Upcoming Union Budget Highlights 2012

The biggest challenges during long Political Career of Finance Minister Mr. Pranab Mukherjee that Today's Budget-2012. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee presented India's federal budget to parliament on Friday for the coming financial year beginning in April.

Latest news about the budget 2012-2013 that it has been passed by the government and now all highlights are available.

Some Highlights about Budget 2012-2013.

• Income tax exemption limit raised to Rs.2 lakh to provide relief of relief of Rs.2,000 for all assessees; 20 per cent tax on income over Rs.10 lakh, up from Rs.8 lakh.
• Deduction of up to Rs.10,000 from interest from savings bank accounts.
• Defence to get Rs.1.93 lakh crore during 2012-13.
• Service tax rate raised from 10 per cent to 12 per cent to bring in Rs.18,660 crore. 
• Number of proactive steps taken on black money (stashed away abroad); information has started flowing in, prosecution to be initiated; White Paper in current session.
• No change in corporate taxes but measures to enable them better access funds.
• Withholding tax on external commercial borrowings reduced from 20 per cent to five per cent for power, airlines, roads, bridges, affordable houses and fertilizer sectors.
• National Skill Development Fund allocated Rs.1,000 crore.
• Four thousand residential quarters to be constructed for paramilitary forces with an allocation of Rs.1,185 crore.
• National Population Register to be completed in two years.
• Excise duty raised from 10 to 12 per cent.
• Cinema industry exempted from service tax. 
• Branded silver jewellery fully exempt from excise duty.
• Customs duty on warning systems/track upgrade equipment for railways reduced from 10 per cent to 7.5 per cent.
• Import duty on equipment for iron ore mining reduced from 7.5 to 2.5 per cent.
• Allocation of Rs.200 crore for research on climate change.
• Irrigation and water resource company to be operationalized. 
• National mission on food processing to be started in cooperation with state governments.
• Integrated Child Development Scheme to be strengthened and restructured with allocation of Rs.15,850 crore.
• Allocation of Rs.14,000 crore for rural water supply and sanitation.
• Infusion of Rs.15,888 crore in public sector banks, regional rural banks and NABARD in 2012-13.
• Infrastructure will require Rs.50 lakh crore in 12th Plan, half of this from the private sector.
• Completion of highway projects 44 per cent higher than in previous fiscal. 
• External commercial borrowing of up to $1 billion permitted for airline sector.
• External commercial borrowings permitted to low-cost housing sector.
• From 2012-13, full subsidies for providing food security; in other sectors to the extent the economy can bear this.
• Hope to raise Rs.30,000 crore from disinvestment.
• New equity savings scheme to provide for income tax deduction of 50 per cent for those who invest Rs.50,000 in equity and whose annual income is less than Rs.10 lakh.
• Corporate market reforms to be initiated.
• Bills on micro-finance institutions, national land bank and public debt management among those to be introduced in 2012-13.
• Addressing malnutrition, black money and corruption in public life among five priorities in year ahead.
• India's inflation structural, driven largely by agricultural constraints.
• Current account deficit 3.6 per cent in 2011-12; this put pressure on exchange rate.
• Growth in 2012-13 estimated at 7.6 per cent; expect inflation to be lower.
• Better monitoring of expenditure on government schemes.
• Fiscal 2011-12 year of recovery interrupted; reality turned out to be different.
• GDP growth in 2011-12 estimated at 6.9 per cent; had to battle double digit inflation for two years.
• Good news: agriculture and services continued to perform well; economy is now turning around; recovery in core sectors.
• Now at juncture where it is necessary to take hard decisions; have to accelerate pace of reforms.

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