Budget 2015 2016

1. Key Features
of
Budget
2015-2016
February 28, 2015

2. 1
INTRODUCTION
¾ CredibilityofIndianeconomyhasbeenre-establishedinthelastninemonths.
¾ Indian economy about to take-off on a fast growth trajectory.
¾ Most growth forecasts have upgraded Indian economic growth while downgrading
globaleconomicgrowth.
¾ Economically empowered States are equal partners to Indian economic growth.
¾ Roundtheclock,roundtheyearGovernmenttopursueacceleratedgrowth,enhanced
investmentforthebenefitofallIndians.
¾ Afterinheritinganeconomywithsentimentsof“doomandgloom”withadversemacro-
economicindicators,ninemonthshaveseenatturnaround,makingIndiafastestgrowing
large economy in the World with a real GDP growth expected to be 7.4% (New
Series).
¾ Stock market - Second best performing in 2014.
¾ Macro-economicstabilityandconditionsforsustainablepovertyalleviation,jobcreation
anddurabledoubledigiteconomicgrowthhavebeenachieved.
¾ Restored the trust of the people on the Government by delivering on different areas.
Three Key achievements:
¾ FinancialInclusion-12.5croresfamiliesfinanciallymainstreamedin100days.
¾ Transparent Coal Block auctions to augment resources of the States.
¾ Swachh Bharat is not only a programme to improve hygiene and cleanliness but has
become a movement to regenerate India.
¾ Gamechangingreformsontheanvil:
♦ Goods and ServiceTax (GST)
♦ Jan Dhan,Aadhar and Mobile (JAM) - for direct benefit transfer.
STATE OFECONOMY
Inflation
¾ Inflationdeclined-astructuralshift
¾ CPIinflationprojectedat5%bytheendoftheyear,consequently,easingofmonetary
policy.
Key Features of Budget 2015-2016

3. 2
¾ Monetary Policy FrameworkAgreement with RBI, to keep inflation below 6%.
¾ GDP growth in 2015-16, projected to be between 8 to 8.5%.
Amrut Mahotsav - The year 2022, 75th year of Independence
Vision for “Team India” led by PM
¾ Housing for all - 2 crore houses in Urban areas and 4 crore houses in Rural areas.
¾ Basicfacilityof24x7power,cleandrinkingwater,atoiletandroadconnectivity.
¾ At least one member has access to means for livelihood.
¾ Substantialreductioninpoverty.
¾ Electrificationoftheremaining20,000villagesincludingoff-gridSolarPower-by2020.
¾ Connecting each of the 1,78,000 un-connected habitation.
¾ Providingmedicalservicesineachvillageandcity.
¾ EnsureaSeniorSecondarySchoolwithin5kmreachofeverychild,whileimproving
qualityofeducationandlearningoutcomes.
¾ Tostrengthenruraleconomy-increaseirrigatedarea,improvetheefficiencyofexisting
irrigationsystems,andensurevalueadditionandreasonablepriceforfarmproduce.
¾ Ensurecommunicationconnectivitytoallvillages.
¾ TomakeIndia,themanufacturinghuboftheWorldthroughSkillIndiaandtheMake
inIndiaProgrammes.
¾ Encourage and grow the spirit of entrepreneurship - to turn youth into job creators.
¾ DevelopmentofEasternandNorthEasternregionsonparwiththerestofthecountry.
Major ChallengesAhead
¾ Five major challenges:Agricultural income under stress, increasing investment in
infrastructure,declineinmanufacturing,resourcecrunchinviewofhigherdevolutionin
taxestostates,maintainingfiscaldiscipline.
¾ Tomeetthesechallengespublicsectorneedstostepintocatalyseinvestment,makein
india programme to create jobs in manufacturing, continue support to programmes
withimportantnationalprioritiessuchasagriculture,education,health,MGNREGA,
ruralinfrastructureincludingroads.
¾ Challengeofmaintainingfiscaldeficitof4.1%ofGDPmetin2014-15,despitelower
nominalGDPgrowthduetolowerinflationandconsequentsub-duedtaxbuoyancy.
Fiscal Roadmap
¾ Government firm on journey to achieve fiscal target of 3% of GDP.
¾ Realistic figures shown in fiscal account without showing exaggerated revenue
projections.

