SSB Awareness Series: Budget 2016-17

Budget For this financial year is said to be a common man's budget. There is no doubt that a lot of initiatives are being taken to improve the situation but we need more focus on ground reality. Lets study the highlights of this budget in a snapshot.

Costlier	Cheaper
CARS: Infrastructure cess of upto 4% on vehicles will raise prices from Rs.3000 to Rs. 1 lakh	FOOTWEAR: Excise Duty on rubber sheets for soles & Heels reduced from 12.5 to 6%
AIR TRAVEL: Excise Duty on ATF up from 8% to 14% besides extra Krishi Kalyan Cess	SOLAR LAMPS: Exempted from excise duty earlier it was taxed at 12.5%
CIGARETTES & TOBACCO: up to 15 % excise duty on all tobacco products except Beedi	BROADBAND MODEMS: Excise Duty reduced to 4% from 12.5%
JEWELLERY & SMART WATCHES: 1% excise duty on gold jewellery reimposed	BRAILLE PAPER: Exempted from custom duty; earlier subjected to 10 % import duty
EATING OUT & WATCHING MOVIES: Due to new levy krishi kalyan cess on all services	CCTV CAMERAS: Exempted from excise duty that was 12.5% in the past
DESKTOPS,TABLETS: Exemption of special additional duty on printed circuits boards withdrawn	DIALYSIS EQUIPMENT: Excise duty on disposable sterilized dialyzer now nil

 Introduction 

Growth of Economy accelerated to 7.6 per cent in 2015-16.

India hailed as a 'bright spot' amidst a slowing global economy by IMF.

Robust growth achieved despite very unfavorable global conditions and two consecutive years shortfall in monsoon by 13 per cent

Foreign exchange reserves touched highest ever level of about 350 billion US dollars.

Despite increased devolution to States by 55 per cent as a result of the 14th Finance Commission award, plan expenditure increased at RE stage in 2015-16 - in contrast to earlier years.

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Challenges in 2016-17 

·        Risks of further global slowdown and turbulence.

·        Additional fiscal burden due to 7th Central Pay Commission recommendations and OROP.

Roadmap & priorities 

·        Government needs to focus on ensuring macro-economic stability and prudent fiscal management.

·        Boosting on domestic demand

·        Continuing with the pace of economic reforms and policy initiatives to change the lives of our people for the better.

·        Focus on enhancing expenditure in priority areas of - farm and rural sector, social sector, infrastructure sector employment generation and recapitalization of the banks.

·        Focus on Vulnerable sections through Pradhan MantriFasalBimaYojana

·        New health insurance scheme to protect against hospitalization expenditure

·        facility of cooking gas connection for BPL families

·        Continue with the ongoing reform programme and ensure passage of the Goods and Service Tax bill and Insolvency and Bankruptcy law

Citing that the CPI inflation has come down to 5.4% from 9 plus.

Tax

·        Infrastructure and agriculture cess to be levied.

·        Excise duty raised from 10 to 15 per cent on tobacco products other than beedis

·        1 per cent service charge on purchase of luxury cars over Rs. 10 lakh and in-cash purchase of goods and services over Rs. 2 lakh.

·        SUVs, Luxury cars to be more expensive. 4% high capacity tax for SUVs.

·        Companies with revenue less than Rs 5 crore to be taxed at 29% plus surcharge

·        Limited tax compliance window from Jun 1 - Sep 30 for declaring undisclosed income at 45% incl. surcharge and penalties

·        Excise 1 per cent imposed on articles of jewellery, excluding silver.

·        0.5 per cent KrishiKalyanCess to be levied on all services.

·        Pollution cess of 1 per cent on small petrol, LPG and CNG cars; 2.5 per cent on diesel cars of certain specifications; 4 per cent on higher-end models.

·        Dividend in excess of Rs. 10 lakh per annum to be taxed at additional 10 per cent.

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Personal Finance

·        No changes have been made to existing income tax slabs

·        Rs 1,000 crore allocated for new EPF (Employees' Provident Fund) scheme

·        Govt. will pay EPF contribution of 8.33% for all new employees for first three years

·        Deduction for rent paid will be raised from Rs 20,000 to Rs 60,000 to benefit those living in rented houses.

·        Additional exemption of Rs. 50,000 for housing loans up to Rs. 35 lakh, provided cost of house is not above Rs. 50 lakh.

·        Service tax exempted for housing construction of houses less than 60 sq. m

·        15 per cent surcharge on income above Rs. 1 crore

Social

·        Rs. 38,500 crore for Mahtma Gandhi MGNREGA for 2016-17

·        Swacch Bharat Abhiyan allocated Rs.9,500 crores.

·        Hub to support SC/ST entrepreneurs

·        Government is launching a new initiative to provide cooking gas to BPL families with state support.

