Education
- 100 new Sainik Schools will be set up in partnership with NGOs/private schools/states. Introducing Legislation this year to implement the up of Higher Education Commission of India.
- It will be an umbrella body having 4 separate vehicles for standard-setting, accreditation, regulation, and funding.
- Set up a Central University in Leh.
- Post Matric Scholarship Scheme, for the welfare of Scheduled Castes. Allotting Rs. 35,219 crores for 6 years till 2025-2026, to benefit 4 crores SC students.
- Establish 750 Eklavya model residential schools in our tribal areas. Increase the unit cost of each such school from Rs.20 crores to Rs.38 crores, and for hilly and difficult areas, to Rs.48 crores.
R&D
- National Research Foundation outlay will be of Rs.50,000 crores, over 5 years.
- National Language Translation Mission (NTLM). This will enable the wealth of governance-and-policy related knowledge on the Internet being made available in major Indian languages.
- The New Space India Limited (NSIL), a PSU under the Department of Space will execute the PSLV-CS51 launch, carrying the Amazonia Satellite from Brazil, along with a few smaller Indian satellites
- Deep Ocean Mission with a budget outlay of more than Rs. 4,000 crores, over five years.
- This Mission will cover deep ocean survey exploration and projects for the conservation of deep sea bio-diversity.
- The National Nursing and Midwifery Commission Bill to be introduced by the government for passing.
- Provide Rs. 1,000 crores for the welfare of Tea workers especially women and their children in Assam and West Bengal.
Fiscal
- The capital expenditure, estimated in RE is Rs.4.39 lakh crores in 2020-2021 as against Rs.4.12 lakh crores in BE 2020-21.
- The fiscal deficit in RE 2020-21 is pegged at 9.5% of GDP.
- BE estimates for expenditure in 2021-2022, are Rs. 34.83 lakh crores. This includes Rs. 5.54 lakh crores as capital expenditure, an increase of 34.5% over the BE figure of 2020-2021.
- The fiscal deficit in BE 2021-2022 is estimated to be 6.8% of GDP.
- The gross borrowing from the market for the next year would be around Rs. 12 lakh crores.
Tax
- Senior citizens who are 75 years of age and above who only have pension and interest income exemption from filing their income tax returns. The paying bank will deduct the necessary tax on their income.
- Reopening window for IT assessment cases reduced from 6 to 3 years. However, in case of serious tax evasion cases (Rs. 50 lakh or more), it can go up to 10 years
- Proposal to increase the limit for tax audit from Rs. 5 cr to 10 crore for those who carry out 95% of their transactions digitally.
- Affordable housing projects can avail a tax holiday for one more year – till 31st March, 2022.
- Compliance burden of small trusts whose annual receipts does not exceed Rs. 5 crore to be eased
- The eligibility for claiming tax holiday for start-ups extended till 31st March, 2022.
- Propose to extend the capital gains exemption for investment in start-ups till 31st March, 2022.
- Some parts of mobiles will move from ‘nil’ rate to a moderate 2.5%
- Duty of copper scrap reduced to 2.5%
- Reducing customs duty on Naptha to 2.5%
- Rationalizing custom duty on gold and silver
- Increase in duty on solar invertors from 5% to 20%, and on solar lanterns from 5% to 15%.
- Withdraw exemptions on tunnel boring machine. It will attract a customs duty of 7.5%; and its parts a duty of 2.5%.
- Increase in customs duty on certain auto parts to 15% to bring them on par with general rate on auto parts.
- Increase in duty from 10% to 15% on steel screws and plastic builder wares.
- Withdrawing exemption on imports of certain kind of leathers as they are domestically produced (meaning these won’t be duty free)
- Increase in customs duty on finished synthetic gem stones
- Increase in customs duty on cotton from nil to 10% and on raw silk and silk yarn from 10% to 15%.
General info:
- 2021 is the 75th year of Independence.
- 60 years of Goa’s accession to India.
- 50 years of the 1971 India-Pakistan War.
- 2021 will be the year of the 8th Census of Independent India.
- It will also be India’s turn at the BRICS Presidency.
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