4. 3
¾ Withimprovedeconomy,pressuretoacceleratefiscalconsolidationtoohasdecreased.
¾ Accordingly, journey for fiscal deficit target of 3% will be achieved in 3 years rather
than 2 years. The fiscal deficit targets are 3.9%, 3.5% and 3.0% in FY 2015-16,
2016-17 & 2017-18 respectively.
¾ Additionalfiscalspacewillgotofundinginfrastructureinvestment.
¾ NeedtoviewpublicfinancesfromaNationalperspectiveandnotjusttheperspective
of the Central Government. Aggregate public expenditure of the Governments, as a
whole can be expected to rise substantially.
¾ Disinvestmenttoincludebothdisinvestmentinlossmakingunits,andsomestrategic
disinvestment.
Good governance
¾ Needtocutsubsidyleakages,notsubsidiesthemselves.Toachievethis,Government
committedtotheprocessofrationalizingsubsidies.
¾ DirectTransfer of Benefits to be extended further with a view to increase the number
of beneficiaries from 1 crore to 10.3 crore.
Agriculture
¾ Major steps take to address the two major factors critical to agricultural production,
that of soil and water.
¾ ‘Paramparagat KrishiVikasYojana’to be fully supported.
¾ ‘Pradhanmantri Gram SinchaiYojana’to provide ‘Per Drop More Crop’.
¾ `5,300 crore to support micro-irrigation, watershed development and the ‘Pradhan
Mantri Krishi SinchaiYojana’. States urged to chip in.
¾ `25,000 crore in 2015-16 to the corpus of Rural Infrastructure Development Fund
(RIDF)setupinNABARD;`15,000croreforLongTermRuralCreditFund;`45,000
crore for ShortTerm Co-operative Rural Credit Refinance Fund; and `15,000 crore
forShortTermRRBRefinanceFund.
¾ Target of `8.5 lakh crore of agricultural credit during the year 2015-16.
¾ FocusonimprovingthequalityandeffectivenessofactivitiesunderMGNREGA.
¾ Need to create a NationalAgriculture Market for the benefit farmers, which will also
have the incidental benefit of moderating price rises. Government to work with the
States, in NITI, for the creation of a Unified NationalAgriculture Market.
FundingtheUnfunded
¾ MicroUnitsDevelopmentRefinanceAgency(MUDRA)Bank,withacorpusof`20,000
crores, and credit guarantee corpus of `3,000 crores to be created.
¾ Inlending,prioritywillbegiventoSC/STenterprises.

5. 4
¾ MUDRABankwillberesponsibleforrefinancingallMicro-financeInstitutionswhich
are in the business of lending to such small entities of business through a Pradhan
MantriMudraYojana.
¾ ATradeReceivablesdiscountingSystem(TReDS)whichwillbeanelectronicplatform
forfacilitatingfinancingoftradereceivablesofMSMEstobeestablished.
¾ ComprehensiveBankruptcyCodeofglobalstandardstobebroughtinfiscal2015-16
towards ease of doing business.
¾ Postal network with 1,54,000 points of presence spread across villages to be used for
increasingaccessofthepeopletotheformalfinancialsystem.
¾ NBFCs registered with RBI and having asset size of `500 crore and above may be
consideredfornotificationsas‘FinancialInstitution’intermsoftheSARFAESIAct,2002.
From Jan Dhan to Jan Suraksha
¾ Governmenttoworktowardscreatingafunctionalsocial securitysystemforallIndians,
speciallythepoorandtheunder-privileged.
¾ Pradhan Mantri Suraksha BimaYojna to cover accidental death risk of`2 Lakh for a
premium of just `12 per year.
¾ AtalPensionYojanatoprovideadefinedpension,dependingonthecontributionand
theperiodofcontribution.Governmenttocontribute50%ofthebeneficiaries’premium
limited to `1,000 each year, for five years, in the new accounts opened before
31st December 2015.
¾ Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti BimaYojana to cover both natural and accidental death
risk of `2 lakh at premium of `330 per year for the age group of 18-50.
¾ Anew scheme for providing PhysicalAids andAssisted Living Devices for senior
citizens,livingbelowthepoevertyline.
¾ Unclaimed deposits of about `3,000 crores in the PPF, and approximately `6,000
crores in the EPF corpus. The amounts to be appropriated to a corpus, which will be
usedtosubsidizethepremiumsonthesesocialsecurityschemesthroughcreationofa
SeniorCitizenWelfareFundintheFinanceBill.
¾ Governmentcommittedtotheon-goingschemesforwelfareofSCs,STsandWomen.
Infrastructure
¾ Sharp increase in outlays of roads and railways. Capital expenditure of public sector
units to also go up.
¾ NationalInvestmentandInfrastructureFund(NIIF),tobeestablishedwithanannual
flow of `20,000 crores to it.
¾ Tax free infrastructure bonds for the projects in the rail, road and irrigation sectors.
¾ PPPmodeofinfrastructuredevelopmenttoberevisitedandrevitalised.

