Budget 2017 Highlights

Key highlights of Budget 2017-18

Union Budget New Delhi : Arun Jaitely ,the formal Finance minister presented the most awaited Bugdet for 2017-18 in Lok Sabha ,which can be rightly said as a history breaker moment due to being evocated on 1 Feb, instead of getting presented on month endunlike previous years.

While addressing the house , Jaitley gave a thorough overview of the present performance of the economy in various sectors and the rapid changes that took after demonetization.

Hence this time as highlighted by Jaitley “Budget is meant to focus on an effective development spending for rural and infrastructural policies. Also it will be narrated in ten distinct sections focusing on youth development, rural upliftment ,financial sector, digitization, tax administration, fiscal management, agriculture, poor and unprivileged

,public support services and infrastructure allocation. In this post we have enlightened only major highlights to this year budget which are listed as :

For Youth development

 By establishing a National Testing Agency for entrance exams for higher education and relieving CBSE,AICTE & other bodies .

 developing more than 100 skill centres with foreign languages studies and related courses.

 schemes for generating more employment in leather and footwear making sector

 allocating 4000 cr for promoting e-learning with platforms like SWAYAM and training programs like SANKALP focusing on skill acquisition

Giving proper identification reforms to UG Colleges.

developing platforms like DigiGaon for initiating rural education

For Rural Upliftment :

 Ensuring electrification of villages by MAY 2018

 Allocating 2300 cr for PMAY (Pradhan mantra awas yojana)

 Mason and Pottery Traning to more than 5 lakh people

 Allocating 19000 cr to PMGSY (Prime minister gramin sadak yojana) for developing good road base to cities and villages .

 Ensuring new houses allocation to more than 1 crore people living in kacha houses

 Allocating 48000 cr for ensuring 55% involvement of women in MNREGA

 Allocating 1,87,223 cr for other rural programs .

For Financial sector :

 Restricting cash transaction more than 3 lakh

 Neglecting to cancellation proposal of MAT(Minimum alternate tax) and to carry it to 15 yrs instead of 10yrs

 To cut down custom duty on LNG from 5 to 2.5%

Capital gain to be taxed after 2 yr instead of 3yr on immovable property

For Digitization

 By creating a payment regulatory board at RBI

 Giving more potential to FIF ( Financial Inclusion Fund)

 By promoting digital transaction by ADHAAR pay and BHIM app with effective cashback options

 Giving more stress to cyber security

For Tax Administration

Reduced tax slab from  10% to 5 % for income base of 2.5-5 lakh

 Levying a 10% surcharge on high income base of 50 lakh to 1 crore

 No tax for people upto income earning upto 3 lakh

 Tax base for MSMEs reduced to 25%, having turnover of more than 50 crore.

For Fiscal Management

 To cut down fiscal deficit to 3.2 % of GDP and Revenue deficit to 1.9% by FY18

 Estimation to total budget expenditure is 21 trillion.

 To allocate 2.74 trillion to defence sector

 To allocate more than 3000 cr to various budget sectors

For Agriculture

 By setting up mini-labs for Krishi Vigyan Kendres

 Issuing soil health cards to farmers

 To allocate 40000 cr to LRI (Long term irrigation fund) and 5000 cr to micro irrigation fund

 Allocating 8000 cr to infrastructure of dairy processing

 To boost better credit facility for farmers.

For Poor And Unprivileged

 To build two new AIIMS for Gujarat and Jharkhand

 Allocation more than 1.84 trillion to health and education of women and children

 Allocating Rs 500 cr to development of MAHILA ASHRAM KENDRAS

 Generating of smart cards for Senior citizens

 Various new reforms for Labour laws

 Allocating Rs 52,393 cr to SC s and STs minority affairs Public Support Service

 Cancellation of service charge to e-booking of IRCTC rail tickets

 Allocating Rs 64000 cr to development of national highways

 Allocating Rs 2 trillion to transport sector

 Initiating formation of Export Infra for export promotion

 Allocating Rs 2.44 trillion to PMMY (Pradhan Mantra Mudra Yojana)

For Infrastructure

 Ensuring development of Railway lines of 3500km

 More 500 stations to be improved for disabled people

 Eliminating unmanned level crossing by 2020

 Allocating fund to Passenger Safety

 To estimate total development budget expenditure around Rs 1.34 trillion Over all, This part of budget of 2017-18 is expected to be a economy booster as no major changes have been done to tax slabs and financial reforms of the corporate sector while more stress have been given to the lower income group and digitization of the economy.