New Delhi, Feb 17 (IANS) The following are the consolidated highlights of the interim budget for 2014-15 presented in the Lok Sabha by Finance Minister P. Chiddambaram on Monday:
* No change in income tax rates
* Rs.3,370 crore transferred to 2.1 crore LPG beneficiaries
* 57 crore Aadhaar cards issued so far
* Allocation of Rs.115,000 crore for food subsidy
* Rs.65,000 crore for fuel subsidies
* Defence expenditure enhanced 10 percent to Rs.224,000 crore
* One rank one pension demand accepted; to be implemented with Rs.500 crore in 2014-15
* Excise on small cars/two-wheelers lowered to 8 percent, on SUVs to 24 percent, on large cars to 20 percent
* Excise duty on mobile handsets to be restructured
* Plan expenditure in 2014-15 at Rs.555,322 crore; non-plan expenditure at Rs.12,07,892 crore.
* WPI inflation at 5.05 percent in January
* Core inflation at 3 percent
* Fiscal deficit at 4.6 percent in 2013-14, to be at 4.1 percent in 2014-15
* Current account deficit at $45 billion
* Growth estimated at 4.9 percent in 2013-14
* India's economy at 11th globally; aiming to be third
* More than 41 lakh women's self-help groups provided credit of Rs 36,893 crore by December 2013
* Major relief for education loan borrowers, 900,000 student borrowers to benefit
* Modernization plan of over Rs.11,000 crore for Central Armed Police Forces.
* Ministry-wise allocations for flagship schemes: Rs.82,200 crore rural development, Rs.67,398 crore for human resource development, Rs.33,725 crore for health and family welfare, Rs.21,000 crore for women and child development, Rs.15,260 crore drinking water and sanitation
* Government succeeds in obtaining information in 67 cases of illegal offshore accounts; prosecution launched in 17 cases
* Capital infusion of Rs.11,200 crore in public sector banks
* Public sector general insurance companies opened 1,849 offices in towns with population of 10,000 or more in 2013-14
* Lending to minority communities soars to Rs.66,500 crore in 2013-14; minorities have 43,52,000 accounts in areas where there is concentration of minorities; loans to minorities stood at Rs.211,451 crore at the end of December 2013
* Additional assistance of Rs.1,200 crore to northeastern states, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand
* Allocation of Rs.48,638 crore for Scheduled Castes sub-plan, Rs.30,726 crore for tribal sub-plan
* To promote entrepreneurship among the Scheduled Castes and to provide concessional finance to them, IFCI to set-up venture capital fund of Rs.200 crore, which can be supplemented every year
* 100 million jobs to be created in a decade
* During 2013-14, 68,043 youth enrolled and 77,710 completed their training under National Skill Certification and Monetary Reward Scheme
* Target of agriculture credit of Rs.800,000 crore for 2014-15
* Steps to deepen Indian financial market: To liberalise the rupee-denominated corporate bond market; to deepen and strengthen the currency derivatives market to enable Indian companies to fully hedge against foreign currency risks; to create one record for all financial assets of every individual; to enable smoother clearing and settlement for international investors looking to invest in Indian bonds; Forward Contracts (Regulation) Act (FCRA) be amended to strengthen the regulatory framework of the commodity derivatives market.
* No policy paralysis
* Budgetary support to railways at Rs.29,000 crore in 2014-15
* Central assistance of Rs.338,562 crore in 2014-15
* Over 29,000 MW of power capacity added during 2013-14
* Construction underway for 50,000MW of conventional power
* Four solar generation plants of 500 MW each to be constructed in 2014-15
* Direct Taxes Code (DTC) to be posted on finance ministry website for public discussion
* Duties cut to revive economy
* All taxes on exports to be waived for manufacturing sector
* Exports estimated at $326 billion in current fiscal
* Two projects sanctioned under Nirbhaya Fund; original Rs.1,000 crore made non-lapsable; another Rs.1,000 crore granted
* Blood banks exempted from service tax
* Research funding organisation to be created to promote scientific R&D
* PPP model to be increasingly viewed
* Community radio to be promoted with Rs.100 crore
* 19 oil blocks allocated in 2013-14
* Seven new airports under construction
* Food grain production in 2013-14 estimated at 263 million tonnes
* Hope to add $15 billion to forex reserves
* Challenges we face common to emerging economies
* India not unaffected by events in global economy
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