Highlights of Union Budget 2012-13 India Infoline News Service / 13:00 , Mar 19, 2012 Income Tax slabs

for individuals: Rs. 2 lakh-5 lakh: 10%; Rs. 5-10 lakh: 20%; and above Rs. 10 lakh 30%

For the Indian economy, this (FY12) was a year of recovery interrupted, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said while announcing the Union Budget for 2012-13. "When one year ago, I rose to present the Budget, the challenges were many, but there was a sense that the world economy was on the mend," Mukherjee said. "The Budget (in 2011) was presented in the first glimmer of hope. But reality turned out to be different," he said. The sovereign debt crisis in the Euro zone intensified, political turmoil in Middle East injected widespread uncertainty, crude oil prices rose, an earthquake struck Japan and the overall gloom refused to lift, Mukherjee said. India is now at a juncture when it is necessary to take hard decisions, the FM said. "We have to improve our macroeconomic environment and strengthen domestic growth drivers to sustain high growth in the medium term. We have to accelerate the pace of reforms and improve supply side management of the economy," he said. The following are some of the key highlights of the Union Budget 2012-13.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

No room for satisfaction or excuses for poor GDP growth in FY12 Slowdown in FY12 can be attributed to weakness in industrial sector: FM FM: For Indian economy, it was a year of recovery interrupted FM: We will be misled if we ignore the realities of the world FM says India will have to accelerate economic reforms Need to address the problem of Black Money: FM Just words not enough, India needs credible road map for growth: FM Manufacturing appears to be at the cusp of a revival: FM Headline inflation to moderate in next few months: FM

10. We have to accelerate pace of reforms and improve supply-side management: FM 11. Agriculture and services continued to perform well: FM 12. Indian economy is now turning around: FM 13. Recovery is also seen in core sectors: FM 14. Development in external trade encouraging: FM 15. Exports grew by 23%, imports grew by 29%: FM 16. Expect current account deficit to decrease next year: FM 17. Indias GDP is estimated to grow at 6.9% in FY12: FM 18. Current account deficit to be at 3.6% of GDP in FY12: FM 19. Central subsidies to be kept under 2% of GDP in FY13: FM 20. Need to raise tax-GDP ratio for fiscal consolidation: FM 21. Decided to fully provide for food subsidy in the budget: FM 22. FM targets Rs. 300bn through PSU divestment in FY13 23. Efforts on to arrive at consensus with states over FDI in retail: FM 24. FM targets GDP growth at 7.6% in FY13 25. GST to be operational by August 2012: FM 26. FM aims to lower subsidy spend to 1.7% of GDP over next 3 years 27. Now at a juncture where we have to take tough decisions to boost growth: FM 28. Pilot project for direct transfer of subsidiary for kerosene initiated in Alwar, Rajasthan: FM 29. To implement DTC at the earliest: FM 30. Food Security Act will be fully provided for: FM 31. Govt will continue to hold 51% stake in state owned companies: FM 32. To introduce Rajiv Gandhi equity scheme for retail investors: FM 33. PAN identity for direct, indirect taxes to check tax evasion: FM 34. Budget to provide Rs. 158.88bn for re-capitalization of PSU banks, RRBs: FM 35. Govt to include advance pricing in Finance Bill 2012: FM 36. To roll out computerized scheme for fertilizer subsidy transfer: FM 37. I-T deduction of 50% on investments of up to Rs. 50,000 in savings scheme named after Rajiv Gandhi

