The Interim Union Budget for the Financial Year 2014-15 was tabled before the Parliament today. Following are the salient features of the Budget.
* Plan expenditure in 2014-15 at Rs.5 lakh 55,322 crore; non-plan expenditure at Rs.12 lakh 7,892 crore.
* Fiscal deficit to be at 4.1 percent in 2014-15
* Duties cut to revive economy
* Excise on small cars/two-wheelers lowered to 8 percent, on SUVs to 24 percent, on large cars to 20 percent
* Blood banks exempted from service tax
* Research funding organisation to be created to promote scientific R&D
* Rs.65,000 crore for fuel subsidies
* India’s economy at 11th; aiming to be third
* Fiscal deficit at 3 percent
* PPP model to be increasingly viewed
* All taxes on exports to be waived for manufacturing sector
* Plan expenditure at Rs.5 lakh 55,322 crore in 2014-15
* Defence expenditure enhanced 10 percent to Rs.2 lakh 24,000 crore
* Budgetary support to railways at Rs.29,000 crore in 2014-15
* One rank one pension demand accepted; to be implemented with Rs.500 crore in 2014-15
* Two projects sanctioned under Nirbhaya Fund; original Rs.1,000 crore made non-lapsable; another Rs.1,000 crore granted
* Central assistance of Rs.3,38,562 lakh crore in 2014-15
* Construction underway for 50,000MW of conventional power
* Four solar generation plants of 500 MW each to be constructed in 2014-15
* Four solar generation plants of 500 MW each to be constructed in 2014-15
* Community radio to be promoted with Rs.100 crore
* Growth estimated in 2013-14 at 4.9 percent
* No policy paralysis
* 100 million jobs to be created in a decade
* 19 oil blocks allocated
* Seven new airports under construction
* WPI inflation at 5.05 percent in January
* Core inflation at 3 percent
* Food grain production in 2013-14 estimated at 263 million tonnes
* Exports estimated at $326 billion in current fiscal
* Over 29,000 MW of power capacity added during fiscal
* Challenges we face common to emerging economies
* India not unaffected by events in global economy
* Fiscal deficit at 4.6 percent
* Current account deficit at $45 billion
* Hope to add $15 billion to forex reserves