alloction for urban poor accommodation is 3,973,000 cr
• Housing allocation hiked under Rajiv Gandhi Rozgar Yojana
• Trade in goods and services doubled in 2008
• Significant hike in foreign capital
• Need to reduce population below poverty line
• New company IIFCL to look at infrastructure needs
• Signs of revival in the domestic industry
• Fiscal stimulus gave economy a boost
• Govt took 3 stimulus packages to fight slowdown

Indian Union Budget Speech 2009 - 2010

Indian Union Budget Speech 2009 - 2010