Budget 2006-07

Economic Overview : 2005-06
GDP growth is likely to be 8.1% with manufacturing sector growth at 9.4%.
Flagship Programmes : Substantial enhancement in allocations for Flagship Programmes like Bharat Nirman, Urban Renewal Mission, Sarva Siksha Abhiyan etc.

e-Governance : National e-Governance plan to be approved shortly. 25 projects in Mission mode will be launched in 2006-07. Among them is project MCA-21 to enable companies to file returns, registrations etc.  electronically. It will also involve providing information and large amount of common services for citizens online. 

Customs duty rate reduced : Peak rate of customs duty on non agricultural products were reduced from 15% to 12.5%.

Tax Rationalisation : Excise duty on small cars reduced from 24% to 16% as one of the planned step to make India a manufacturing hub for small cars. Customs and excise duty rates were reduced from various items of food processing sector with a view to promote the sector.

GST Regime by 2010: The Budget proposes to set up Goods and Service Tax (GST) from April 1, 2010. 

Modernising tax administration

The Government of India is undertaking Business Process Re-engineering nationwide to connect 745 income tax offices in 510 cities and 550 customs and central excise offices in 245 cities. This will create national databases, enabling jurisdiction free filing of returns, online tracking of status of accounts and refunds and similar other services being rendered by the Indian Income Tax administration.  More :

India US Strategic Partnership

While, making Joint Statement during recent visit of US President George W. Bush    , he and  Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed satisfaction with the great progress made in advancing the strategic partnership to meet the global challenges of the 21st century. More:  India US to double the trade in 3 years.    

Investment Opportunities in Petroleum Sector

New Exploration Licensing Policy now has made biggest offer of 55 blocks in an area of 355,000 sq. mtrs. An investment of US$ 6 billion is expected in next few years in refinery sector alone. A task force will be set up to draw roadmap for setting up 3 large PC&P Investment Regions to be developed in 2006-07.

Investment Opportunities in Mega Power Projects

The Central Budget provides for setting up 5 ultra mega power projects of 4,000 MW each for which contracts will be awarded before December 31, 2006. 2 pit head projects are planned in Chhattishgarh and Madhya Pradesh, while, 3 costal projects in Gujarat, Karnataka and Maharashtra will be based on imported coal / gas. Power Progress : 82 projects under construction will add 33,000 MW of additional capacity.  Power Reforms Committee set up. Benefits under Income Tax Act were extended upto 2010. More :

National Maritime Development Programme

To develop Indian shipping and port sector, the Government of India has approved a National Maritime Development Programme. Port sector alone will require US$ 11 billion. At present, work is in progress in 101 projects for inland waterways, shipping and ports. More projects with various financing models are planned. More :

1000 Kms of Express Ways

1000 Kms of Express Ways will be built on Design Build Finance and Operate (DBFO basis between Vadodara - Mumbai, Delhi - Chandigarh, Delhi - Jaipur, Delhi - Meerut, Delhi - Agra, Bangalore - Chennai and Kolkata - Ahmedabad. The contracts will be issued by the end of the year. More :

Telecommunications Expansion

Present tele-density of 11.75% will provide base for the ambitious target to reach 250 million connections by December 2007.

Coal Sector Privatization

De-blocking of coal reserves of 20 billion tonnes for captive consumption by power projects by 2012 is  on the anvil.

Economics Indicators :

·  Foreign Exchange Reserve were at US$ 143.9 billion on March 10, 2006. 

·  Exports  were at US $ 88.76 billion during April-February, 2005-2006, 26.34% higher than corresponding period last year. More:

·  Imports during April-February, 2005-2006 are valued at US $ 126.33 billion representing an increase of 33% over the level in April-February, 2004-2005. More:

FDI Policy Rationalization

FDI caps and procedures were liberalized for a large number of sectors including coal & lignite mining for captive consumption, Petroleum marketing infrastructure and diamonds/ precious stones mining. More:

FDI Statistics: 61% growth

FDI in January 2006 showed a 340% increase valued at US $ 647.7 million as against US $ 152 million in January 2005. April 05 -Jan 06 FDI at 4.34 billion was 61% higher than the corresponding period last year. More:

FoxConn plans India Unit

BMW: Project approval "Fair, transparent and efficient"

BMW stated on their Chennai  4 wheeler project cleared in four months by various authorities in Central and State Government "faster than it would have been possible in any other Asian country"