India will meet a "challenging" fiscal deficit target of 4.1 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) in the year to March 31, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Saturday, when presenting the government`s full-year budget.
Here are the highlights of Jaitley`s budget for the fiscal year that begins on April 1.
FISCAL DEFICIT
* Fiscal deficit seen at 3.9 pct of GDP in 2015/16
* Will meet the challenging fiscal target of 4.1 pct of GDP
* Remain committed to meeting medium term fiscal deficit target of 3 pct of GDP
* Current account deficit below 1.3 percent of GDP
* Jaitley says have to keep fiscal discipline in mind despite need for higher investment
GROWTH
* GDP growth seen at between 8 pct and 8.5 pct y/y
* Aiming double digit growth rate, achievable soon
INFLATION
* Expects consumer inflation to remain close to 5 percent by March, opening room for more monetary policy easing
* Monetary policy framework agreement with the RBI clearly states objective of keeping inflation below 6 percent
POLICY REFORMS
* Propose to create a universal social security system for all Indians
* Allocates 346.99 billion rupees for rural employment guarantee scheme in 2015/16
* To bring a new bankruptcy code in 2015/16
* Jaitley says will move to amend the RBI act this year, and provide for a monetary policy committee
TAXATION
* Expects to implement goods and services tax by April 2016
INFRASTRUCTURE
* Investment in infrastructure will go up by 700 bln rupees in 2015/16 over last year
* Plans to set up national investment infrastructure fund
* Proposes tax-free infrastructure bonds for projects in roads, rail and irrigation projects
* Will need to build additional 100,000 km of road
* Ports in public sector will be encouraged to corporatise under Companies Act
SUBSIDIES
* We are committed to subsidy rationalisation based on cutting leakages
FINANCE MINISTER`S COMMENTS
* "The world is predicting it`s India`s time to fly"
* "We inherited a sentiment of doom and gloom. The investment community had almost written us off. We have come a long way since then."
* "We have turned around the economy, dramatically restoring macroeconomic stability and creating the conditions for sustainable poverty elimination, job creation, durable double digit economic growth."
* "Domestic and international investors are seeing us with renewed interest and hope."
