9911796707
TMI BlogKEY HIGHLIGHTS OF UNION BUDGET 2020-21X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... KEY HIGHLIGHTS OF UNION BUDGET 2020-21 X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... lakh crore to be allocated for the following 16 Action Points: * ₹ 1.60 lakh crore for Agriculture, Irrigation & allied activities. * ₹ 1.23 lakh crore for Rural development & Panchayati Raj. - * Agriculture credit: * ₹ 15 lakh crore target set for the year 2020-21. * PM-KISAN beneficiaries to be covered under the KCC scheme. * NABARD Re-finance Scheme to be further expanded. * Comprehensive measures for 100 water-stressed districts proposed. * Blue Economy: * ₹ 1 lakh crore fisheries' exports to be achieved by 2024-25. * 200 lakh tonnes fish production targeted by 2022-23. * 3477 Sagar Mitras and 500 Fish Farmer Producer Organisations to involve youth in fisheries extension. * Growing of algae, sea-weed and cage culture to be promoted. * Framework for development, management and conservation of marine fishery resources. * Kisan Rail to be setup by Indian Railways through PPP: * To build a seamless national cold supply chain for perishables (milk, meat, fish, etc. * Express and Freight trains to have refrigerated coaches. * Krishi Udaan to be launched by the Ministry of Civil Aviation: * Both international and national ro ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... utes to be covered. * North-East and tribal districts to realize Improved value of agri-products. * One-Product One-District for better marketing and export in the Horticulture sector. * Balanced use of all kinds of fertilizers - traditional organic and innovative fertilizers. * Measures for organic, natural, and integrated farming: * Jaivik Kheti Portal - online national organic products market to be strengthened. * Zero-Budget Natural Farming (mentioned in July 2019 Budget) to be included. * Integrated Farming Systems in rain-fed areas to be expanded. * Multi-tier cropping, bee-keeping, solar pumps, solar energy production in non-cropping season to be added. * PM-KUSUM to be expanded: * 20 lakh farmers to be provided for setting up stand-alone solar pumps. * Another 15 lakh farmers to be helped to solarise their grid-connected pump sets. * Scheme to enable farmers to set up solar power generation capacity on their fallow/barren lands and to sell it to the grid. * Village Storage Scheme: * To be run by the SHGs to provide farmers a good holding capacity and reduce their logistics cost. * Women, SHGs to regain their position as Dhaanya Lakshmi. * NAB ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ARD to map and geo-tag agri-warehouses, cold storages, reefer van facilities, etc. * Warehousing in line with Warehouse Development and Regulatory Authority (WDRA) norms: * Viability Gap Funding for setting up such efficient warehouses at the block/taluk level. * Food Corporation of India (FCI) and Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) to undertake such warehouse building. * Financing on Negotiable Warehousing Receipts (e-NWR) to be integrated with e-NAM. * State governments who undertake implementation of model laws (issued by the Central government) to be encouraged. * Livestock: * Doubling of milk processing capacity to 108 million MT from 53.5 million MT by 2025. * Artificial insemination to be increased to 70% from the present 30%. * MNREGS to be dovetailed to develop fodder farms. * Foot and Mouth Disease, Brucellosis in cattle and Peste Des Petits ruminants (PPR) in sheep and goat to be eliminated by 2025. * Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana - 0.5 crore households mobilized with 58 lakh SHGs for poverty alleviation. Wellness, Water and Sanitation * ₹ 69,000 crore allocated for overall Healthcare sector. * ₹ 6400 crore (out of ₹ 69,000 c ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rore) for PM Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY): * More than 20,000 hospitals already empanelled under PM Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY). * Viability Gap Funding window proposed for setting up hospitals in the PPP mode. * Aspirational Districts with no Ayushman empanelled hospitals to be covered in the first phase. * Targeting diseases with an appropriately designed preventive regime using Machine Learning and AI. * Jan Aushadhi Kendra Scheme to offer 2000 medicines and 300 surgicals in all districts by 2024. * TB Harega Desh Jeetega campaign launched - commitment to end Tuberculosis by 2025. * ₹ 3.60 lakh crore approved for Jal Jeevan Mission: * ₹ 11,500 crore for the year 2020-21. * Augmenting local water sources, recharging existing sources, and promoting water harvesting and de-salination. * Cities with million-plus population to be encouraged to achieve the objective during the current year itself. * ₹ 12, 300 crore allocation for Swachh Bharat Mission in 2020-21: * Committment to ODF-Plus in order to sustain ODF behaviour. * Emphasis on liquid and grey water management. * Focus also on Solid-waste collection, source segregation, and processing. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Education and Skills * ₹ 99,300 crore for education sector and ₹ 3000 crore for skill development in 2020-21. * New Education Policy to be announced soon. * National Police University and National Forensic Science University proposed for policing science, forensic science, and cyber-forensics. * Degree level full-fledged online education program by Top-100 institutions in the National Institutional Ranking Framework. * Up to 1-year internship to fresh engineers to be provided by Urban Local Bodies. * Budget proposes to attach a medical college to an existing district hospital in PPP mode. * Special bridge courses to be designed by the Ministries of Health, and Skill Development: * To fulfill the demand for teachers, nurses, para-medical staff and care-givers abroad. * To bring in equivalence in the skill sets of the workforce and employers' standards. * 150 higher educational institutions to start apprenticeship embedded degree/diploma courses by March 2021. * External Commercial Borrowings and FDI to be enabled for education sector. * Ind-SAT proposed for Asian and African countries as a part of Study in India program. Economic Development I ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ndustry, Commerce and Investment * ₹ 27,300 crore allocated for 2020-21 for development and promotion of Industry and Commerce. * Investment Clearance Cell proposed to be set up: * To provide "end to end" facilitation and support. * To work through a portal. * Five new smart cities proposed to be developed. * Scheme to encourage manufacture of mobile phones, electronic equipment and semi-conductor packaging proposed. * National Technical Textiles Mission to be set up: * With four-year implementation period from 2020-21 to 2023-24. * At an estimated outlay of ₹ 1480 crore. * To position India as a global leader in Technical Textiles. * New scheme NIRVIK to be launched to achieve higher export credit disbursement, which provides for: * Higher insurance coverage * Reduction in premium for small exporters * Simplified procedure for claim settlements. * Turnover of Government e-Marketplace (GeM) proposed to be taken to ₹ 3 lakh crore. * Scheme for Revision of duties and taxes on exported products to be launched. * Exporters to be digitally refunded duties and taxes levied at the Central, State and local levels, which are otherwise not ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... exempted or refunded. * All Ministries to issue quality standard orders as per PM's vision of "Zero Defect-Zero Effect" manufacturing. Infrastructure * ₹ 100 lakh crore to be invested on infrastructure over the next 5 years. * National Infrastructure Pipeline: * ₹ 103 lakh crore worth projects; launched on 31st December 2019. * More than 6500 projects across sectors, to be classified as per their size and stage of development. * A National Logistics Policy to be released soon: * To clarify roles of the Union Government, State Governments and key regulators. * A single window e-logistics market to be created * Focus to be on generation of employment, skills and making MSMEs competitive. * National Skill Development Agency to give special thrust to infrastructure-focused skill development opportunities. * Project preparation facility for infrastructure projects proposed. * To actively involve young engineers, management graduates and economists from Universities. * Infrastructure agencies of the government to involve youth-power in start-ups. * ₹ 1.7 lakh crore proposed for transport infrastructure in 2020-21. Highways: * Accelerated ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... development of highways to be undertaken, including: * 2500 Km access control highways. * 9000 Km of economic corridors. * 2000 Km of coastal and land port roads. * 2000 Km of strategic highways. * Delhi-Mumbai Expressway and two other packages to be completed by 2023. * Chennai-Bengaluru Expressway to be started. * Proposed to monetise at least 12 lots of highway bundles of over 6000 Km before 2024. Indian Railways: * Five measures: * Large solar power capacity to be set up alongside rail tracks, on land owned by railways. * Four station re-development projects and operation of 150 passenger trains through PPP. * More Tejas type trains to connect iconic tourist destinations. * High speed train between Mumbai and Ahmedabad to be actively pursued. * 148 km long Bengaluru Suburban transport project at a cost of ₹ 18600 crore, to have fares on metro model. Central Government to provide 20% of equity and facilitate external assistance up to 60% of the project cost. * Indian Railways' achievements: * 550 Wi-fi facilities commissioned in as many stations. * Zero unmanned crossings. * 27000 Km of tracks to be electrified. Ports & Water-ways: * C ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... orporatizing at least one major port and its listing on stock exchanges to be considered. * Governance framework keeping with global benchmarks needed for more efficient sea-ports. * Economic activity along river banks to be energised as per Prime Minister's Arth Ganga concept. Airports: * 100 more airports to be developed by 2024 to support Udaan scheme. * Air fleet number expected to go up from present 600 to 1200 during this time. Electricity: * "Smart" metering to be promoted. * More measures to reform DISCOMs to be taken. Power: * ₹ 22, 000 crore proposed for power and renewable energy sector in 2020-21. * Expansion of national gas grid from the present 16200 km to 27000 km proposed. * Further reforms to facilitate transparent price discovery and ease of transactions. New Economy * To take advantage of new technologies: * Policy to enable private sector to build Data Centre parks throughout the country to be brought out soon. * Fibre to the Home (FTTH) connections through Bharatnet to link 100,000 gram panchayats this year. * ₹ 6000 crore proposed for Bharatnet programme in 2020-21. * Measures proposed to benefit Start-ups: * A dig ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ital platform to be promoted to facilitate seamless application and capture of IPRs. * Knowledge Translation Clusters to be set up across different technology sectors including new and emerging areas. * For designing, fabrication and validation of proof of concept, and further scaling up Technology Clusters, harbouring test beds and small scale manufacturing facilities to be established. * Mapping of India's genetic landscape- Two new national level Science Schemes to be initiated to create a comprehensive database. * Early life funding proposed, including a seed fund to support ideation and development of early stage Start-ups. * ₹ 8000 crore proposed over five years for National Mission on Quantum Technologies and Applications. Caring Society * Focus on: * Women & child, * Social Welfare; * Culture and Tourism * Allocation of ₹ 35,600 crore for nutrition-related programmes proposed for the FY2020-21. * ₹ 28, 600 crore proposed for women specific programs. * Issue about age of a girl entering motherhood - proposed to appoint a task force to present its recommendations in six months' time. * Financial support for wider acceptance of tech ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nologies, identified by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to ensure no manual cleaning of sewer systems or septic tanks, to be provided. * ₹ 85, 000 crore proposed for 2020-21 for welfare of Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Classes. * ₹ 53, 700 crore provided to further development and welfare of Scheduled Tribes. * Enhanced allocation of ₹ 9,500 crore provided for 2020-21 for senior citizens and Divyang. Culture & Tourism * Allocation of ₹ 2500 crore for 2020-21 for tourism promotion. * ₹ 3150 crore proposed for Ministry of Culture for 2020-21. * An Indian Institute of Heritage and Conservation under Ministry of Culture proposed; with the status of a deemed University. * 5 archaeological sites to be developed as iconic sites with on-site Museums: * Rakhigarhi (Haryana) * Hastinapur (Uttar Pradesh) * Shivsagar (Assam) * Dholavira (Gujarat) * Adichanallur (Tamil Nadu) * Re-curation of the Indian Museum in Kolkata, announced by Prime Minister in January 2020. * Museum on Numismatics and Trade to be located in the historic Old Mint building in Kolkata. * 4 more museums from across the country to be taken up for renova ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tion and re-curation. * Support for setting up of a Tribal Museum in Ranchi (Jharkhand). * Maritime museum to be set up at Lothal- the Harrapan age maritime site near Ahmedabad, by Ministry of Shipping. * State governments expected to develop a roadmap for certain identified destinations and formulate financial plans during 2021 against which specified grants to be made available to the States in 2020-21. Environment & Climate Change * Allocation for this purpose to be ₹ 4400 crore for 2020-21. * Proposed to advise the utilities to close the running old thermal power plants with carbon emission above the pre-set norms. * States that are formulating and implementing plans for ensuring cleaner air in cities above one million to be encouraged. * PM launched Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) with Secretariat in Delhi. Second such international initiative after International Solar Alliance. Governance * Clean, corruption-free, policy driven, good in intent and most importantly trusting in faith. * Taxpayer Charter to be enshrined in the Statute will bring fairness and efficiency in tax administration. * Companies Act to be amended to buil ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d into statues, criminal liability for certain