6. 5
¾ Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) to be established in NITI to provide Innovation
PromotionPlatforminvolvingacademicians,anddrawinguponnationalandinternational
experiences to foster a culture of innovation , research and development. Asum of
`150 crore will be earmarked.
¾ ConcernsofITindustriesforamoreliberalsystemofraisingglobalcapital,incubation
facilitiesinourCentresofExcellence,fundingforseedcapitalandgrowth,andeaseof
Doing Business etc. would be addressed for creating hundreds of billion dollars in
value.
¾ (SETU)Self-EmploymentandTalentUtilization)tobeestablishedasTechno-financial,
incubationandfacilitationprogrammetosupportallaspectsofstart-upbusiness. `1000
crore to be set aside as initial amount in NITI.
¾ Ports in public sector will be encouraged, to corporatize, and become companies
under the CompaniesAct to attract investment and leverage the huge land resources.
¾ An expert committee to examine the possibility and prepare a draft legislation where
the need for multiple prior permission can be replaced by a pre-existing regulatory
mechanism. ThiswillfacilitateIndiabecominganinvestmentdestination.
¾ 5 new Ultra Mega Power Projects, each of 4000 MW, in the Plug-and-Play mode.
Financial Market
¾ Public Debt Management Agency (PDMA) bringing both external and domestic
borrowings under one roof to be set up this year.
¾ Enablinglegislation,amendingtheGovernmentSecuritiesActandtheRBIActincluded
intheFinanceBill,2015.
¾ Forward Markets commission to be merged with SEBI.
¾ Section-6ofFEMAtobeamendedthroughFinanceBilltoprovidecontroloncapital
flowsasequitywillbeexercisedbyGovernmentinconsultationwithRBI.
¾ Proposal to create a Task Force to establish sector-neutral financial redressal agency
thatwilladdressgrievanceagainstallfinancialserviceproviders.
¾ India Financial Code to be introduced soon in Parliament for consideration.
¾ Vision of putting in place a direct tax regime, which is internationally competitive on
rates,withoutexemptions.
¾ Government to bring enabling legislation to allow employee to opt for EPF or New
Pension Scheme. For employee’s below a certain threshold of monthly income,
contributiontoEPFtobeoption,withoutaffectingemployees’contribution.
Monetising Gold
¾ Goldmonetisationschemetoallowthedepositorsofgoldtoearninterestintheirmetal
accounts and the jewellers to obtain loans in their metal account to be introduced.
¾ SovereignGoldBond,asanalternativetopurchasingmetalgoldschemetobedeveloped.

