| FARMER FRIENDLY DECISIONS | |
| New scheme of debt-waiver and debt relief for farmers | |
| All agriculture loans disbursed by PSU banks, co-operatives till March 2007 waiting recovery to be covered under scheme | |
| Complete waiver of loans for small and marginal farmers holding upto 2 hectares of land | |
| One-time settlement scheme for “all other” farmers | |
| Agricultural loans restructured by banks through special packages. All such loans will also be eligible for waiver under the scheme | |
| Implementation of loan waiver scheme to be completed by June 30, 2008 | |
| Farmers will also be eligible for fresh loans | |
| Govt to allocate 60,000 crore for this scheme | |
| Four crore farmers expected to benefit | |
| CHEAPER vs DEARER | |
| Cheaper: Small cars, motorcycles and scooters, dairy products, washing machine and ACs, set-top box, gems and jewellery, water purifiers, three and four star hotel tarrif, all pharma products, imported life-saving drugs | |
| Dearer: Mobiles, non filter cigarettes, packaged softwares , stock and commodity exchange services | |
| All agriculture loans disbursed by PSU banks, co-operatives till March 2007 waiting recovery to be covered under scheme | |
| TACKLING TAXES | |
| Threshold exemption limit increased from 1,10,000 to 1,50,000 | |
| Income Tax exemption limit for women hiked from Rs 1,45,000 to 1,80,000 | |
| Senior citizens' exemption limit hiked from Rs 1,95,000 to 2,25,000 | |
| New tax slabs — 1.5 lakh to 3 lakh: 10%; 3 lakh to 5 lakh: 20%: 5 lakh and above: 30% | |
| No change in corporate tax; no change in surcharge | |
| Duty on two wheelers reduced from 16 to 12 % | |
| Excise duty slashed to 8% on water purification items | |
| Duty withdrawn on naptha for production of polymers | |
| Central Sales Tax up from 2% to 5% | |
| Introduction of commodity transaction tax | |
| Short-term capital gains tax hiked to 15% | |
| Securities Transactions Tax unchanged | |
| Banking Transaction Tax withdrawn | |
| BALANCE SHEET | |
| GDP increased by 8.8% during first 3 years of UPA govt | |
| Growth to be 8.7% this fiscal | |
| Manufacturing growth at 9.4% | |
| Services growth at 10.7% | |
| Agriculture growth pegged at 2.4% | |
| Govt to monitor and moderate capital inflow to ensure stock market stability | |
| AGRICULTURE | |
| Agriculture sector has grown by 2.4% | |
| Agri credit doubled during UPA government’s tenure | |
| Record food grain production at 290 mn tonnes | |
| Record rice production at 98.04 million tonnes | |
| Record maize production at 16.7 million tones | |
| 75-78% of total credit by PSU banks | |
| Target for credit to farmers in 2008-09 is at Rs 280,000 crore | |
| Additional irrigation potential to be developed for 5 lakh hectares | |
| Rs 500 crore for rain-fed area development programme to be launched in new areas | |
| World Bank aiding many states in agriculture | |
| 14 national agricultural projects approved | |
| New financial institution IWRFC to be launched with an initial allocation of Rs 100 crore to mobilise funds for agriculture | |
| 500 soil testing labs to start via PPP | |
| Rs 175 crore for mobile soil testing units in 200 districts by March 2009 | |
| Rs 20 crore to Tea Research Institute | |
| National agricultural insurance scheme to continue for Kharif, Rabi crops | |
| Fertiliser subsidy to continue | |
| New nutrient based fertiliser subsidy regime to be launched | |
| Prof Vaidyanathan Committee recommendations on micro-credit to be implemented | |
| INFRASTRUCTURE AND INDUSTRY | |
| Power generation on target for 11th Plan | |
| Allocation of Rs 5,000 crore for rural electrification | |
| Rs 12,966 crore for highways | |
| 96.48% of Golden Quadrilateral completed | |
| 26.36% of East-West, North-South Corridor completed | |
| Rs 380 crore for oil and gas exploration | |
| New coal regulator to be appointed | |
| Rs 1,680 crore for IT Ministry | |
| One lakh broadband centres to be set up in rural areas | |
| All 30 integrated textile parks have been approved | |
| Clasuter Approach for handloom has been a success | |
| 17 lakh weavers to be covered under insurance scheme | |
| SIDBI to reduce guarantee fee | |
| EDUCATION | |
| Education outlay increased by 20% to Rs 34,400 crore | |
| Mid-day meal scheme to be extended to all govt and govt-aided schools | |
| 410 new Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidayalaya to be set up | |
| New model school programme to be started | |
| New Navodaya Vidyalaya to be set up in 20 backward districts | |
| 1 lakh new scholarships to be granted | |
| Nehru Yuva Kendras to be set up in all districts | |
| Central Universities for all states; 16 central universities this year | |
| Three new IITs in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan | |
| Two Schools of Planning and Architecture in Bhopal and Vijaywada | |
| Ministry of Science and Technology to start a new scholarship scheme | |
| Rs 100 crore to build National Knowledge Network to connect all knowledge centres via broadband | |
| HEALTH | |
| Health outlay increased by 15% to Rs 16,543 crore | |
| Rs 16,000 crore for National Rural Emplyoment Guarantee Scheme | |
| National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme to be extended to all districts | |
| 46,200 Asha workers have been trained | |
| Anganwadi workers remuneration increased to Rs 1,500 | |
| More than 300 district hospitals to be upgraded | |
| Rs 12,050 crore for National Rural Health Mission | |
| Rs 900 crore for combating AIDS | |
| Rashtrya Health Bima Yojna to be launched in Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan on April 1 | |
| Integrated Child Development Scheme allocation increased to Rs 6,000 crore | |
| FOR SENIOR CITIZENS | |
| Two national institutes of ageing | |
| New national programme for the elderly | |
| No change in peak rates of customs duty | |
| DEFENCE | |
| Budget increased by 10% to to Rs 1,05,600 crore | |
| Rate of attrition high in defence forces | |
| MISCELLANEOUS | |
| Special fund of Rs 500 crore for Arunachal Pradesh | |
| Rs 12,155 crore to Ministry for North East Development | |
| Rs 200 crore for clean water to school children | |
| Rs 1,000 crore for Ministry for Minorities | |
| Rs 75 crore for Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship Programme | |
| Rs 60 crore to enhance the corpus fund of Maulana Azad programme | |
| Rs 11,460 crore for 100% women specific scheme | |
| Rs 45.5 crore to modernise madrasas | |
| Rs 288 crore for nationalised banks in minorities areas | |
| Allocation of Rs 1,200 crore for sanitation programmes | |
| More minority recruitments in central para-military forces | |
| ICDS allocation hiked to Rs 6,300 cr | |
| Rs 300 cr for desalination plant near Chennai | |
| National Handicap Development Corp to get Rs 9 crore | |
| LIC 'Janashree Yojana' for women self-helf groups | |
| Target of Rs 2,80,000 for credit in agriculture | |
| Rs 300 crore for rain affected areas | |
| USD 730 million World Bank agreement for water storage development programme | |
| Rs 500 crore for development of border areas | |
| Rs 1,100 core for National Horticulture Mission | |
| 500 new labs for soil testing | |
| Rs 500 crore to Centre of Development Studies, Tiruvananthapuram | |
| CHIDAMBARAM SPEAK | |
| 2008 should be a year of consolidation | |
| UPA wants to make growth inclusive | |
| We can do better and we should; Budget 08-09 is about doing more | |
| India determined to become self sufficient in agriculture | |
| Finance Minister confident of 8.8% this fiscal | |
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