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All those who had been planning to upgrade from a cheap mobile handset to a sleek smartphone may do a re-think: the finance minister has hiked the excise duty hike for handsets priced above Rs. 2,000.
Finance minister P Chidambaram made a concerted effort to rationalise the price of imported coal by announcing equal duties for imports of both steam and bituminous types of coal.
High expectations notwithstanding, the electric vehicle industry scored a blank in this year’s budget, with a token two-year extension of existing exemptions on basic customs duty and special additional duty on specific components as the only incentives.
There is bad news for the Ferraris, the Lamborghinis, the BMWs and the Audis. The government on Thursday hiked customs duty on imported cars that cost over $40,000 (
Rs. 22 lakh) from 75% to 100%, which will substantially increase the prices of these cars.
In a big push for infrastructure, the budget for 2013-14 outlined steps to raise
Rs. 50,000 crore via tax-free bonds, a plan to set up major ports and a regulator for road-building.
HT reports.
In a move likely to revive investment interest of global energy companies in India's oil and gas sector, finance minister P Chidambaram's budget speech for 2013-14 said the government will review its natural gas pricing and oil exploration policies. HT reports.
Delhi Police, which was under heavy fire for its alleged mishandling of the December 16 gang rape and had cited a manpower and infrastructure crunch as a shackle to more efficient functioning, was allocated Rs. 600 crore more in the Union budget.
The government will give Rs. 5,000 crore to Air India (AI) in 2013-14 as part of its bailout package for the national carrier. The aviation ministry had asked for Rs. 8,500 crore. At the same time, the government has moved to encourage aircraft maintenance as an industry in India. HT reports.
The crisis-ridden domestic textiles and apparel sector got a much-needed fiscal bailout in the budget with the government providing a host of sops to trigger a revival in the labour-intensive sectors that create jobs.
HT reports.
The good lifeWelcoming the allocation of Rs. 1,000 crore for setting up a ‘Nirbhaya’ fund for women, activists have suggested the money be used for empowerment of women and gender sensitisation. The special fund comes after the December 16 gang rape in Delhi that sparked nationwide outrage.
The finance minister has refrained from tinkering with service tax rates. Service tax generated tax revenue of over Rs. 97,579 crore in the financial year 2011-12, and has emerged as an important source of revenue in the last few years.
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) heaved a sigh of relief after Union finance minister P Chidambaram announced an allocation of Rs. 3,120 crore for the network's phase 3 expansion.
Dashing the hopes of chief minister Sheila Dikshit in an election year, finance minister P Chidambaram allocated only R1,143 for Delhi in 2013-14. The Centre’s assistance has gone up by just Rs. 44 crore from last year’s Rs. 1,099 crore.
The Rashtriya Swasthiya Bima Yojana, the government's flagship aam-admi health insurance scheme would be extended to benefit the rickshaw, auto-rickshaw and taxi drivers, sanitation workers, rag pickers and mine workers.