7. 6
¾ CommenceworkondevelopinganIndiangoldcoin,whichwillcarrytheAshokChakra
on its face.
Investment
¾ ForeigninvestmentsinAlternateInvestmentFundstobeallowed.
¾ Distinctionbetweendifferenttypesofforeigninvestments,especiallybetweenforeign
portfolioinvestmentsandforeigndirectinvestmentstobedoneawaywith. Replacement
with composite caps.
¾ AprojectdevelopmentcompanytofacilitatesettingupmanufacturinghubsinCMLV
countries,namely,Cambodia,Myanmar,LaosandVietnam.
Safe India
¾ `1000 crores to the Nirbhaya Fund.
Tourism
¾ Resources to be provided to start work along landscape restoration, signage and
interpretation centres, parking, access for the differently abled , visitors’ amenities,
includingsecuritiesandtoilets,illuminationandplansforbenefitingcommunitiesaround
thematvariousheritagesites.
¾ Visas on arrival to be increased to 150 countries in stages.
Green India
¾ Target of renewable energy capacity revised to 175000 MW till 2022, comprising
100000 MW Solar, 60000 MW Wind, 10000 MW Biomass and 5000 MW Small
Hydro.
¾ Aneedforprocurementlawtocontainmalfeasanceinpublicprocurement.
¾ ProposaltointroduceapublicContracts(resolutionofdisputes)Billtostreamlinethe
institutionalarrangementsforresolutionofsuchdisputes.
¾ ProposaltointroducearegulatoryreformBillthatwillbringaboutacogencyofapproach
acrossvarioussectorsofinfrastructure.
Skill India
¾ Lessthan5%ofourpotentialworkforcegetsformalskilltrainingtobeemployable. A
nationalskillmissiontoconsolidateskillinitiativesspreadaccrossseveralministriesto
belaunched.
¾ DeenDayalUpadhyayGraminKaushalYojanatoenhancetheemployabilityofrural
youth.
¾ A Committee for 100th birth celebration of Shri Deen Dayalji Upadhyay to be
announcedsoon.
¾ AstudentFinancialAidAuthoritytoadministerandmonitorthefront-endallscholarship
as well Educational Loan Schemes, through the Pradhan Mantri Vidya Lakshmi
Karyakram.

8. 7
¾ AnIITtobesetupinKarnatakaandIndianSchoolofMines,Dhanbadtobeupgraded
intoafull-fledgedIIT.
¾ New All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) to be set up in J&K, Punjab,
Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh andAssam.AnotherAIIMS like institutions to be set
upinBihar.
¾ ApostgraduateinstituteofHorticultureResearch&EducationistobesetupinAmritsar.
¾ 3newNationalInstituteofPharmaceuticalsEducationandResearchinMaharashtra,
Rajasthan&ChattisgarhandoneinstituteofScienceandEducationResearchistobe
set up in Nagaland & Orissa each.
¾ AnautonomousBankBoardBureautobesetuptoimprovethegovernanceofpublic
sector bank.
¾ The National Optical Fibre Network Programme (NOFNP) to be further speeded up
byallowingwillingstatestoexecuteonreimbursementofcostbasis.
¾ Special assistance to Bihar & West Bengal to be provided as in the case ofAndhra
Pradesh.
¾ Government is committed to comply with all the legal commitments made toAP&
Telenganaatthetimeoftheirre-organisation.
¾ Inspite of large increase in devolution to state sufficient fund allocated to education,
health,ruraldevelopment,housing,urbandevelopment,womenandchilddevelopment,
water resources & cleaning of Ganga.
¾ PartofDelhi-MumbaiIndustrialCorridor(DMIC);Ahmedabad-DhauleraInvestment
regionandShendra-BidkinIndustrialParkarenowinapositiontostartworkonbasic
infrastructure.
¾ MadeinIndiaandtheBuyandthemakeinIndiapolicyarebeingcarefullypursuedto
achievegreaterself-sufficiencyintheareaofdefenceequipmentincludingair-craft.
¾ The first phase of GIFTto become a reality very soon. Appropriate regulations to be
issuedinMarch.
BUDGETESTIMATES
¾ Non-PlanexpenditureestimatesfortheFinancialYearareestimatedat`13,12,200crore.
¾ Plan expenditure is estimated to be`4,65,277 crore, which is very near to the R.E. of
2014-15.
¾ Total Expenditure has accordingly been estimated at `17,77,477 crore.
¾ The requirements for expenditure on Defence, Internal Security and other necessary
expenditures are adequately provided.
¾ Gross Tax receipts are estimated to be `14,49,490 crore.
¾ Devolution to the States is estimated to be `5,23,958.
¾ Share of Central Government will be `9,19,842.

