Budget 2016//Shifting focus to farmers and rural poor, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley unveiled his third Budget which laid emphasis on rural India particularly in the agricltural and social sectors. Jaitley went all out to woo the segment by promising a slew of welfare measures including electricity to all villages and road connectivity in the next couple of years. Here are the highlights of the Budget 2016:

Tax

• Infrastructure and agriculture cess to be levied.
• Excise duty raised from 10 to 15 per cent on tobacco products other than beedis
• 1% 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.
• Limited tax compliance window from June 1 - September 30 for declaring undisclosed income at 45% incl. surcharge and penalties
• Excise 1 per cent imposed on articles of jewellery, excluding silver.
• 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.
• 15% 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.
• LPG connections to be provided under the name of women members of family: Rs 2000 crore allocated for 5 years for BPL families.

Health

• 2.2 lakh renal patients added every year in India. Basic dialysis equipment to get relief.
• A new health protection scheme for health cover upto 1 lakh per family.
• 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
• 62 new navodaya vidyalayas to provide quality education
• 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

Investments and infrastructure

• Rs. 27,000 crore to be spent on roadways
• Shops to be given option to remain open all seven days in a week across markets.
• Rs. 55,000 crore for roads and highways.
• New greenfield ports to be developed on east and west coasts
• 100 per cent FDI in marketing of food products produced and marketed in India

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