Service Tax to add another Rs 4,000 cr revenue gains: FM To tax life insurance service providers: FM Legal representation for

businesses under service tax: FM Servcie tax on hotel accomodation above Rs 1,500 per day: FM Domestic travel to pay Rs 50 service tax, Rs 250 on international travel: FM AC hospitals with more than 25 beds under service tax: FM No excise duty on equipment for UMPPs: FM Ship-owners allowed duty-free spare parts import: FM Export duty on iron ore pellets withdrawn: FM To replace excise with ad valorem duties for cement: FM 20% ad valorem export duty on iron ore: FM Cut customs duty on yarn to 5% from 7.5%: FM Stainless steel scrap exempt from basic customs duty: FM Propose to raise service tax on air travel: FM Peak rate for customs duty unchanged: FM 10% excise duty on branded garments: FM Basic customs duty on Pet Coke and Gypsum to be reduced to 2.5%: FM Base rate on excise duty raised to 5%: FM Export duty at 20% for iron ore: FM Peak rate for customs duty unchanged: FM Base rate on excise duty raised to 5%: FM Basic food, fuel exempted from central excise duty: FM 1% excise duty on 130 new items: FM Reduce customs duty on micro irrigation equipment: FM FY12 fiscal deficit at Rs 4.12 lakh cr: FM FY12 net market borrow target at Rs 3.43 lakh crore: FM Service tax retained at 10%: FM Direct tax sops to result in Rs 11,500 cr net revenue loss: FM Foreign dividend tax rate cut to 15% for Indian cos: FM Low withholding tax of 5% for notified infra funds: FM Will maintain excise duty at 10%: FM All subsidy continues to be part of planned expenses: FM MAT rate raised from 18% to 18.5%: FM New category for 80 yrs and above, limit is Rs 5 lakh: FM Propose to levy MAT on developers of SEZs: FM Propose to reduce surcharge on corporate tax to 5%: FM FY12 total plan spend at Rs 12.57 lakh crore: FM Qualifying age for senior citizens reduced to 60 vs 65: FM Exemption limit for general tax payers raised to Rs 1,80,000: FM FY12 gross tax receipts at Rs 9.32 lakh crore: FM Revenue deficit estimated at 1.8% in 2011-12: FM FY11 fiscal deficit at 5.1%: FM Fiscal deficit seen at 4.6% for FY12: FM Total Non Tax revenue income Rs 125,435cr for FY11: FM Total tax revenues Rs 664,457cr for FY11: FM Gross tax reciepts expected to be higher by 24.9% YoY: FM Expect 10 lakh nos to be generated per day from 1st Oct 2011 under UID: FM FY12 health sector outlay at Rs 26760cr, up 20%: FM Allocation of Rs 52057cr for education sector, increase of 24%: FM Rs 21,000cr to be allocated to Sarva shikshan Abhiyan: FM

 To index NREGA wage rates to inflation: FM Have allocated Rs 58000cr for social schemes (Bharat Nirman): FM Food security bill to be introduced this year: FM Allocation of Rs 52,057cr for education sector, increase of 24%: FM To set up national mission for hybrid, electric vehicles: FM To create infra debt funds: FM Upped priority home loan limit to Rs 25 lakh vs Rs 20 lakh: FM 1% interest subvention on home loans up to Rs 15 lakh: FM To create Rs 100cr equity fund for microfinance cos: FM To bring bill to enable RBI to grant more banking licenses: FM Fertiliser sector investment to get infra status: FM Cap infusion of Rs 20,157cr in PSU banks in FY12: FM FY12 IIFCL disbursement target upped to Rs 25,000cr: FM Propose to boost infra dvpt W/tax-free bonds of Rs 30,000cr To give infra status to cold storage chains: FM To give 3% interest subsidy to farmers in FY12: FM New Companies Bill to be introduced in current session: FM Current a/c gap a concern due to composition of FX flows: FM Investment in fertiliser to be considered as an infrastructure sub-sector: FM On-going metro projects will be provided financial assistance for speedy execution: FM Modified infra debt funds to be created to attract foreign funds for infra development: FM Rs 2.14cr to be allocated towards infra development. Infra financial commission to provide assistance to infra projects: FM Propose to allow tax free infra bonds worth Rs 30000 cr for PSBs Propose tax free bonds of Rs. 30,000 for enhancement of infra sector : FM Rs.2.14 cr to be allocated towards infra development: FM Endeavour to further develop PPP: FM Have to sustain agricultural sustainability in the long term: FM To allocate Rs 300 cr for fodder development: FM Provision of Rs 300cr being made to promote production of bajra, jowar, ragi: FM Rs 300 cr to be allocated for oil palm production : FM Private investment in agro processing should increase: FM Interest subvention on housing loans eligibility relaxed: FM Interest subvention on housing loans extended by one year: FM Propose to give Rs 3000cr to NABARD: FM Infra sector FII cap for bonds with 5-year residual maturity: FM To raise corpus of rural infra development fund to Rs 18000cr vs Rs 16000cr: FM Discussions on to further liberalise FDI policy: FM To move to direct cash subsidy for kerosene: FM Mulling nutrient-based subsidy policy for urea: FM Propose to create an equity fund of Rs 100cr for MFIs: FM Propose to create a women's self help group with a corpus of Rs 500cr: FM 6000cr capital infusion in 2011-12 for PSU banks: FM RBI to issue guidelines on banking licesnes this fiscal: FM FII's permitted to invest in unlisted bonds: FM FII limit in corporate bonds in infra is being raised by additional USD 20bn: FM Will allow registered FIIs to participate in Indian MF industry: FM SEBI registered MF can access foreign investors after fulfilling KYC norms: FM SEBI registered mutual funds to accept subscription from foreign investors: FM NRI's are allowed to invest in mutual funds: FM