9. 8
¾ NonTax Revenues for the next fiscal are estimated to be `2,21,733 crore.
¾ Fiscal deficit will be 3.9 per cent of GDP and Revenue Deficit will be 2.8 per cent of
GDP.
TAXPROPOSAL
¾ Objectiveofstabletaxationpolicyandanon-adversarialtaxadministration.
¾ Fight against the scourge of black money to be taken forward.
¾ EffortsonvariousfrontstoimplementGSTfromnextyear.
¾ No change in rate of personal income tax.
¾ Proposal to reduce corporate tax from 30% to 25% over the next four years, starting
fromnextfinancialyear.
¾ Rationalisation and removal of various tax exemptions and incentives to reduce tax
disputesandimproveadministration.
¾ Exemptiontoindividualtaxpayerstocontinuetofacilitatesavings.
¾ Broadthemes:
♦ Measures to curb black money;
♦ Jobcreationthroughrevivalofgrowthandinvestmentandpromotionofdomestic
manufacturing–“MakeinIndia”;
♦ Improve ease of doing business - Minimum Government and maximum
governance;
♦ Improvequalityoflifeandpublichealth–SwachhBharat;
♦ Benefit to middle class tax-payers; and
♦ Stand alone proposals to maximise benefit to the economy.
Black Money
¾ Generationofblackmoneyanditsconcealmenttobedealtwitheffectivelyandforcefully.
¾ Investigationintocasesofundisclosedforeignassetshasbeengivenhighestpriorityin
thelastninemonths.
¾ Major breakthrough with Swiss authorities, who have agreed to:
♦ Provide information in respect of cases independently investigated by IT
department;
♦ Confirmgenuinenessofbankaccountsandprovidenon-bankinginformation;
♦ Providesuchinformationintime-boundmanner;and
♦ Commencetalksforautomaticexchangeofinformation.

10. 9
¾ Newstructureofelectronicfilingofstatementsbyreportingentitiestoensureseamless
integrationofdataformoreeffectiveenforcement.
¾ Bill for a comprehensive new law to deal with black money parked abroad to be
introducedinthecurrentsession.
¾ Key features of new law on black money:
♦ Evasion of tax in relation to foreign assets to have a punishment of rigorous
imprisonmentupto10years,benon-compoundable,haveapenaltyrateof300%
andtheoffenderwillnotbepermittedtoapproachtheSettlementCommission.
♦ Non-filingofreturn/filingofreturnwithinadequatedisclosurestohaveapunishment
ofrigorousimprisonmentupto7years.
♦ Undisclosedincomefromanyforeignassetstobetaxableatthemaximummarginal
rate.
♦ Mandatoryfilingofreturninrespectofforeignasset.
♦ Entities,banks,financialinstitutionsincludingindividualsallliableforprosecution
andpenalty.
♦ Concealment of income/evasion of income in relation to a foreign asset to be
made a predicate offence under PMLAct, 2002.
♦ PMLAct, 2002 and FEMAto be amended to enable administration of newAct
on black money.
¾ BenamiTransactions(Prohibition)Billtocurbdomesticblackmoneytobeintroduced
inthecurrentsessionofParliament.
¾ Acceptance or re-payment of an advance of ` 20,000 or more in cash for purchase of
immovablepropertytobeprohibited.
¾ PAN being made mandatory for any purchase or sale exceeding Rupees 1 lakh.
¾ Third party reporting entities would be required to furnish information about foreign
currency sales and cross border transactions.
¾ Provisiontotacklesplittingofreportabletransactions.
¾ LeverageoftechnologybyCBDTandCBECtoaccessinformationfromeither’sdata
bases.
Make in India
¾ Revival of growth and investment and promotion of domestic manufacturing for job
creation.
¾ Tax “pass through” to be allowed to both category I and category II alternative
investmentfunds.

