The Hindu News Update Service

New Delhi (PTI): Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Friday announced a Rs 60,000-crore relief package for farmers, including complete waiver of loans given to small and marginal farmers, and raised Income Tax slab.

Presenting his fifth Budget and the last one before the general elections, Chidambaram announced waiver of Rs 50,000 crore worth of loans to small and marginal farmers and a settlement scheme for other farmers that would cost the exchequer another Rs 10,000 crore.

Chidambaram said that according to estimates, three crore marginal and small farmers would benefit from the government's amnesty.

Under the one-time settlement scheme that will benefit another one crore farmers, the government will give a rebate of 25 per cent on payment of outstanding loans.

The agricultural credit of scheduled banks is estimated at Rs 2,40,000 crore in the current fiscal and it would go up to Rs 2,80,000 crore in 2008-09.

The other highlights of Budget are:

Changes in IT slab. Threshold of exemption for all Income Tax assesses raised from from 1,10,000 to 1,50,000.

Every income tax assessees to get relief of minimum of Rs 4,000

No change in rate of surcharge

New tax slabs will be: 10 per cent for 1,50,000 to 3,00,000, 20 per cent for 3,00,000 to 5,00,000 and 30 per cent above 5,00,000.

No change in corporate income tax

For women, the income tax limit goes up from Rs 1.45 lakh to Rs 1.80 lakh. In case of senior women citizens, it increases from Rs 1.95 lakh to Rs 2.25 lakh.

Fresh facilities, encouragement to sports and guest houses exempted from Fringe Benefit Tax.

Five year tax holiday for setting up hospitals in tier II and tier III regions for providing healthcare in rural areas from April 1, 2008.

Five year tax holiday for promoting cultural tourism.

Short-term capital gains increases to 15 per cent

Banking cash transaction tax withdrawn from April 1, 2009.

Commodities Transaction Tax to be introduced on the lines of Securities Transaction Tax.

Direct tax proposals to be revenue neutral. Indirect tax proposals to result in loss of Rs 5,000 crore.

Plan expenditure fixed at Rs 2,43,000 crore and non plan expenditure at 5,74,000 crore.

Fiscal deficit pegged at 3.1 per cent and revenue deficit at 1.4 per cent.

Tax to GDP ratio increased from 9.2 per cent in 2004-05 to 12.5 per cent 2007-08.

No change in peak rate of customs duty for non agriculture imports

Customs duty on specified life saving drugs reduced from ten per cent to five per cent.

Special Countervailing Duty on power imports

Customs duty on specified sports goods machinery down from 7.5 per cent to five per cent.

Duty withdrawn on naptha for production of polymers

Duty on crude and unrefined sulphur reduced from five to 2 per cent to help raise domestic fertiliser production

General Centvat on all goods to be reduced from 16 per cent to 14 per cent. Excise duty reduced from 16 per cent to eight per cent on all pharmaceutical goods manufacture.

Excise duty on small cars reduced to 12 per cent from 16 per cent and hybrid cars to 14 per cent

Excise duty reduced from 16 to 8 per cent on water purification items.

Duty on non filter cigarettes to be raised

Asset management service under mutual funds, services by stock exchanges to be brought under Services Tax net.

Threshold for small service providers raised from Rs. eight lakh to Rs 10 lakh.

Twenty per cent hike in education budget this year from Rs 28,674 crore to Rs 34,400 crore.

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan will be provided Rs 13,100 crore, Mid Day Meal scheme Rs 8,000 crore, Secondary education Scheme Rs 4,554 crore.

Additional Kasturba Gandhi Vidyalaya to be set up in backward blocks.

Navodaya Vidyalayas to be opened in 20 districts with special focus on regions having SC/ST concentration. Allocation of Rs 130 crore for this purpose.

Rs.750 crore more to be given for merit scholarship to students up to 10th and 12th class.

Mid day Meal scheme extended to upper primary level in 3479 schools.

16 central universities to be opened in 2008-09

SC, ST and minority students to continue to get special attention.

Three IITs to be set up in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan.

Rs 75 crore sanctioned for Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship Programme for SC/ST students pursuing M.Phil.

