Speaking on the current economic situation and the challenges, Shri Jaitley said: "Decisive vote for change represents the desire of the people to grow, free themselves from the curse of poverty and use the opportunity provided by the society. Country is in no mood to suffer unemployment, inadequate basic amenities, lack of infrastructure and apathetic governance.

Challenging situation due to Sub five per cent growth and double digit inflation. Continued slow-down in many emerging economies a threat to sustained global recovery. Recovery seen with the growth rate of world economy projected at 3.6 per cent in 2014 vis-à-vis in 2013.

First budget of this NDA government to lay down a broad policy indicator of thedirection in which we wish to take this country.

Steps announced are only the beginning of the journey towards a sustained growth of 7-8 per cent or above within the next 3-4 years along with macro-economic stabilization.

Growing aspirations of people will be reflected in the development strategy of the Government led by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and its mandate of 'Sab ka Saath Sab ka Vikas'."

•  Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
  • Government to promote FDI selectively in sectors.
  • The composite cap of foreign investment to be raised to 49 per cent with full Indian management and control through the FIPB route.
  • The composite cap in the insurance sector to be increased up to 49 per cent from 26 per cent with full Indian management and control through the FIPB route.
  • Requirement of the built up area and capital conditions for FDI to be reduced from 50,000 square metres to 20,000 square metres and from USD 10 million to USD 5 million respectively for development of smart cities.
  • The manufacturing units to be allowed to sell its products through retail including E-commerce platforms.

•  Bank Capitalization
  • Requirement to infuse Rs.2,40,000 crore as equity by 2018 in our banks to be in line with Basel-III norms.
  • Capital of banks to be raised by increasing the shareholding of the people in a phased manner.

•  PSU Capital Expenditure
  • PSUs will invest through capital investment a total sum of Rs.2,47,941 crores in the current financial year.

•  Smart Cities
  • A sum of Rs.7060 crore is provided in the current fiscal for the project of developing "One Hundred Smart Cities".

•  Real Estate
  • Incentives for Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITS). Complete pass through for the purpose of taxation.
  • A modified REITS type structure for infrastructure projects as the Infrastructure Investment Trusts (INVITS).
  • These two instruments to attract long term finance from foreign and domestic sources including the NRIs.

•  Irrigation
  • Rs.1000 crore provided for "Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojna" for assured irrigation.

•  Rural Development
  • Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission for integrated project based infrastructure in the rural areas.
  • Rs.500 crore for "Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana" for feeder separation to augment power supply to the rural areas.
  • Rs.14,389 crore provided for Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna(PMGSY).
  • More productive, asset creating and with linkages to agriculture and allied activities wage employment would to be provided under MGNREGA.
  • Under Ajeevika, the provision of bank loan for women SHGs at 4% to be extended to another 100 districts.
  • Initial sum of Rs.100 crore for "Start up Village Entrepreneurship Programme" for encouraging rural youth to take up local entrepreneurship programs.
  • Allocation for National Housing Bank increased to Rs.8000 crore to support Rural housing.
  • New programme "Neeranchal" to give impetus to watershed development in the country with an initial outlay of Rs.2142 crores.
  • Backward Region Grant Fund (BRGF) to be restructured to address intra-district inequalities.

•  Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe
  • An amount of Rs.50,548 crore is proposed under the SC Plan and Rs.32,387 crore under TSP.
  • For the welfare of the tribals “Van Bandhu Kalyan Yojna” launched with an initial allocation of Rs.100 crore.

•  Senior Citizen & Differently Abled Persons
  • Varishtha Pension Bima Yojana (VPBY) to be revived for a limited period from 15 August, 2014 to 14 August, 2015 for the benefit of citizens aged 60 years and above.
  • A committee will to examine and recommend how unclaimed amounts with PPF, Post Office, saving schemes etc. can be used to protect and further financial interests of the senior citizens?
  • Government notified a minimum pension of Rs.1000 per month to all subscriber members of EP Scheme. Initial provision of 250 crore.
  • Increase in mandatory wage ceiling of subscription to Rs.15000. A provision of Rs.250 crore in the current budget.
  • EPFO to launch the "Uniform Account Number" Service for contributing members.
  • Scheme for Assistance to Disabled Persons for purchase/fitting of Aids and Appliances (ADIP) extended to include contemporary aids and assistive devices.
  • National level institutes for Universal Inclusive Design , Mental Health Rehabilitation and a Centre for Disability Sports to be established.
  • Assistance to State Governments to establish fifteen new Braille Presses and modernize ten existing Braille Presses.
  • Government to print currency notes with Braille like signs for visibly challenged person.

•  Women & Child Development
  • Outlay of Rs.50 crores for pilot testing a scheme on "Safety for Women on Public Road Transport". Sum of Rs.150 crores on a scheme to increase the safety of women in large cities.
  • "Crisis Management Centres" in all the districts of NCT of Delhi this year government and private hospitals.
  • A sum of Rs.100 crore is provided for "Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Yojana", a focused scheme to generate awareness and help in improving the efficiency of delivery of welfare services meant for women.
  • School curriculum to have a separate chapter on gender mainstreaming.