 MF can accept subscription foreign investors who meet KYC norms: FM Discussions underway to relax FDI policy: FM To introduce Public Debt AMC of India Bill in FY12: FM Divestment in FY12 seen at Rs 40000cr: FM Preparations for GST rollout in final stages: FM Will introduce GST Bill in current session: FM Govt will move to direct transfer of fertiliser subsidy to cos: FM Extension of NBS to cover urea under review: FM Significant progress on the GST network: FM Code will be effective April 1, 2012: FM New Public debt mgmt bill to be introduced in Parliament soon: FM DTC will be finalised in 2011: FM Govt in the process of setting up independent debt managing committee within finance ministry: FM Average inflation and current account deficit to be lower and better managed next yr: FM Expect inflation and CAD to be lower in 2011-2012: FM Current account deficit poses concerns due to its composition: FM Exports grown by 29.4%; imports grown by 17.6%: FM Current account deficit at 2009-10 levels: FM Impact of monetary tightening to show up with a lag Huge differences between wholesale and retail prices not acceptable: FM Expect RBI to moderate inflation in coming months: FM Shortfalls in distribution and marketing systems in food Economy has shown resilience to external and internal shocks: FM Consumers have been denied a seasonal fall in food prices GDP in FY11 estimated to have grown at 8.6% in real terms: FM Economic growth seen at 8.75-9.25% in FY12: FM Average inflation and current account deficit to be lower and better managed next year: FM Economy regained pre-crisis growth momentum: FM Indian economy expected to grow at 9% in FY12: FM Have been deeply conscious about improving governance: FM Reaching the end of a remarkable fiscal year: FM Govt is engaging in solving gaps in recent corporate governance: FM Corruption is a problem; need to fight it collectively: FM Do not forsee resources being a major constrain in medium-term: FM FY12 budget to be a transition towards more transparent administration Economy back to pre crisis growth trajectory Budget is a transition towards transparent economy Need to improve supply response in agri sector: FM Have to ensure more stable macro economic environment: FM Food inflation still remains a concern: FM Fiscal consolidation has been impressive: FM Growth in 2010 has been broad based: FM

Were reporting the telecom and digital media components of Indias 2011-2012 Budget announcement live. To watch a live stream try:Indian Goverment WebStream, CNBCTV18, Indiatimes, NDTV Profit.