11. 10
¾ Rationalisationofcapitalgainsregimeforthesponsorsexitingatthetimeoflistingof
theunitsofREITsandInvITs.
¾ RentalincomeofREITsfromtheirownassetstohavepassthroughfacility.
¾ Permanent Establishment (PE) norm to be modified to encourage fund managers to
relocate to India.
¾ GeneralAntiAvoidance Rule (GAAR) to be deferred by two years.
¾ GAAR to apply to investments made on or after 01.04.2017, when implemented.
¾ Additional investment allowance (@ 15%) and additional depreciation (@35%) to
newmanufacturingunitssetupduringtheperiod01-04-2015to31-03-2020innotified
backward areas ofAndhra Pradesh and Telangana.
¾ Rate of Income-tax on royalty and fees for technical services reduced from 25% to
10%tofacilitatetechnologyinflow.
¾ Benefitofdeductionforemploymentofnewregularworkmentoallbusinessentities
andeligibilitythresholdreduced.
¾ BasicCustomdutyoncertaininputs,rawmaterials,intermediatesandcomponentsin
22items,reducedtominimisetheimpactofdutyinversion.
¾ Allgoods,exceptpopulatedprintedcircuitboardsforuseinmanufactureofITAbound
items,exemptedfromSAD.
¾ SAD reduced on import of certain inputs and raw materials.
¾ Excise duty on chassis for ambulance reduced from 24% to 12.5%.
¾ Balance of 50% of additional depreciation @ 20% for new plant and machinery
installedandusedforlessthansixmonthsbyamanufacturingunitoraunitengagedin
generationanddistributionofpoweristobeallowedimmediatelyinthenextyear.
Ease of doing business – Minimum Government Maximum Governance
¾ Simplificationoftaxprocedures.
¾ MonetarylimitforacasetobeheardbyasinglememberbenchofITATincreasefrom
` 5 lakh to `15 lakh.
¾ Penaltyprovisioninindirecttaxesarebeingrationalisedtoencouragecomplianceand
earlydisputeresolution.
¾ Central excise/Service tax assesses to be allowed to use digitally signed invoices and
maintainrecordelectronically.

12. 11
¾ Wealth-taxreplacedwithadditionalsurchargeof2percentonsuperrichwithataxable
income of over`1 crore annually.
¾ ProvisionofindirecttransfersintheIncome-taxActsuitablycleanedup.
¾ Applicabilityofindirecttransferprovisionstodividendspaidbyforeigncompaniesto
their shareholders to be addressed through a clarificatory circular.
¾ Domestic transfer pricing threshold limit increased from `5 crore to ` 20 crore.
¾ MATrationalised for FIIs and members of anAOP.
¾ TaxAdministrationReformCommission(TARC)recommendationstobeappropriately
implementedduringthecourseoftheyear.
¾ EducationcessandtheSecondaryandHighereducationcesstobesubsumedinCentral
ExciseDuty.
¾ Specific rates of central excise duty in case of certain other commodities revised.
¾ Exciselevyoncigarettesandthecompoundedlevyschemeapplicabletopanmasala,
gutkha and other tobacco products also changed.
¾ Excisedutyonfootwearwithleatheruppersandhavingretailpriceofmorethan`1000
per pair reduced to 6%.
¾ Online central excise and service tax registration to be done in two working days.
¾ Time limit for taking CENVAT credit on inputs and input services increased from 6
months to 1 year.
¾ Service-taxpluseducationcessesincreasedfrom12.36%to14%tofacilitatetransition
to GST.
¾ Donation made to National Fund for Control of DrugAbuse (NFCDA) to be eligible
for 100% deduction u/s 80G of Income-taxAct.
¾ Seized cash can be adjusted towards assessees tax liability.
SwachhBharat
¾ 100%deductionforcontributions,otherthanbywayofCSRcontribution,toSwachh
Bharat Kosh and Clean Ganga Fund.
¾ Clean energy cess increased from `100 to `200 per metric tonne of coal, etc. to
financecleanenvironmentinitiatives.
¾ Excise duty on sacks and bags of polymers of ethylene other than for industrial use
increased from 12% to 15%.

