New Delhi: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday began presenting the Budget for the next fiscal, recalling the hard days of past two years, but with an assurance that the worst was over for the economy and the days ahead were promising though not without challenges.

"Today, as I stand before you, I can say with some confidence that we have weathered this crisis well," Mukherjee told the Lok Sabha.

"That is not to say that the challenges today are any less than they were nine months ago, when the UPA was voted back to power under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh," he added.


He said three challenges he had listed last year remained relevant today -- those of quickly reverting to a high growth path of 9 percent and cross over to double-digit expansion; making growth more inclusive and developing infrastructure in rural areas; and strengthening food security.

He said in 2009, when he presented the interim budget in February and the full budget in July, the Indian economy was facing grave uncertainty, the economy slowed down and business sentiment was low.

But this year, the budget has came against the backdrop of the Economic Survey for 2009-10, saying India's growth can go up to double digit levels in four years, with the country emerging as the fastest growing economy in the world.

The initial market reaction, as the finance minister began his budget speech was guarded, with the sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) ruling at 16,347.72 points, against the previous day's close at 16,254.2 points, with a gain of 93.52 points, or 0.58 percent.

Those in the packed house presided over by Speaker Meira Kumar, included Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj.

Although the Budget speech also contained some policy pronouncements and other steps directed at reforms, it is basically an annual statement of accounts for the upcoming fiscal in terms of receipts and expenditure, along with direct and indirect tax proposals.

The Budget was presented after a quick meeting of the Union Cabinet inside Parliament presided over by the Prime Minister for a customary approval for the proposals.


Budget highlights:

To quickly revert to the high GDP of 9 per cent.

To remove bottlenecks in the delivery system.

We have weathered the economic crisis.

Growth rate in manufacturing sector is 18.5 per cent.

Growth should be more inclusive.

Inflation will be brought down.

To remove supply-demand imbalances.

Need to review the stimulus package.

To raise Rs 25,000 cr through disinvestment.

GDP has come down to 6.7 per cent.

Target growth rate is 10 per cent.

New companies act soon.

More bank licences to private players.

Thrust is on infrastructure in rural areas.

Direct tax code from April 1, 2010.

Fertilizers' subsidy to be reduced.

Rs 400 cr allocated for agriculture production.

Extend Green Revolution to the east of the country.

Rs 1,73,552 cr for infrastructure development.

Rs 200 cr for climate resilient agri-initiative.

Rs 200 cr for Goa to preserve its natural resources.

Rs 19,894 cr for road transport.

Rs 950 cr more for Railways.

Rs 31,036 cr for school education.

States wil get Rs 3,675 cr for elementary education.

Proposed allocation for NREGS is Rs 40,100 cr.

Rs 300 cr for Rashtriya Vikas Yojana.

Rs 5,400 cr for urban development.

1 per cent rebate on home loans upto Rs 20 lakh till March 31, 2011.

Rs 1,270 cr for Rajiv Awas Yojana for slum dwellers.

Increase of loans to farmers by Rs 50,000 cr.

Outlay for Clean Ganga Project doubled.

Power sector allocation doubled.

Focus on Delhi-Mumbai industrial freight corridor.

Rs 1,600 cr to banks for capital adequacy.

Rs 10,000 cr for Indira Awas Yojana.

Health insurance to NREGA beneficiaries.

Rs 1,47,344 cr allocated for defence.

Planning Commission to prepare integrated action plan for the 33 extremists affected states.

Rs 5,000 cr for states to improve justice delivery.

One time grant of Rs 200 cr to Tirupur textile hub.

Fiscal deficit for 2010-11 will be 5.5 per cent.
Rs 500 cr special package for Bundelkhand.

2,000 constables to be recruited in 5 para-military forces.

Rs 1,900 cr for unique identification authority.

Indian Rupee to get unique identity and symbol.

Bharat Nirman allocation goes upto Rs 41,000 cr.

20 km of highways to be constructed every day.

Plan outlay for minority affairs is Rs 2,600 cr.

IT returns form to be of two pages.

No tax on income upto Rs 1.6 lakh.

10 per cent tax on income upto Rs 5 lakh.

20 per cent tax on income upto Rs 8 lakh.

30 per cent tax on income above Rs 8 lakh.
Minimum alternate tax increases from 15 per cent to 18 per cent.

The Indian economy has weathered the global slowdown and is well-positioned to achieve a 10 per cent GDP growth in the near future, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Friday.

Presenting the Union Budget for 2010-2011 in Parliament, Pranab said that the economy was in a better condition that it was a year ago when the developed world was hit by slowdown.

He said the recovery had come despite negative agricultural growth and was aided by the performance of the manufacturing sector, which saw a growth of 18.9 per cent in December 2009.

Pranab said that the economy still faced three challenges - finding the means for double-digit GDP growth, making growth inclusive and removing bottlenecks in the public delivery system.

Pranab said that FDI inflow had been steady in the last one year, with the April 2009-December 2009 period providing 20.9 billion US dollars.

He said the government intended to generate Rs 25,000 crore in one year through disinvestment. The other priorities were unveiling the Direct Tax Code from April 1, 2011 and bringing out a status paper on public debt within six months.

The Budget, Pranab said, sought to strengthen rural infrastructure and take a hard look at public spending

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