Target of Rs 2.80 lakh crore for agriculture credit set for the coming year.

Rs 20,000 crore for irrigation projects under AIPB, showing an increase of Rs 9,000 crore over last year.

To protect tigers, Rs 50 crore for National Tiger Conservation Programme. Bulk of it to be used to raise Tiger Protection Force.

National Horticulture Mission to be given Rs 1,100 crore in 2008-09 with special focus on coconut cultivation.

Rs 75 crore to be given to Agriculture Ministry for providing mobile soil testing laboratories in 250 districts.

Rs 644 crore for National Agriculture Insurance Scheme, which will be continued pending evolving an alternative crop insurance scheme.

Rs 230 crore will be extended as additional equity to developmental organisations looking after the welfare of SC, ST, socially and economically backward classes and minorities.

Rs 85 crore sanctioned for scholarships to students pursuing science education

Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research to be set up at Bhopal and Thiruvananthapuram

Schools of architecture and planning in Bhopal and Vijaywada. More institutes of higher education to be opened.

Rs 100 crore to be given to Information Technology Ministry to set up national knowledge centres

National Plant Protection Training Institute at Hyderabad to be made autonomous body and Rs.29 crore will be allocated to it

288 public sector bank branches to be opened in districts having minority community concentration.

A scheme of debt waiver and relief for small and marginal farmers announced

Rs 7,200 crore to be allocated to the Ministry of Women and Child Development, marking an increase of 24 per cent

Allocation for NRHM increased to Rs 12,050 crore

Rs 500 crore for identifying urgent needs of development programmes of border areas like Arunachal Pradesh.

Allocation for several schemes in North East raised from Rs 14,365 crore to Rs 16,400 crore.

Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission to get Rs 6,865 crore this year against Rs 5,482 crore past year.

Rs 992 crore for national AIDS programme

Allocation for Bharat Nirman to be raised to Rs 31,280 crore.

Gross budgetary support to be raised to Rs 2,43,386 crore, an increase of more than Rs 38,000 crore from the current level.

Keeping inflation under check is one of the cornerstones of the Government's policy.

A national programme for the elderly to be started at a cost of Rs. 400 crore

Eleventh Plan started on a robust growth.

Economy grew over 8 per cent over 12 successive quarters since 2005.

Gross budgetary support to be raised to Rs 2,43,386 crore, an increase of more than Rs 38,000 crore from the current level.

Growth rate of agriculture estimated at 2.6 per cent during the current year.

Services and manufacturing sectors expected to grow by 10.7 per cent and 9.4 per cent.

Rice production estimiated at 94.08 million tonnes, maize 16.78 mt, soyabean 9.45 mt and cotton 23.38 million bales.

Agriculture credit doubled in the first two years of the government to reach Rs.2.40 lakh crore by March 2008.

Rashtra Swasthya Beema Yojana to start from April one in Delhi and Haryana. Rs 30,000 for each family belonging to unorganised sector.

Allocation for ICDS increased to Rs 6300 crore.

NREGA scheme to be rolled out in all the 596 rural districts in the country in 2008-09.

Allocation for Rajiv Gandhi Drinking Water Mission to be increased to Rs 7,300 crore. Rs 200 crore for potable water in schools.

Rs 300 crore to be set aside for desalination plant in Chennai for drinking water

Allocation for Minority Affairs Ministry to be doubled from Rs 500 crore to Rs 1,000 crore.

Rs 540 crore for multi-sectoral development plan for minority concentration districts.

Rs 500 crore for corpus fund to subsidise all women Self Helf Groups for LIC cover for permanent disability

PAN requirement to be extended to all transactions in capital market subject to a threshold.

Rs 750 crore for upgradation of 300 ITIs in 25 districts.

Rs 32,676 crore as subsidy to Public Distribution System

PDS through smart cards in Haryana and Chandigarh on pilot basis

Three schemes to be introduced for providing social security to unorganised sector workers.

Allocation for defence to be increased by 10 per cent from Rs 96,000 crore to Rs 1,05,600 crore.

Sixth central pay commission to submit report by March 31, 2008.

Rs 624 crore allocated for Commonwealth Games.