acts that are civil in nature. * Other laws with such provisions are to be corrected after examination. * Major reforms in recruitment to Non-Gazetted posts in Government and Public sector banks: * An independent, professional and specialist National Recruitment Agency (NRA) for conducting a computer-based online Common Eligibility Test for recruitment. * A test-centre in every district, particularly in the Aspirational Districts. * A robust mechanism to be evolved for appointment including direct recruitment to various Tribunals and specialised bodies to attract best talents and professional experts. * Contract Act to be strengthened. * New National Policy on Official Statistics to: * Promote use of latest technologies including AI. * Lay down a road-map towards modernised data collection, integrated information portal and timely dissemination of information. * A sum of ₹ 100 crore allocated to begin the preparations for G20 presidency to be hosted in India in the year 2022. * Development of North East region: * Improved flow of funds using online portal by the Government. * Greater access to financial ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... assistance of Multilateral and Bilateral funding agencies. * Development of Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh: * An amount of ₹ 30,757 crore provided for the financial year 2020-21. * The Union Territory of Ladakh has been provided with ₹ 5,958. Financial Sector * Reforms accomplished in PSBs : * 10 banks consolidated into 4. * ₹ 3,50,000 crore capital infused. * Governance reforms to be carried out to bring in transparency and greater professionalism in PSBs. * Few PSBs to be encouraged to approach the capital market to raise additional capital * Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) permitted to increase Deposit Insurance Coverage to ₹ 5 lakh from ₹ 1 lakh per depositor. * Scheduled Commercial Bank's health under monitoring through a robust mechanism, keeping depositors' money safe. * Cooperative Banks to be strengthen by amending Banking Regulation Act for: * Increasing professionalism. * Enabling access to capital. * Improving governance and oversight for sound banking through the RBI. * NBFCs eligibility limit for debt recovery reduced from: * ₹ 500 crore to ₹ 100 crore asset size ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... . * ₹ 1 crore to ₹ 50 lakh loan size. * Private capital in Banking system: * Government to sell its balance holding in IDBI Bank to private, retail and institutional investors through the stock exchange. * Easier mobility in jobs: * Auto-enrolment in Universal Pension coverage. * Inter-operability mechanism to safeguard the accumulated corpus. * Pension Fund Regulatory Development Authority of India Act to be amended to: * Strengthen regulating role of PFRDAI. * Facilitate separation of NPS trust for government employees from PFRDAI. * Enable establishment of a Pension Trust by the employees other than Government. * Factor Regulation Act 2011 to be amended to: * Enable NBFCs to extend invoice financing to the MSMEs through TReDS * New scheme to provide subordinate debt for entrepreneurs of MSMEs by the banks * Would be counted as quasi-equity. * Would be fully guaranteed through the Credit Guarantee Trust for Medium and Small Entrepreneurs (CGTMSE). * The corpus of the CGTMSE would accordingly be augmented by the government. * Window for MSME's debt restructuring by RBI to be extended by one year till March 31, 2021. * More than five ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... lakh MSMEs have already been benefitted. * An app-based invoice financing loans product for MSMEs to be launched. * To prevent the problem of delayed payments and consequential cash flows mismatches. * Export promotion of MSMEs: * For selected sector such as pharmaceuticals, auto components and others. * An ₹ 1000 crore scheme anchored by EXIM Bank together with SIDBI. * Hand holding support for technology upgradations, R&D, business strategy etc. Financial Market * Deepening Bond Market. * Certain specified categories of Government securities to be opened fully for non -resident investors also. * FPI limit in corporate bonds increased to 15% from 9% of its outstanding stock. * New legislation to be formulated for laying down a mechanism for netting of financial contracts. * Scope of credit default swaps to expand. * Debt Based Exchange Traded Fund expanded by a new Debt-ETF consisting primarily of Government Securities. * To give attractive access to retail investors, pension funds and long-term investors. * A Partial Credit Guarantee scheme for the NBFCs formulated post the Union budget 2019-20 to address their liquidity constraints. * New mec ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hanism to be devised to further this. * Government support to securities so floated. Infrastructure Financing * ₹ 103 lakh crore National Infrastructure Pipeline