Affirming that the economy is right on track, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the Union Budget for 2016-17. Citing that the CPI inflation has come down to 5.4% from 9 plus, he said it is huge relief for the public. 

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 Krishi Kalyan Cess 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. 

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 entrpreneurs 

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 Rurban 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 upto 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 

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 navodaya vidyalayas 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 Kaushal Vikas Yojna-FM Jaitley

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 wil 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 Fasal Bima Yojna. 

Banking

Banks get a big boost: Rs 25,000 crore towards recapitalisation of public sector banks. Jaitley says: Banking Board Bureau will be operationalised, 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

Source : thehindu.com