•  Drinking Water & Sanitation
  • 20,000 habitations affected with arsenic, fluoride, heavy/ toxic elements, pesticides/fertilizers to be provided safe drinking water through community water purification plants in next 3 years.
  • "Swachh Bharat Abhiyan" to cover every household with sanitation facility by the year 2019.

•  Health and Family Welfare
  • Free Drug Service and Free Diagnosis Service to achieve "Health For All"
  • Two National Institutes of Ageing to be set up at AIIMS, New Delhi and Madras Medical College, Chennai.
  • A national level research and referral Institute for higher dental studies to be set up.
  • AIIMS like institutions in Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Vidarbha in Maharashtra and Poorvanchal in UP. A provision of Rs.500 crores made.
  • 12 new government medical colleges to be set up.
  • States' Drug Regulatory and Food Regulatory Systems to be strengthened by creating new drug testing laboratories and strengthening the 31 existing State laboratories.
  • 15 Model Rural Health Research Centres to be set up for research on local health issues concerning rural population.
  • A national programme in Mission Mode to halt the deteriorating malnutrition situation in India to be put in place within six months.

•  Education
  • Government would strive to provide toilets and drinking water in all the girls school in first phase.
  • An amount of Rs.28635 crore is being funded for Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan(SSA) and Rs.4966 crore for Rashtriya madhyamic Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA).
  • A School Assessment Programme is being initiated at a cost of Rs.30 crore.
  • Rs.500 crore provided for "Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya New Teachers Training Programme" to infuse new training tools and motivate teachers.
  • Rs.100 crore provided for setting up virtual classrooms as Communication Linked Interface for Cultivating Knowledge (CLICK) and online courses.
  • Jai Prakash Narayan National Centre for Excellence in Humanities to be set up in MP.
  • Rs.500 crore provided for setting up 5 more IITs in the Jammu, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.
  • 5 IIMs in the States of HP, Punjab, Bihar, Odisha and Rajasthan.
  • Simplification of norms to facilitate education loans for higher studies.

•  Information Technology
  • Pan India programme "Digital India" to with an outlay of Rs.500 crore to be launched.
  • Programme for promoting "Good Governance" to be launched. A sum of Rs.100 crore provided.

•  Information and Broadcasting
  • Rs.100 crore allocated for 600 new and existing Community Radio Stations.
  • Film & Television Institute, Pune and Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute, Kolkata are proposed to be accorded status of Institutes of national importance and a National Centre for Excellence in Animation, Gaming and Special Effects to be set up.
  • Rs.100 crore is provided for Kisan TV, to disseminate real time information to the farmers on issues such as new farming techniques, water conservation, organic farming etc.

•  Urban Development
  • Vision of the Government is that 500 urban habitations to be provided support for renewal of infrastructure and services in next 10 years through PPPs.
  • Present corpus of Pooled Municipal Debt Obligation Facility facility to be enlarged to Rs.50,000 Crore from Rs.5000 crore.
  • Rs.100 crore provided for Metro Projects in Lucknow and Ahemdabad.

•  Housing
  • Extended additional tax incentive on home loans shall be provided to encourage people, especially the young, to own houses.
  • Mission on Low Cost Affordable Housing anchored in the National Housing Bank to be set up.
  • A sum of Rs.4000 crores for NHB from the priority sector lending shortfall with a view to increase the flow of cheaper credit for affordable housing to the Urban Poor/EWS/LIG segment is provided.
  • Slum development to be included in the list of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities to encourage the private sector to contribute more.

•  Minorities
  • A programme for the up gradation of skills and training in ancestral arts for development for the minorities "Up gradation of Traditional Skills in Arts, Resources and Goods" to be launched.
  • An additional amount of Rs.100 crores for Modernization of Madarsas.

•  Agriculture
  • Government to establish two more Agricultural Research Institute of excellence in Assam and Jharkhand with an initial sum of Rs.100 crore.
  • An amount of Rs.100 crores set aside for "Agri-tech Infrastructure Fund".
  • Rs.200 crore provided to open Agriculture Universities in Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan and Horticulture Universities in Telangana and Haryana.
  • A scheme to provide every farmer a soil health card in a Mission mode will be launched.
  • Rs.100 crore has been provided for this purpose and additional Rs.56 crores to set up 100 Mobile Soil Testing Laboratories across the country.
  • To meet the vagaries of climate change a "National Adaptation Fund" with an initial sum an amount of Rs.100 crore will be set up.
  • A sustainable growth of 4% in Agriculture will be achieved.
  • Technology driven second green revolution with focus on higher productivity and including "Protein revolution" will be area of major focus.
  • To mitigate the risk of Price volatility in the agriculture produce, a sum of Rs.500 crore is provided for establishing a "Price Stabilization Fund".
  • Central Government to work closely with the State Governments to re-orient their respective APMC Acts.
  • Sum of Rs.50 crores provided for the development of indigenous cattle breeds and an equal amount for starting a blue revolution in inland fisheries.
  • Transformation plan to invigorate the warehousing sector and significantly improve post-harvest lending to farmers.