projects earlier announced. * ₹ 22,000 crore to cater to the equity support to Infrastructure Finance Companies such as IIFCL and a subsidiary of NIIF. * IFSC, GIFT city: full of potential to become a centre of international finance as well as a centre for high end data processing: * An International Bullion exchange(s) to be set up as an additional option for trade by global market participants with the approval of regulator. Disinvestment * Government to sell a part of its holding in LIC by way of Initial Public Offer (IPO). Fiscal Management * XV Finance Commission (FC): * XV Finance Commission has given its first report for FY2020-21 * Recommendations accepted in substantial measure * Its final report for five years beginning 2021-22 to be submitted during the latter part of the year. * GST Compensation Fund: * Balances due out of collection of the yea₹ 2016-17 and 2017-18 to be transferred to the Fund, in two instalments. * Hereinafter, transfers to the fund to be limited ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... only to collection by way of GST compensation cess. * Overhaul of Centrally Sponsored Schemes and Central Sector Schemes necessary: * To align them with emerging social and economic needs of tomorrow * To ensure that scarce public resources are spent optimally * On the recent debate over transparency and credibility of projected fiscal numbers, it is assured that procedure adopted is compliant with the FRBM Act. * For the FY 2019-20: * Revised Estimates of Expenditure: at ₹ 26.99 lakh crore * Revised Estimates of Receipts: estimated at ₹ 19.32 lakh crore. * For year 2020-21: * Nominal growth of GDP estimated at 10%. * Receipts: estimated at ₹ 22.46 lakh cr * Expenditure: at ₹ 30.42 lakh cr. * Significant tax reforms for boosting investments recently undertaken. However, expected tax buoyancy expected to take time. * Fiscal deficit of 3.8% estimated in RE 2019-20 and 3.5% for BE 2020-21. It comprises two ingredients; * 3.3% for year 2019-20 and 3% for the 2020-21 budget estimate. * Deviation of 0.5%, consistent with Section 4(3) of FRBM Act, both for RE 2019-20 and BE 2020-21. (Section 4 (2) of the FRBM Act provides for a trigge ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r mechanism for a deviation from the estimated fiscal deficit on account of structural reforms in the economy with unanticipated fiscal implications.) * Return path, committing to fiscal consolidation without compromising needs of investment out of public funds, is laid in Medium Term Fiscal Policy cum Strategy Statement. * Market borrowings: Net market borrowings: ₹ 4.99 lakh crore for 2019-20 and ₹ 5.36 lakh crore for 2020-21. * A good part of the borrowings for the financial year 2020-21 to go towards Capital expenditure that has been scaled up by more than 21%. Direct Tax Direct Tax Proposals - To stimulate growth, simplify tax structure, bring ease of compliance, and reduce litigations. * Personal Income Tax: * Significant relief to middle class taxpayers. * New and simplified personal income tax regime proposed: Taxable Income Slab (Rs.) Existing tax rates New tax rates 0-2.5 Lakh Exempt Exempt 2.5-5 Lakh 5% 5% 5-7.5 Lakh 20% 10% 7.5-10 Lakh 20% 15% 10-12.5 Lakh 30% 20% 12.5-15 Lakh 30% 25% Above 15 Lakh 30% 30% * * Around 70 of the existing exemptions and deductions (more than 100) to be remov ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ed in the new simplified regime. * Remaining exemptions and deductions to be reviewed and rationalised in coming years. * New tax regime to be optional - an individual may continue to pay tax as per the old regime and avail deductions and exemptions. * Measures to pre-fill the income tax return initiated so that an individual who opts for the new regime gets pre-filled income tax returns and would need no assistance from an expert to pay income tax. * New regime to entail estimated revenue forgone of ₹ 40,000 crore per year. * Corporate Tax: * Tax rate of 15% extended to new electricity generation companies. * Indian corporate tax rates now amongst the lowest in the world. * Dividend Distribution Tax (DDT): * DDT removed making India a more attractive investment destination. * Deduction to be allowed for dividend received by holding company from its subsidiary. * ₹ 25,000 crore estimated annual revenue forgone. * Start-ups: * Start-ups with turnover up to ₹ 100 crore to enjoy 100% deduction for 3 consecutive assessment years out of 10 years. * Tax payment on ESOPs deferred. * MSMEs to boost less-cash economy: * Turno ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ver threshold for audit increased to ₹ 5 crore from ₹ 1 crore for businesses carrying out less than 5% business transactions in cash. * Cooperatives: * Parity brought between cooperatives and corporate sector. * Option to cooperative societies to be taxed at 22% + 10% surcharge and 4% cess with no exemption/deductions. * Cooperative societies exempted from Alternate