As i write this post, the FM is rolling out the budget. it is out and out an pre-election budget.it is not too good ..not disappointing either.... The highlights: Small Cars are cheaper, as excise duty is 12% by 10 to 15000rs. two wheeler will be cheaper as excise duty is 10% Sixth central pay commission to submit report by March 31, 2008 The loan waiver scheme will benefit three crore small and medium farmers and cover loans totalling Rs 50,000 crore - this will be direct hit on the Public Sector Banks. Foreign investment of 3.5 to 8 billion dollars expected for exploration and development of new oil blocks.- Oil companies to benefit. A corpus fund to subsidise all women Self Helf Groups for LIC. Navodaya Vidyalayas to be opened in 20 districts with special focus on regions having SC/ST concentration. Three IITs to be set up in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan. Rs 100 crore to be given to Information Technology Ministry to set up national knowledge centres.(positve for kpo's in the long run). Requirement of PAN extended to all financial transactions. PAN to be sole identification in securities markets. [FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Duty reduced on life saving drugs; exempt from excise [FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Refigeration components to become cheaper [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif] Excise duty slashed to 8% on water purification items Short term gains tax is at 15%Rant [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]textiles industry gets some relief duty on naptha is waived. [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Science scholarships for young learners [/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]16 new Central Universities to be built securities transaction tax is a deductible expenditure [/FONT][/FONT] IT exemption: Standard education -1,50,000[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif] from 1,10,00 women - 1,80,000 slab1 1.50lacs to 3 lacs- 10% slab2 3lacs to 5 lacs - 20 % slab3 5 lacs and above - 30% [/FONT]surcharge is unchanged.
Dear Shanthi, 100% agreed.. Not so good budget....for comon man..we can be glad(as working force) for the IT slabs...nothing more :-(
aishu, it was a very disappointing one...even in the slab, we were expecting a change and also a change in the surcharge. Thought there will be some relief in the costs...let us see if the agricultural sectors waivers, and other sops are passed on to the end user...
vanaja, thanks for stepping in. it is a pre election budget. the slab looks ok as we are thinking of the 4000/m relief..but on the other hand, the expense have escalated..so it is nothing but end benefit almost comes to 0 for the common man.
Hi Shanvy, 60,000 crores ! Wonder why someone does'nt bring in a bill or legislation that the govt does not have the authority to wave off fancy loan amounts without the consent of the judiciary or supreme court or some other kind of restraint on them. This is just atrocious. :spin:spin:spin Govt is supposed to put the hard earned money of the public to good use, not finance their selfish electoral prospects. Disgusting & sordid attitude. :spin :spin :spin I can't help pitying the fact that we can only be helpless spectators to this lousy drama and lament in our forums. This makes me all the more angrrrrrrrrry ! Poor aam aadmi ! :spin :spin :spin
Sumeru, I am also against the 60000 knock off... there is also other factors like the farmers need a support to pick up the pieces..it is really heart wrenching to hear and see the farmers committing suicide...but I also feel are we teaching the easy way out.... This is definitely an pre election budget....
Shanvy, I believe there's much more to the farmer affair than loans from the banks. There is a lot of intervention that is required from the govt to make the life cycle of farming better for them in terms of facilities for irrigation, trading crops, financial lending, etc. Loans are just 1 aspect of this. Govt has to chip in and provide the necessary support for the other factors that have triggered issues for farmers. In fact, I believe only the rich farmers who have availed loans from banks stand to gain from waiver, majority of the remaining have borrowed at high rates from private lenders and are being fleeced. Obviously waiver does not help these cases. The root cause of borrowing actually points back to the govt's inefficiency in addressing the real problems that have triggered borrowings. Such waivers will set a bad example and also do not address the root cause of this problem. Its just a painkiller at the end of the day at the cost of the nation's growth. bonk