·        LPG connections to be provided under the name of women members of family: Rs 2000 crore allocated for 5 years for BPL families.

·        2.87 lakh crore grants to gram panchayats and municipalities - a quantum jump of 228%.

·        300 urban clusters to be set up under Shyama Prasad Mukherji urban Mission

·        Four schemes for animal welfare.

Health

·        2.2 lakh renal patients added every year in India. Basic dialysis equipment gets some relief.

·        A new health protection scheme for health cover up to 1 lakh per family.

·        National Dialysis Service Prog with funds thru PPP mode to provide dialysis at all district hospitals.

·        Senior citizens will get additional healthcare cover of Rs 30,000 under the new scheme

·        PM Jan Aushadhi Yojana to be strengthened, 300 generic drug store to be opened

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Education

·        Scheme to get Rs.500 cr for promoting entrepreneurship among SC/ST

·        10 public and 10 private educational institutions to be made world-class.

·        Digital repository for all school leaving certificates and diplomas. Rs. 1,000 crore for higher education financing.

·        Rs. 1,700 crore for 1500 multi-skill development centres.

·        62 new navodayavidyalayas to provide quality education

·        Digital literacy scheme to be launched to cover 6 crore additional rural households

·        Entrepreneurship training to be provided across schools, colleges and massive online courses.

·        Objective to skill 1 crore youth in the next 3 years under the PM KaushalVikasYojna

·        National Skill Development Mission has imparted training to 76 lakh youth. 1500 Multi-skill training institutes to be set up.

Energy

·        Rs. 3000 crore earmarked for nuclear power generation

·        Govt drawing comprehensive plan to be implemented in next 15-20 years for exploiting nuclear energy

·        Govt to provide incentive for deepwater gas exploration

·        Deepwater gas new disc to get calibrated market freedom, pre-determined ceiling price based on landed price of alternate fuels.

Investments and infrastructure

·        Rs. 27,000 crore to be spent on roadways

·        65 eligible habitats to be connected via 2.23 lakh kms of road. Current construction pace is 100 kms/day

·        Shops to be given option to remain open all seven days in a week across markets.

·        Rs. 55,000 crore for roads and highways. Total allocation for road construction, including PMGSY, - Rs 97,000 crore

·        India's highest-ever production of motor vehicles was recorded in 2015

·        Total outlay for infrastructure in Budget 2016 now stands at Rs. 2,21,246 crore

·        New greenfield ports to be developed on east and west coasts

·        Revival of underserved airports. Centre to Partner with States to revive small airports for regional connectivity

·        100 per cent FDI in marketing of food products produced and marketed in India

·        Dept. of Disinvestment to be renamed as Dept. of Investment and Public Asset Management

·        Govt will amend Motor Vehicle Act in passenger vehicle segment to allow innovation.

·        MAT will be applicable for startups that qualify for 100 per cent tax exemption

·        Direct tax proposals result in revenue loss of Rs.1060 crore, indirect tax proposals result in gain of Rs.20,670 crore

Agriculture

·        Total allocation for agriculture and farmer welfare at Rs 35984 crores

·        28.5 lakh heactares of land will be brought under irrigation.

·        5 lakh acres to be brought under organic farming over a three year period

·        Rs 60,000 crore for recharging of ground water recharging as there is urgent need to focus on drought hit areas cluster development for water conservation.

·        Dedicated irrigation fund in NABARD of Rs.20.000 cr

·        Nominal premium and highest ever compensation in case of crop loss under the PM FasalBimaYojna.

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Banking

·        Banks get a big boost: Rs 25,000 crore towards recapitalization of public sector banks. Jaitley says: Banking Board Bureau will be operationalized, we stand solidly behind public sector banks.

·        Target of disbursement under MUDRA increased to 1,80,000 crore

·        Process of transfer of government stake in IDBI Bank below 50% started

·        General Insurance companies will be listed in the stock exchange

·        Govt. to increase ATMs, micro-ATMs in post offices in next three years

Make in India : Changes in customs and excise duty rates on certain inputs to reduce costs and improve competitiveness of domestic industry in sectors like Information technology hardware, capital goods, defence production, textiles, mineral fuels & mineral oils, chemicals & petrochemicals, paper, paperboard & newsprint, Maintenance repair and overhauling [MRO] of aircrafts and ship repair.

Annuity (Insurance) Policies from 3.5 per cent to 1.4 per cent of the premium paid in certain cases.

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About the Author: Ramandeep Singh gill from Delhi completed BSC in Hospitality and Hotel administration from IHM, PUSA. He loves to be surrounded by nature. Playing badminton is a stress buster for him. Great pet lover and interested in reading newspaper. Running and cycling always makes him feel energetic. Currently working as administration assistant cum IELTS Lecturer, he is a die heart defense aspirant.