Minimum Tax (AMT) just like Companies are exempted from the Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT). * Tax concession for foreign investments: * 100% tax exemption to the interest, dividend and capital gains income on investment made in infrastructure and priority sectors before 31st March, 2024 with a minimum lock-in period of 3 years by the Sovereign Wealth Fund of foreign governments. * Affordable housing: * Additional deduction up to ₹ 1.5 lakhs for interest paid on loans taken for an affordable house extended till 31st March, 2021. * Date of approval of affordable housing projects for availing tax holiday on profits earned by developers extended till 31st March, 2021. Tax Facilitation Measures * Instant PAN to be allotted online through Aadhaar. * 'Vivad Se Vishwas' scheme, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... with a deadline of 30th June, 2020, to reduce litigations in direct taxes: * Waiver of interest and penalty - only disputed taxes to be paid for payments till 31st March, 2020. * Additional amount to be paid if availed after 31st March, 2020. * Benefits to taxpayers in whose cases appeals are pending at any level. * Faceless appeals to be enabled by amending the Income Tax Act. * For charity institutions: * Pre-filling in return through information of donations furnished by the done. * Process of registration to be made completely electronic. * Unique registration number (URN) to be issued to all new and existing charity institutions. * Provisional registration to be allowed for new charity institutions for three years. * CBDT to adopt a Taxpayers' Charter. * Losses of merged banks: * Amendments proposed to the Income-tax Act to ensure that entities benefit from unabsorbed losses and depreciation of the amalgamating entities. Indirect Tax * GST: * Cash reward system envisaged to incentivise customers to seek invoice. * Simplified return with features like SMS based filing for nil return and improved input tax credit flow to be implemen ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ted from 1st April, 2020 as a pilot run. * Dynamic QR-code capturing GST parameters proposed for consumer invoices. * Electronic invoice to capture critical information in a centralized system to be implemented in a phased manner. * Aadhaar based verification of taxpayers being introduced to weed out dummy or non-existent units. * GST rate structure being deliberated to address inverted duty structure. * Customs Duties: * Customs duty raised on footwear to 35% from 25% and on furniture goods to 25% from 20%. * Basic customs duty on imports of news print and light-weight coated paper reduced from 10% to 5%. * Customs duty rates revised on electric vehicles and parts of mobiles. * 5% health cess to be imposed on the imports of medical devices, except those exempt from BCD. * Lower customs duty on certain inputs and raw materials like fuse, chemicals, and plastics. * Higher customs duty on certain goods like auto-parts, chemicals, etc. which are also being made domestically. * Trade Policy Measures * Customs Act being amended to enable proper checks of imports under FTAs. * Rules of Origin requirements to be reviewed for certain sensitive item ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s. * Provisions relating to safeguard duties to be strengthened to enable regulating such surge in imports in a systematic way. * Provisions for checking dumping of goods and imports of subsidized goods being strengthened. * Suggestions for reviews of exemptions from customs duty to be crowd-sourced. * Excise duty proposed to be raised on Cigarettes and other tobacco products, no change made in the duty rates of bidis. * Anti-dumping duty on PTA abolished to benefit the textile sector. Unprecedented Milestones and Achievements of Indian Economy * India now the fifth largest economy of the world. * 7.4% average growth clocked during 2014-19 with inflation averaging around 4.5%. * 271 million people raised out of poverty during 2006-16. * India's Foreign Direct Investment elevated to US$ 284 billion during 2014-19 from US$ 190 billion during 2009-14. * Central Government debt reduced to 48.7% of GDP (March 2019) from 52.2% (March 2014). * Two cross-cutting developments: * Proliferation of technologies (Analytics, Machine Learning, robotics, Bio-informatics and Artificial Intelligence). * Highest ever number of people in the productive age group (1 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 5-65 years) in India.
* GST removed many bottlenecks in the system.
Future Aim for sustaining India's unique global leadership, driven by Digital Revolution
* Seamless delivery of services through Digital Governance.
* Improvement in physical quality of life through National Infrastructure Pipeline.
* Risk mitigation through Disaster Resilience.
* Social security through Pension and Insurance penetration. X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