Budget Announcements (We will try and get exact details. Please check back for confirmed/revised updates) - Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) has been increased to 18.5% from 18%, but the current surcharge of 7.5 per cent on domestic companies has been reduced to 5 per cent. - MAT is now going to be applicable on developers (builders) of Special Economic Zones as well as units operating in SEZs. - Rural Broadband and Telecom: Rural Telecom and Rural Broadband are included in an overall allocation of Rs. 58000 crore (which includes other rural initiatives). The government plans to provide Rural broadband connectivity to all 2 Lakh Panchayats in three years. Manufacturing (impacts device and mobile handset manufacturing): To give a fillip the manufacturing, the government intends to take the share of manufacturing in GDP from about 16 per cent to 25 per cent over a period of ten years. Government will come out with a manufacturing policy, which will bring down the compliance burden on the industry through self-regulation and help make Indian industry globally competitive. - Smart Cards Get A Push: In order to bring transparency in government expenditure, the Finance Minister has said that he favors the use of Smart Cards for targeting food subsidies, as well as kerosene and fertilizer subsidies. - National Knowledge Network update: will link 1500 Institutes of Higher Learning and Research through an optical fibre backbone. During the current year, 190 Institutes will be connected to NKN. Since the core will be ready by March 2011, the connectivity to all 1500 institutions will be provided by March 2012. - R&D: no sops announced, just that a National Innovation Council under Shri Sam Pitroda has been set up to prepare a roadmap for innovations in India, and the process of setting up State Innovation Councils in each State and Sectoral Innovation Councils aligned to Central Ministries is underway. - Banking & Financial Inclusion: The government is gong to spend on a multi-media campaign to promote the opening of bank accounts. The Banks have identified about 73,000 habitations for providing banking facilities using appropriate technologies. During this year, banks will cover 20,000 villages. Remaining will be covered during 2011-12. UIDAI/Aadhaar: 2 million users have been given Aadhaar numbers, and the target is that by 1st October 2011, 1 million numbers will be generated per day. Mobile handsets and accessories: The concession available to parts, components and accessories for manufacture of mobile handsets has been extended by a year, till 31st March, 2012 and a few more items are being included in its ambit. The government also intends to expand the raw material list for manufacture of specified electronic components that are fully exempt from basic customs duty (well update with details) Printers become cheaper: excise duty (and hence CVD) on parts of ink-jet and laser-jet printers is being reduced from 10 per cent to 5 per cent. Air Travel will become more expensive, this will impact online ticketing busineses: The service tax economy class on domestic air travel is up by Rs. 50, and Rs. 250 on international; Travel by higher classes on domestic sector is subject to a standard rate of 10 per cent service tax, on par with higher classes on international air travel. - LED Lights: In the last Budget, Central Excise duty on LED lights was reduced from 8 per cent to 4 per cent to promote their use. The basic component of these lights viz. the LED attracts an excise duty (hence, CVD) of 10 per cent and a special CVD of 4 per cent. The excise duty on LEDs is being reduced to 5 per cent and special CVD is being fully exempted. Cinematographic Films: The Indian film industry has represented that colour, unexposed jumbo rolls of cinematographic film are not manufactured domestically and have to be imported. I propose to exempt jumbo rolls of 400 feet and 1000 feet from CVD by providing full exemption from excise duty.

 Cash Dispensers: are being fully exempt cash dispensers from basic customs duty, and parts of such machines to encourage their domestic production. Sole Proprietership Audit: The number of assessees in service tax has grown manifold, many of which are individuals or sole proprietors with small turnovers. All individual and sole proprietor taxpayers with a turnover upto Rs. 60 lakh are exempt from the formalities of audit. All assessees with turnover upto Rs. 60 lakh, the benefit of 3 percentage points in interest on delayed payment. Indian Rupee now has a new symbol which has been notified for use by the Central and State Governments, business entities and the general public. The Government has approached Unicode Standards Authority for inclusion of the symbol in international standards. - Central board of direct tax and central board of excise has enabled online filing of returns, ECF facility, TDS now available througout the country, with the Centralized Processing Centre (CPC) at Bengaluru increasing its daily processing capacity from 20,000 to 1.5 lakh returns in 2010-11. Two more CPCs will become operational in Manesar and Pune by May 2011 and a fourth CPC will come up in Kolkata in 2011-12. Electronic filing of TDS has been stabilized. CBTD wll provide a separate we based facility for taxpayers for tracking resolution of tax refunds. Pre budget: Were particularly looking for announcements related to the National Broadband Plan, Digitization of broadcast services in India (hence sops), Unique ID, Financial Inclusion measures using mobile payments, expectations of revenues from FM Radio III auctions. Do read: - Budget 2011: What The Digital Industry Wants From last year: - Budget 2010: News Sites, Unique ID, GST, Gaming, Mobile, Banking - Budget 2010 Economic Survey: UID, Telecom, FDI, USO Fund, Prasar Bharati & eGovernance