Budget Highlights

• Import duty on computer motherboards to be down from 20 to 15 per cent. Duty on semiconductor components to be reduced from 15 to 5 per cent. Duty on microprocessors to be slashed from five per cent to nil. Duty on integrated circuits to be cut from five per cent to nil.

• Investments in companies involved in long term finance of urban infrastructure to be considered on par with investments in charitable trusts.

• Additional rebate of Rs 5,000 for women tax payers. It will be upto Rs 15,000 for women senior citizens.

• Import duty on cinematographic cameras and other related equipment down from 40 to 25 per cent.

• A task force will be set up to review all existing legislation and government schemes pertaining to the role of women in national economy.

• Battery backs for cellular phones to be down from 40 to 15 per cent.

• Custom duty for several items of the Information Technology sector reduced from 20 to 15 per cent.

• Surcharge of ten per cent to continue. This will be applicable on peak custom duty.

• Peak rate of customs duty reduced from 40 to 35 per cent.

• System of excise duty based MRP to be extended to two dozen more items. More items to be added during the year.

• As many as 25 lakh dwelling units will be constructed in rural areas next year under the "Housing for all" scheme.

• Ad valorem duty structure to be restored on certain steel items.

• All statutory records on excise will be dispensed with from July 1.

• Universities and research institutions to be allowed to retain revenue generated from intellectual property rights through publicly funded research.

• Plan allocation of the family welfare department is being increased to Rs 3,520 crore from Rs 2,920 crore in budget estimates of last year to operationalise new National Population Policy.

• The government proposes to have three special rates of excise.

• The government proposes to introduce a single rate central value added tax of 16 per cent by merging three ad valorem rates.

• The Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) will be made the single-point nodal agency for registration and regulation of both domestic and overseas venture capital funds.

• Rural infrastructure development fund enhanced from Rs 3,500 crore to Rs 4,500 crore and interest rates reduced by half per cent.

• Credit flow to agriculture through institutional channels to increase to Rs 51,500 crore compared to the estimated Rs 41,800 crore this year.

• A micro finance development fund of Rs 100 crore to be created by NABARD.

• To abolish poverty through job creating growth of 7 per cent to 8 per cent.

• Rs 5000 crore provided for "Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana" for the implementation of time-bound programmes for rural people.

• A new scheme "Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan" to enable enrollment of all children by 2003.

• A national commission on land-use policy to be set up.

• Twenty eight ongoing centrally sponsored schemes for agriculture development are to be integrated into one comprehensive programme.

• Kissan credit cards coverage to be enlarged from 50 lakhs to cover an additional 75 lakh farmers.

• National Literacy Mission to be revamped to achieve 75 per cent literacy by 2005.

• Sixty nine schemes of eight departments would be discontinued or merged as part of the zero-based budgeting. A voluntary retirement scheme for government employees has been proposed.

• Proposal to increase the ceiling of Foreign Institutional Investment (FII) in Indian companies from the current 30 per cent to 40 per cent.

• Government is considering closing down sick Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) after providing an acceptable safety net for workers.

• Assistance to construct one lakh houses for families whose annual income is below Rs 32,000.

• 25 lakh dwelling units to be provided in rural areas.

• Rs 1501 crore provided to construct 12 lakh houses for people below the poverty line under Indira Awas Yojana.

• National Housing Bank to provide refinance for construction of 1.5 lakh houses under golden jubilee rural housing finance scheme

• Rs 100 crore additional equity support to Hudco for building 9 lakh houses.

• A new group insurance scheme "Janashree Bima Yojana" to be introduced to provide social security.

• Year 2001 declared "women's empowerment year".

• Task force to review all existing legislations and schemes for enhancing the role of women in the economy.

• Khadi and Village Industries Commission to introduce common brand name for its products. A professionally managed marketing company to come up.

• SIDBI's technology development modernisation fund scheme extended for another 3 years.

• Rs 100 crore provided for credit guarantee scheme for SSIs through SIDBI to cover loans upto Rs 10 lakhs.

• Composite loan limit of SIDBI and banks for small borrowers raised from Rs 5 lakhs to Rs 10 lakhs.

• A new Rs 5,000 crore scheme "Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana" is being launched to undertake time-bound programmes to fulfil basic rural needs of primary education, health care, drinking water, housing and rural roads.

• Number of initiatives to achieve the objectives such as doubling of allocation of foodgrain to below poverty line families and rationalising fertilizer subsidy.

• Tax regime liberalised and SEBI to be made single-point nodal agency for guidelines.

• Rs 50 crore for new millennium Indian technology leadership initiatives.

• Limit of collateral free loans for tiny sector increased from Rs one lakh to Rs five lakhs.

• A new deposit insurance bill to replace existing deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Act of 1961.

• More debt recovery tribunals and debt recovery appelate tribunals to be set up.

• Potentially viable PSUs to be restructured and revived.

• Non-plan expenditure was today hiked by Rs 26,044 crore to Rs 2,50,387 crore mainly on account of defence expenditure, interest payments and grants to states.

• Government today proposed reducing its equity in the public sector banks to 33 per cent by issuing shares to the general public.

• The Planning Commission and the agriculture ministry have worked out modalities to integrate 28 ongoing separate centrally-sponsored schemes of agricultural development into one comprehensive programme.

• The central sector plan outlay has been increased by Rs 13,8163 crore to Rs 1,17,334 crore for 2000-01 as against Rs 1,03,521 crore in 1999-00.

• Banks to be allowed to raise capital from the market to expand operations and for meeting capital adequacy norms.

• Weak banks to be restructured.

• Government not to close down any public sector bank.

• Government equity in all non-strategic PSUs to be brought down to 26 per cent and below.

• PSUs which cannot be revived to be closed down.

• Defence allocation raised to Rs 58,587 crore from Rs 45,694 crore.

• Fertiliser subsidies to be rationalised.

• No allocation of sugar under PDS for income tax assessees.

• Allocation of foodgrain to below poverty line families under PDS doubled.

• Gross budget support for plan increased from Rs 77,000 crore to Rs 88,100 crore.

• Central sector plan outlay increased from Rs 1,03,521 crore to Rs 1,17,334 crore.

• Disinvestment receipts are expected to be only Rs 2,600 crore against the targeted Rs 10,000 crore this financial year.

• The Fiscal deficit in 1999-2000 is likely to go up to 5.6 per cent of GDP from the target of 4 per cent.

• Defence allocation increased. The defence budget was today raised to Rs 58,587 crore, an increase of Rs 13,000 crore over last year's allocation.

• Non-plan expenditure increased by Rs 17,461 crore -- an increase of 8.4 per cent over the budget estimate of Rs 2,06,882 crore. Plan expenditure increased by Rs 2,395 crore -- 3.1 per cent increase over the budget estimate of Rs 77,000 crore.

• Direct tax revenues for the coming year estimated at Rs 72,105 crore, including an additional revenue of Rs 5,080 crore.

• Exemption to US-64 and open-ended mutual funds to continue.

• Tax on interest income distributed by mutual funds including UTI to be raised from 10 to 20 per cent.

• 100 per cent exemption on setting of vocational institutions by private sector in rural areas.

• No approval required for venture capital funds from tax authorities. One-time tax payment of 20 per cent when the capital is distributed to investors.

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