SSB GD Topic : UNION BUDGET- 2015-16 - Part 2

In this part we will see the highlights of the budget. I have tried to present the summary of the budget in the nutshell that has been prepared from the Budget document made available to the public. 

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on 28th February 2015 presented the Union Budget for the year

2015-16. Being termed as 'make or break', this is Arun Jaitley and the NDA Government's first full year Budget. Here are the key highlights of the Budget.

BUDGET-2015-16

IMPORTANT NOS. TO NOTE

Non-Plan expenditure : Rs 13,12,200 crore.

 Plan expenditure: Rs Rs 4,65,277 crore.

 Total expenditure: Rs 17,77,477 crore.

 Gross Tax receipts : Rs 14,49,490 crore.

 Devolution to the States : Rs 5,23,958 crore.

 Share of Central Government : Rs 9,19,842 crore.

 Non Tax Revenues : Rs 2,21,733 crore.

 Fiscal deficit : 3.9% of GDP and Revenue Deficit: 2.8% of GDP

HIGHLIGHTS OF UNION BUDGET 2015-16

1. Regulatory reform law for infrastructure development

2. To launch National Skills Mission to boost jobs

3. Committee to be set up to plan the celebration of the 100th birth anniversary of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya

4. Govt to do away with distinctions between FII and FDI and replace it with Composite Caps

5. Another 1,000 crores for Nirbhaya Fund

6. Corpus for maintenance of Global Heritage Sites at Goa, Gujarat, J&K, Mumbai, Punjab and Telangana

7. Environment friendly development process only

8. Foreign investment in alternate investment funds

9. Govt to introduce Gold Monetization Scheme, Sovereign Gold Bonds

10. EPF & ESI has hostage rather than client ; ESI should be made optional to employees

11.Visa on arrival for 150 countries in phases

12. FMC to be strengthened by merging with SEBI

13.To put in place bankruptcy code soon

14.Employees contribution to EPF should be optional

15.Indian Gold Coin with Ashok Chakra

16.Ultra Mega power projects, of 4000 MW announced

17.Highest ever allocation for MGNREGA, by increasing it this year by 5,000 crore rupees

18.Internationally competitive Direct Tax regime to be put in place

19.Deepening of bond market to complement our world class equity; Public Debt Management agency towards this end

20. Ports in public sector will be encouraged to corporatize & become companies under Companies Act

21.Plan an expert committee for Drafting Legislation for Regulatory mechanism

22. NBFCs with size of Rs 500 cr and above to get parity in recoveries

23. Capex for state PSUs to be Rs 3.17 lakh crore

24.PM agri plans get Rs 3,000 crore extra allocation

25.Initial sum of Rs 150 Cr to create world class IT hub to take advantage of our competitiveness

26.Expert committee to examine need for multiple prior clearances for projects

27. PPP model has to be revised and revitalized

28.Rs 30,000 crore allocation for SC welfare schemes

29.Lending priority to be given to SC, ST in Mudra bank

30. Outlay upped by 24,000 cr for rail, road

31.Atal Innovation Mission to foster culture of research among India's and global brain

32.Investment in Infrastructure to go up by 70,000 crores in 2015-16 over 2014-15

33.Tax free Infrastructure bonds for projects in railways and roads

34.PM Surakhsha Bima Yojna to increase the access to insurance ; it will be linked with Jan Dhan Yojna

35.Atal Pension Yojna to provide defined pension according to contribution

36.Divestment in loss making units

37.New scheme called Nayi Manzil to enable minority youth without school-leaving certificates to get the employment

38. Exhibition of Parsi culture

39. Senior citizens welfare fund to subsidise the premium for elderly people

40.MUDRA bank to refinance micro finance institution under PMs MUDRA scheme

41. To launch PM Suraksha Bhima Yojana, offering coverage of 2 lakh rupees for just premium of Rs 12(Rs 1 per month)

42. Universal Social Security for all Indians.

SECTOR WISE HIGHLIGHTS:

Taxation

1. Abolition of Wealth Tax.

2. Additional 2% surcharge for the super rich with income of over Rs. 1 crore.

3. Rate of corporate tax to be reduced to 25% over next four years.

4. Total exemption of up to Rs. 4,44,200 can be achieved.

5. 100% exemption for contribution to Swachch Bharat, apart from CSR.

6. Service tax increased to14 per cent.

Agriculture

1. Rs. 25,000 crore for Rural Infrastructure Development Bank.

2. Rs. 5,300 crore to support Micro Irrigation Programme.

3. Farmers credit - target of 8.5 lakh crore

Infrastructure

1. Rs. 70,000 crores to Infrastructure sector.

2. Tax-free bonds for projects in rail road and irrigation

3. PPP model for infrastructure development to be revitalised and govt. to bear majority of the risk.

4. Rs. 150 crore allocated for Research & Development

5. NITI to be established and involvement of entrepreneurs, researchers to foster scientific innovations.

6. Govt. proposes to set up 5 ultra mega power projects, each of 4000MW.

In Part 3 of the series which will be the last one we will cover the remaining sectors like education, defense ,etc. So keep reading and memorizing the important facts which can be used as part of GD, Lecturette or the interview process at SSB.

About the Author:  Surya Deo Mishra is a mechanical engineer and a die heart defense aspirant. He loves travelling and playing volley ball. This article is a way to help defense aspirants to present his critical views on the topic, on the forum so that collective exchange of thoughts can take place.