NDA Govt Budget 2017-18 - Highlights

Budget 2017-18 was ground breaking in many ways. It is the first time that the presentation of Union Budget was advanced to 1st February to enable ministries to operationalise all activities from the commencement of the financial year. Second, the Railways Budget was merged with the General Budget. Thirdly, the plan and nonplan classification of expenditure was removed to facilitate a holistic view of allocations for sectors and ministries.

Tax rates halved to 5% for income of Rs. 2.5-5 lakh, tax slabs unchanged

10% surcharge on people earning between Rs. 50 lakh-1 cr

15% surcharge on annual income above Rs. 1 cr to continue

Cash transactions above Rs. 3 lakh banned

Corporate tax for SMEs with turnover up to Rs. 50 cr cut to 25%; 96% companies to benefit

Customs duty of LNG halved to 2.5%

Fiscal deficit pegged at 3.2% next year, 3% in FY’19

Political parties barred from accepting cash donation beyond Rs. 2,000 per individual. They can receive donations via cheques, electronic mode; electoral bonds to be issued by RBI

Aadhaar—based health cards for senior citizens; a scheme for them to ensure 8 per cent guaranteed returns

FIPB to be abolished; further FDI policy liberalisation

Government to have time-bound procedure for CPSE listing

Railway PSUs —— IRCTC, IRFC, IRCON to be listed

Payment Regulatory Board to be set up within RBI to regulate digital payments

Negotiable instruments Act to be amended to deal with cheque bounce cases

Legislative changes to confiscate of assets of economic offenders who flee country

Demonetisation bold, decisive measure; to help GDP growth, taxes mop up to rise

Effect of demonetisation not to spill over to next year

GST, demonetisation ‘tectonic changes’ for economy

Service charges on e—tickets booked via IRCTC waived

Capital expenditure of Railway fixed at Rs. 1.31 lakh cr

Rail safety fund of Rs. 1 lakh cr over 5 years, unmanned level crossing to be eliminated by 2020

Budget based on 3 agenda —— Transform, Energise, Clean India (TECIndia).

3 year period for long—term capital gains tax on immovable property reduced to 2 years; base year indexation shifted from April 1, 1981 to April 1, 2001

Disinvestment target at Rs. 72,500 cr, up from 56,500 crore

Gross market borrowing pegged at Rs. 6.05 lakh crore

Duty exempted on POS machines and Iris readers for encouraging digital payments

Tax benefits for Start ups to be for 3 out of 7 years

FPI to be exempt from indirect transfer provision

Integrated public sector oil major to be created to match global giants

Direct Tax collection growth 15.8%, indirect tax 8.3%

Total expenditure pegged at Rs. 21.47 lakh crore

Capital expenditure up 24%; to have multiplier effect

Allocation to states hiked to Rs. 4.11 cr

FRBM Committee suggests Debt—GDP ratio of 60% by 2020

Retail inflation to remain within 2—6 pc

2 new AIIMS to come up in Jharkhand, Gujarat

Highest ever allocation of Rs. 48,000 cr to MNREGA

Farm sector to grow at 4.1% this fiscal, to double farm income in five years

Farm credit target for next fiscal at Rs. 10 lakh crore

Fasal Bima yojana increased to 40% of crop area; raised to Rs. 1.41 lakh crore in Kharif 2017 season

Infrastructure investment pegged at Rs. 3.96 lakh cr

To double irrigation fund corpus to Rs. 40,000 cr

Infrastructure status accorded affordable housing

Dairy processing fund with Rs. 2000cr corpus to be set up

Rs. 1.84 lakh cr allocated for women, child initiatives

Rs. 1.87 lakh cr allocated to rural, agri, allied sectors

1 crore houses by 2019 for homeless

PM Awas Yojana allocation up from Rs. 15,000 cr to Rs. 23,000 cr

100% village electrification to be achieved by May 2018

Rs. 31,920 cr allocated for Scheduled Tribes, Rs. 4,195 cr minority affairs, outcome based budgeting to start

Road sector allocation hiked to Rs. 64,000 cr

Innovation Fund to be created for Secondary Education

Allocation of Rs. 2.41 lakh crore rail, road, shipping to create jobs, spur economic activity

New metro rail policy to be announced

New crude oil reserves proposed at Odisha and Rajasthan; to take strategic reserve capacity to 15.33 mmt

India on cusp of digital revolution

FDI increased 35% to Rs. 1.45 lakh crore in H1 FY’17

2 new schemes —— Referral Bonus for individuals, Cash Back for merchants —— under BHIM app soon

Aadhaar enabled payment system for merchants shortly

Bill on curtailing menace of illicit deposit schemes in offing

Fiscal deficit for this fiscal at 3.2%, down from budget estimate of 3.5%

FRBM Committee recommends 3% fiscal deficit for 3 years

Rs. 10,000 cr to be provided to banks for recapitalisation

Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES) to be launched next fiscal

Simple 1 page form to be filled by individuals having taxable income of Rs. 5 lakh

Excise duty on cigars, cheroots hiked to 12.5% or Rs. 4,006 per thousand

Excise duty on pan masala hiked to 9% from 6%; on raw tobacco raised to 8.3% from 4%

Parts used for manufacture of LED lights to attract basic customs duty of 5% and CVD of 6%

Solar tempered glass used for manufacture of solar cells/panels exempted from customs duty

Customs duty on printed circuit board for manufacture of mobile phones hiked to 2% from nil

Threshold for audit of businesses opting for presumptive income doubled to Rs. 2 cr

Under presumptive taxation for professionals up to Rs. 50 lakh advance tax can be paid in one instalment

Scope of domestic transfer pricing restricted to entities availing profit linked deduction

Presumptive tax would be 6% for SMEs with Rs. 2 crore turnover opting for digital payment, 8% for others

MAT credit will be allowed to be carried forward for 15 years, as against 10 years at present

Lending target under Mudra Yojana set at Rs. 2.44 lakh cr

Computer Emergency Response Team for Financial Sector to be established

Extensive reach out programme for GST to be launched on April 1.