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Budget 2000: Highlights

Small Scale Industries

Limit of collateral free loans for tiny sector increased from Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 5 lakh.
Composite loan limit of SIDBI and banks for small borrowers raised from Rs. 5 lakh to Rs. 10 lakh.
Rs. 100 crore provided for Credit Guarantee Scheme for SSI through SIDBI to cover loans upto Rs. 10 lakhs.
SIDBI’s Technology Development Modernisation Fund Scheme extended for another 3 years.
Khadi and Village Industries Commission to introduce a common brand name for its products. A professionally managed marketing company to come up.

Capital Market

Tax regime liberalized and Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to be made single-point nodal agency for guidelines.
Indian firms to get more flexibility for undertaking capital account transactions, especially for acquisitions for business abroad in knowledge based sector.
Access of Indian companies to foreign portfolio investment made more flexible. Automatic route for overseas investment by Indian corporates liberalised.

Population Health and Environment

Allocation for Reproductive and Child Health Programme to be increased to Rs. 1,051 crore from the existing Rs. 677 crore.
Funds for developing Indian System of Medicine and Homeopathy doubled to Rs. 100 crore.
Programmes for regeneration of mangroves, shelter belts, bamboo forests to preserve rural environment. Eco-tourism to be encouraged.

Banking and Finance

Government not to close any Public Sector Bank. Weak banks to be restructured.
Banks to be allowed to raise capital from the market to expand operations and for meeting capital adequacy norms.
More Debt Recovery Tribunals and Debt Recovery Appellate Tribunals to be set up.
A new Deposit Insurance Bill to replace the existing Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Act of 1961.

Reforms in Public Sector Units

Potentially viable PSUs to be restructured and revived.
PSUs which cannot be revived are to be closed down.
Government equity in all non-strategic PSUs to be brought down to 26% and below.
Workers’ interest to be protected.

Infrastructure Development

Speedy implementation of PM’s National Highways Development Project at a cost of Rs. 54,000 crore.
Plan outlay for Central PSUs in the power sector raised from Rs. 7,626 crore to Rs. 9,194 crore.
Progressive corporatisation of public sector service providers in areas like telecommunications, ports and airports.

Tax

No change in income tax ; rebate enhanced for senior citizens and women
Tax relief for housing and higher education
Common man spared, incentives to industry, boost to commerce
Tax on dividends to go up; higher tax on income from debt mutual funds : us-64, equity-based uti and mutual funds spared
Interest tax on banks and financial institutions abolished; non-genuine farm house income to be taxed; relief on donations to sports
Computers, computer parts to cost less; concessions to internet service providers
Cinematographic cameras and films to become cheaper; platinum and diamond jewellery costs to come down
Duties on crude oil and petroleum products reduced; exemption for certain medicare items and items of common use
Cold chain equipment rates to go down; hike in excise not to affect kerosene, lpg, laundry soap, cotton yarn and diesel engines
Plastic materials, films, tread rubber, cellular rubber, nylon filament yarn, textile materials for transmission belts, synthetic sacks and bags to cost less
Cars for physically handicapped cheaper; however cigarettes to cost more
Ad valorem rates of basic excise duty merged to a single one; modvat scheme rationalised; peak rate of basic customs duty reduced

Agriculture and Rural Development

Rural Infrastructure Development Fund VI enhanced from Rs. 3,500 crore to Rs.4,500 crore and interest rates reduced by half per cent.
Credit flow to agriculture through institutional channels to increase to Rs. 51,500 crore in the coming year as compared to the estimated Rs. 41,800 crore this year.
Major thrust to Micro-Finance for alleviating poverty. NABARD/SIDBI to cover one lakh Self-Help Groups.
A Micro Finance Development Fund of Rs. 100 crore to be created in NABARD.
Kissan Credit Cards coverage to be enlarged from about 50 lakhs to cover additional 75 lakh farmers.
28 ongoing Centrally Sponsored Schemes for agricultural development are to be integrated into one comprehensive programme.
A National Commission on Land Use Policy to be set up.
New initiatives for universalisation of elementary education include a new scheme "Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan" to enable enrolement of all children by 2003.
National Literacy Mission to be revamped to achieve 75 per cent literacy by 2005.
A new scheme "Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana" to be launched for implementation of time-bound programmes for rural people. Rs. 5000 crore provided for the scheme.

Rural Housing and Social Security to Poor

25 lakhs dwelling units to be provided in rural areas.
Indira Awas Yojana to provide more than 12 lakhs houses for the people below poverty line. Rs. 1,501 crore provide for this.
Assistance to construct 1 lakh houses for families below annual income of Rs. 32,000.
National Housing Bank to provide refinance for construction of 1.5 lakh houses under Golden Jubilee Rural Housing Finance Scheme.
Rs. 100 crore additional equity support to HUDCO for building 9 lakh houses.
A new Group Insurance Scheme "Janashree Bima Yojana" to be introduced to provide social security. The insurance cover will be Rs. 20,000 in case of natural death, Rs. 50,000 in case of accidental death or permanent disability and Rs. 25,000 for partial permanent disability.

Empowerment of Women

Task force to review all existing legislation and schemes for enhancing role of women in economy.
Year 2001 declared "Women’s Empowerment Year".

Science and Technology

Rs. 50 crore provided in the budget of the Technology Information Forecasting and Assessment Council for taking up technology vision projects and boost cooperation between Universities and R&D Institutions.
Rs. 50 crore provided for New Millennium Indian Technology Leadership Initiative in the budget of Department of Science and Industrial Research.

Defence

Subsidies

North-East Region

Technology Mission for horticulture development in North-Eastern States.
50 more Industrial Training Institutes and 446 Computer Information Centres in the next two years.

Annual Plan

Central Sector Plan Outlay increased from Rs. 1,03,521 crore to Rs. 1,17,334 crore.
Gross Budget support for Plan increased from Rs. 77,000 crore to Rs. 88,100 crore.