•  Agriculture Credit
  • To provide institutional finance to landless farmers, it is proposed to provide finance to 5 lakh joint farming groups of "Bhoomi Heen Kisan" through NABARD.
  • A target of Rs.8 lakh crore has been set for agriculture credit during 2014-15.
  • Corpus of Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) raised by an additional Rs.5000 crores from the target given in the Interim Budget to Rs.25000 crores.
  • Allocation of Rs.5,000 crore provided for the Warehouse Infrastructure Fund.
  • "Long Term Rural Credit Fund" to set up for the purpose of providing refinance support to Cooperative Banks and Regional Rural Banks with an initial corpus of Rs.5,000 crore.
  • Amount of Rs.50,000 crore allocated for Short Term Cooperative Rural Credit.
  • Sum of Rs.200 crore for NABARD's Producers Development and up liftment Corpus (PRODUCE) for building 2,000 producers organizations over the next two years.

•  Food Security
  • Restructuring FCI, reducing transportation and distribution losses and efficacy of PDS to be taken up on priority.
  • Government committed to provide wheat and rice at reasonable prices to the weaker sections of the society.
  • Government when required will undertake open market sales to keep prices under control.

•  Capital Market
  • Ongoing process of consultations with all the stakeholders on the enactment of the Indian Financial Code and reports of the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC) to be completed.
  • Government in close consultation with the RBI to put in place a modern monetary policy framework.
  • Following measures will be taken to energize Capital markets: Introduction of uniform KYC norms and inter-usability of the KYC records across the entire financial sector.
  • Introduce one single operating demat account.
  • Uniform tax treatment for pension fund and mutual fund linked retirement plan.

•  Banking
  • Time bound programme as Financial Inclusion Mission to be launched on 15 August this year with focus on the weaker sections of the society.
  • Banks to be encouraged to extend long term loans to infrastructure sector with flexible structuring.
  • Banks to be permitted to raise long term funds for lending to infrastructure sector with minimum regulatory pre-emption such as CRR, SLR and Priority Sector Lending (PSL).
  • RBI to create a framework for licensing small banks and other differentiated banks.
  • Differentiated banks serving niche interests, local area banks, payment banks etc. are contemplated to meet credit and remittance needs of small businesses, unorganized sector, low income households, farmers and migrant work force.
  • Six new Debt Recovery Tribunals to be set up.
  • For venture capital in the MSME sector, a Rs.10,000 crore fund to act as a catalyst to attract private Capital by way of providing equity , quasi equity, soft loans and other risk capital for start-up companies with suitable tax incentives to participating private funds to be established.

•  Insurance Sector
  • The pending insurance laws (amendment) Bill to be immediately brought for consideration of the Parliament.
  • The regulatory gap under the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Scheme (Banking) Act, 1978 will be bridged.

•  Small Savings
  • Kissan Vikas Patra (KVP) to be reintroduced.
  • A special small savings instrument to cater to the requirements of educating and marriage of the Girl Child to be introduced.
  • A National Savings Certificate with insurance cover to provide additional benefits for the small saver.
  • In the PPF Scheme, annual ceiling will be enhanced to Rs.1.5 lakh p.a. from Rs.1 lakh at present.

Measures to revive the economy, promote investment in manufacturing, rationalize tax provisions to reduce litigation, address the problem of inverted duty structure in certain areas. Tax reliefs to individual tax payers.

Direct Taxes Proposals

• Personal Income-tax exemption limit raised by Rs.50,000/- that is, from Rs.2 lakh to Rs.2.5 lakh in the case of individual taxpayers, below the age of 60 yeaRs.Exemption limit raised from Rs.2.5 lakh to Rs.3 lakh in the case of senior citizens.
• No change in the rate of surcharge either for the corporates or the individuals, HUFs, firms etc.
• The education cess to continue at 3 percent.
• Investment limit under section 80C of the Income-tax Act raised from Rs.1 lakh to Rs.1.5 lakh.
• Deduction limit on account of interest on loan in respect of self occupied house property raised from Rs.Rs.1.5 lakh to Rs.2 lakh.
• Conducive tax regime to Infrastructure Investment Trusts and Real Estate Investment Trusts to be set up in accordance with regulations of the Securities and Exchange Board of India.
• Investment allowance at the rate of 15 percent to a manufacturing company that invests more than Rs.25 crore in any year in new plant and machinery. The benefit to be available for three years i.e. for investments upto 31.03.2017.
• Investment linked deduction extended to two new sectors, namely, slurry pipelines for the transportation of iron ore, and semi-conductor wafer fabrication manufacturing units.
• 10 year tax holiday extended to the undertakings which begin generation, distribution and transmission of power by 31.03.2017.
• Income arising to foreign portfolio investors from transaction in securities to be treated as capital gains.
• Concessional rate of 15 percent on foreign dividends without any sunset date to be continued.
• The eligible date of borrowing in foreign currency extended from 30.06.2015 to 30.06.2017 for a concessional tax rate of 5 percent on interest payments. Tax incentive extended to all types of bonds instead of only infrastructure bonds.