38. ECB funding for working capital needs of airline 39. FDI in aviation under active consideration 40. Infrastructure tax-free bond limit enhanced to Rs. 600bn: FM 41. Civil aviation cos can borrow up to US$1bn via ECBs for working capital requirements 42. 8,800 km national highways to be developed by NHDP: FM 43. IPO equity offer above Rs. 100mn to be made electronically: FM 44. First infrastructure debt fund worth Rs. 80bn established: FM 45. Rs. 10,000 cr tax free bonds for power sector 46. Civil aviation cos can borrow up to US$1bn via ECBs for working capital requirements 47. Share of manufacturing in GDP will be increased: FM 48. Tax exemption on individual share investment below Rs. 10 lakh: FM 49. To allow ECB to part finance power rupee debt: FM 50. New urea policy to make India self sufficient in urea in 5 years: FM 51. To become self-sufficient in urea in 5 years 52. New urea policy to make India self sufficient in urea in 5 years: FM 53. 1% interest subvention on home loans up to Rs. 15 lakh: FM 54. FDI in aviation is under active consideration: FM 55. Outlay for Agriculture for FY13 up 18% from Rs. 17,123 crore to Rs. 20,208 crore: FM 56. Target for Agri Credit increased to Rs. 5,75,000 crore: FM 57. Rs. 242 crore project with World Bank aid to improve dairy production: FM 58. Telecom towers made eligible for viability gap funding: FM 59. To allocate Rs14,232 cr to UID project:FM 60. Debt waiver package of Rs. 3884 cr for weavers: FM 61. FM proposes National Mission for food processing 62. Rs. 10,000 crores allocated to NABARD to fund RRBs: FM 63. Govt to allow Qualified Foreign Investors in Indian corporate debt markets: FM 64. Rural road projects allocation to Rs24,000 cr for FY13:FM 65. To allocate Rs. 14,232 cr to UID project, up 13% in FY13: FM

66. Govt to set up Rs. 5000 crore venture fund for MSME sector: FM 67. FY13 mid-day meal scheme outlay at Rs. 11,937 cr: FM

68. Rs. 14000 crore for rural drinking and sanitation in FY13: FM 69. FM proposes to set up 6,000 schools in 12th five year plan 70. FY13 mid-day meal scheme outlay at Rs. 11,937 cr: FM 71. FM proposes credit guarantee fund for education loans 72. Rs. 20,822 crore for National Rural Health Mission vs Rs. 18,115 crore: FM 73. To submit white paper on Black Money in Parliament: FM 74. Rs. 25,555 cr for Right to Education in FY13: FM 75. Direct tax collection down by Rs. 32,000 in FY12 76. Fiscal deficit at 5.9% of GDP in FY12: FM 77. Fiscal deficit estimated at 5.1% of GDP in FY13: FM 78. 1 lakh 93,000 cr has been allocated for the defence sector 79. No change in Corporate Tax rate Withholding tax on ECBs reduced to 5% from 20%: FM 80. Income Tax exemption of up to Rs. 2 lakh for individual tax payers: FM 81. Deduction of up to Rs. 10,000 on interest on Savings Bank Accounts: FM 82. Non-plan expenditure for FY13 to grow 18% to Rs. 9.69 lakh crore, mainly due to subsidies: FM 83. STT reduced by 20% on delivery based transactions: FM 84. Rs. 193,407 cr provision made for defence services: FM 85. Total expenditure outlay for FY13 at Rs. 15 lakh crore: FM 86. Income Tax on income of Rs. 5 lakh to Rs10 lakh will be 20%: FM 87. Income Tax slabs for individuals: Rs. 2 lakh-5 lakh: 10%; Rs. 5-10 lakh: 20%; and above Rs. 10 lakh 30% 88. Revenue deficit for FY13 projected at Rs. 1,85,752 crore: FM 89. All services brought under Service Tax net except negative list of 17: FM 90. Exemptions in direct taxes to cause net loss of Rs. 4500 cr: FM 91. Total debt of Centre will be 45% of GDP in FY13: FM 92. Standard excise duty hiked to 18%: FM 93. Service Tax increased to 12% from 10% earlier: FM

94. No capital gains tax from sale of property if money invested in SME: FM 95. Interest income from banks tax-free upto Rs. 10,000: FM 96. No advance tax requirement for senior citizens: FM 97. Govt services, public transport exempt from service tax 98. No change in peak custom duty: FM 99. To hike duty on large cars to 27%: FM 100. Excise duty for large cars raised from 22% to 24% 101. Customs duty reduced from 7.5% to 2.5% for iron ore equipment 102. Thermal power companies exempted from customs duty for 2 years 103. 5% customs duty exempted on equipment for fertilizer plants 104. LCD, LED panels exempted from customs duty: FM 105. Mobile phone parts exempted from basic customs duty: FM 106. Customs duty on gold, platinum doubled to 4%; for jewellery doubled to 10%