By IANS
New Delhi : The highlights of India’s national budget for 2008-09 presented by Finance Minister P. Chidamabaram in the Lok Sabha Friday:
No income tax on annual earnings of Rs.150,000
Rs.4,000 minimum relief for all tax assesees
10 percent tax on income between Rs.150,000 and Rs.300,000
20 percent tax on income between Rs.300,000 and Rs.500,000
30 percent tax on income over Rs.500,000
No income tax for women with annual income up to Rs.180,000
No income tax for senior citizens with annual income up to Rs.225,000
Over 8 percent growth for 12 successive years
Maintaining growth with price stability
Maintaining supply of food main task in coming fiscal
Concern: Inflationary trends
Concern: Capital inflow exceeds current account deficit
Farm growth disappointing at 2.6 percent
Gross budgetary support rises to Rs.380 billion
Education gets 20 percent more to Rs.344 billion from Rs.286.8 billion
Rural infrastructure scheme Bharat Nirman to get Rs.312.8 billion
Midday meal scheme for schoolchildren to get Rs.80 billion
School enrolment scheme Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan to get Rs.131 billion
Government and Reserve Bank of India to manage capital inflow
16 new central universities
3 new Indian Institutes of Technology
Government to raise additional resources worth Rs.100 billion
National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) extended to all 596 rural districts
NREGS to get Rs.160 billion, more money will be provided on need
Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission to get Rs.68.66 billion, up from Rs.54.82 billion
National health insurance for poor introduced
Northeast development to get Rs.14.55 billion
Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, minorities get special allocations
Rs.5.5 billion for minority dominated districts
HIV/AIDS prevention to get Rs.9.93 billion
Complete loan waivers for farms up to 2 hectares
Weather based crop insurance scheme to continue
Rs.400 million for special tea fund
Rs.200 billion for irrigation
Total plan spending will be Rs.2.4 trillion
Farm credit target at Rs.2.8 trillion
Health spending to rise 15 percent
Loan waiver to benefit 40 million farmers
Farm debt waiver scheme to cost Rs.600 billion
Farm debt scheme to be completed by June 30
Additional 10,000 MW power generation by March 2009
Government to create national fund for power transmission and distribution
Foreign direct investment in April-Dec 2007 at $12.7 billion
Banks to open 250 rural household accounts every year in rural branches
Banks to give loans to self-help groups for income-generating activities, social needs and debt swapping
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) to get Rs.50 billion to refinance loans
Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi) to get Rs.40 billion to refinance loans
National Housing Bank to get Rs.12 billion
Foreign Exchange Derivatives Market to be set up
Coal regulator to be set up
Textile upgrading funding to get Rs.10.9 billion
National highways to get Rs.129.7 billion
Rs.440 million to improve infrastructure at 22 Sainik schools
Food subsidies at Rs.326.67 billion
Defence spending to rise 10 percent
Rs.80 billion for accelerated power development programmes
PAN requirement extended to all securities transactions
Rs.129.66 billion for National Highway development programme
100,000 broadband-enabled common service centres to be set up in villages
Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana to get Rs.2.8 trillion
Tax-GDP ratio rises to 12.5 percent
Sixth central pay commission to submit report by March
General central value-added tax rate slashed to 14 percent from 16 percent
Fiscal and revenue deficit pegged at 3.1 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively
Revenue deficit would be 1.4 percent against budget estimate of 1.5 percent