The
Finance Minister Jaswant Singh on Tuesday presented the
Interim Budget for the financial year 2003-04. The following
are some of the key highlights of the Interim Budget.
- Existing
tax structure to continue
- GDP
growth hiked to 7.5-8% in FY04
- Inflation
to be at 4.8% by the end of current fiscal
- Fiscal
deficit for FY04 estimated at 4.8% vs target of 5.6%
- Revenue
deficit for FY04 projected at 3.6%
- For
FY05, fiscal deficit projection is at 4.4% of GDP
- Disinvestment
receipts for FY04 higher at Rs14,500 cr vs target of
Rs13,200 cr
- Disinvestment
target for next fiscal year is Rs15,000 cr
- Net
tax revenue pegged at Rs187,539 cr against target of
Rs184,169 cr
- Non-tax
revenue estimated at Rs75,488 cr, an increase of Rs5,732
cr
- For
Central Govt employees 50% DA to be merged with basic
pay
- Tonnage
tax introduced for shipping industry
- I-T
exemption on power projects extended
- Countervailing
duty for power sector to be examined
- Govt
to announce special packages for tea and sugar industry
- Govt
to set up Rs25,000 cr Defense Modernisation Fund
- Six
hospitals - one each in Andhra Pradesh, J&K, Tamil
Nadu, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Uttaranchal - to be
upgraded to the level of AIIMS
- All
farmers will be eligible for credit cards by March 31,
2004
- Kisan
Credit Cards to be made ATM-compatible
- Committee
to be set up for agriculture credit
- Farm
fund to give loans at 200 bps below Prime Lending Rate
- Central
Govt Stamp Duty cut up to 50%
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