13. 12
¾ EnablingprovisiontolevySwachhBharatcessatarateof2%orlessonallorcertain
services, if need arises.
¾ ServicesbycommonaffluenttreatmentplantexemptfromService-tax.
¾ Concessionsoncustomandexcisedutyavailabletoelectricallyoperatedvehiclesand
hybrid vehicles extended upto 31.03.2016.
Benefits to middle class tax-payers
¾ Limit of deduction of health insurance premium increased from`15000 to ` 25000,
for senior citizens limit increased from`20000 to `30000.
¾ Seniorcitizensabovetheageof80years,whoarenotcoveredbyhealthinsurance,to
be allowed deduction of ` 30000 towards medical expenditures.
¾ Deductionlimitof` 60000withrespecttospecifieddeceaseofseriousnatureenhanced
to ` 80000 in case of senior citizen.
¾ Additionaldeductionof`25000allowedfordifferentlyabledpersons.
¾ Limitondeductiononaccountofcontributiontoapensionfundandthenewpension
scheme increased from ` 1 lakh to `1.5 lakh.
¾ Additionaldeductionof`50000forcontributiontothenewpensionschemeu/s80CCD.
¾ Paymentstothebeneficiariesincludinginterestpaymentondeposit inSukanyaSamriddhi
schemetobefullyexempt.
¾ Service-taxexemptiononVarishthaBimaYojana.
¾ Concessiontoindividualtax-payersdespiteinadequatefiscalspace.
¾ Lot to look forward to as fiscal capacity improves.
¾ Conversionofexistingexcisedutyonpetrolanddieseltotheextentof` 4perlitreinto
Road Cess to fund investment.
¾ Service Tax exemption extended to certain pre cold storage services in relation to
fruitsandvegetablessoastoincentivisevalueadditionincrucialsector.
¾ NegativeListunderservice-taxisbeingslightlyprunedtowidenthetaxbase.
¾ YogatobeincludedwithintheambitofcharitablepurposeunderSection2(15)ofthe
Income-taxAct.
¾ Tomitigatetheproblembeingfacedbymanygenuinecharitableinstitutions,itisproposed
to modify the ceiling on receipts from activities in the nature of trade, commerce or
business to 20% of the total receipts from the existing ceiling of` 25 lakh.

14. 13
¾ Most provisions of DirectTaxes Code have already been included in the Income-tax
Act, therefore, no great merit in going ahead with the Direct Taxes Code as it exists
today.
¾ Direct tax proposals to result in revenue loss of ` 8315 crore, whereas the proposals
in indirect taxes are expected to yield ` 23383 crore. Thus, the net impact of all tax
proposals would be revenue gain of `15068 crore.
Others
¾ Increaseinbasiccustomduty:
♦ Metallergical coke from 2.5 % to 5%.
♦ Tariff rate on iron and steel and articles of iron and steel increased from 10% to
15%.
♦ Tariff rate on commercial vehicle increased from 10 % to 40%.
¾ Basiccustomdutyondigitalstillimagevideocamerawithcertainspecificationreduced
tonil.
¾ Excisedutyonrailsformanufactureofrailwayortramwaytrackconstructionmaterial
exempted retrospectively from 17-03-2012 to 02-02-2014, if not CENVATcredit of
dutypaidonsuchrailsisavailed.
¾ Service-tax to be levied on service provided by way of access to amusement facility,
entertainment events or concerts, pageants, non recoganised sporting events etc.
¾ Service-taxexemption:
♦ Servicesofpre-conditioning,pre-cooling,ripeningetc.offruitsandvegetables.
♦ LifeinsuranceserviceprovidedbywayofVarishthaPensionBimaYojana.
♦ Allambulanceservicesprovidedtopatients.
♦ Admissiontomuseum,zoo,nationalpark,wilelifesanctuaryandtigerreserve.
♦ Transport of goods for export by road from factory to land customs station.
¾ EnablingprovisionmadetoexcludeallservicesprovidedbytheGovernmentorlocal
authoritytoabusinessentityfromthenegativelist.
¾ Service-taxexemptiontoconstruction,erection,commissioningorinstallationoforiginal
works pertaining to an airport or port withdrawn.
¾ TransportationofagriculturalproducetoremainexemptfromService-tax.
¾ Artificial heart exempt from basic custom duty of 5% and CVD.
¾ Excise duty exemption for captively consumed intermediate compound coming into
existanceduringthemanufactureofagarbathi.