New Delhi, Feb 26 (Inditop.com) Highlights of 2010-11 budget presented by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in parliament Friday:
— Draft Food Security Bill prepared and will be put in the public domain
— Allocation on primary education raised from Rs.26,800 crore to Rs.31,300 crore
— Banking facilities to be provided to all habitations with a population of 2,000 and more
— Rs.66,100 crore allocated for rural development in 2010-11; Rs.40,100 crore for National Rural Employment Scheme; RS.48,000 crore for Bharat Nirman
— Rs.1,270 crore allocated for Rajiv Awas Yojna for slum dwellers, up from Rs.150 crore, an increase of 700 percent with the aim of creating a slum free India.
— Forty-six percent of plan allocations in 2010-11 will be for infrastructure development
— Coal Regulatory Authority to be set up to benchmark standards of performance
— Allocation for new and renewable energy sector increased 61 percent from Rs.620 crore to Rs.1,000 crore in 2010-11
— National Clean Energy Fund to be established
— Rs.200 crore allocated as special package for Goa to prevent erosion and increase green cover.
— Government committed to growth of SEZs.
— Four-pronged strategy for growth of agricultural sector.
— Rs.200 crore to be provided in 2010-11 for climate-resilient agricultural initiative.
— Involvement of private sector in grain storage to continue for another two years.
— In view of drought and floods, debt repayment period extended to June 2010.
— Five more mega food processing projects in addition to 10 existing ones.
— FDI flows in April-December 2009 $20.9 billion.
— FDI policy to be made more user-friendly with one comprehensive document.
— Apex level financial stability council to be set up for banking sector.
— Indian Banking Association to give additional licences to private players.
— Provision for further capital for regional rural banks.
— Roadmap for reducing public debt in six months.
— Implementation of direct tax code from April 2011.
— Government actively engaged in finalising structure of general sales tax regime; hopes to implement it from April 2011.
— Rs.35,000 crore raised from divestment in 2009-10; will be higher in 2010-11.
— New fertiliser policy from April 2010; will lead to improved productively and more income for farmers.
— Economy stabilised in first quarter of 2009-10; strong rebound in second quarter; overall growth at 7.2 and could be higher when Q3 and Q4 are taken into account.
— Export figures for January encouraging.
— Hope to breach 10 percent growth mark in not too distant future.
— Government set in motion steps to bring down food inflation.
— Need to review stimulus package; need to make growth more broad-based.
— India has weathered global economic crisis well; Indian economy in far better position than it was a year ago. In 2009 Indian economy faced grave uncertainty; delay in southwest monsoon had undermined agricultural production.
— First challenge now is to quickly revert to 9 percent growth and then aim for double digit growth; need to make recovery more broadbased.
— Second challenge is to make growth more inclusive; have to strengthen food security.
— Third challenge is to overcome weakness in government’s public delivery mechanism; a long way to go in this.
