Budget In 2 Minutes

Cap on foreign direct investment in the banking companies under the automatic route raised from 49 per cent to 74 per cent. Private banks also allowed to invite investment

Overseas investment under the automatic route to be permitted to corporates with a proven track record even where the investment is not in the same core activity. The limit for this purpose raised from the current 50 per cent of the net worth of the Indian company to 100 per cent

Prepayment of external commercial borrowing dues under the automatic route to be permitted by removing the current ceiling of $100 million

Procedure for registration of foreign institutional investors to be streamlined to facilitate their easy entry into stock markets

The Banking Regulation Act, 1949, to be amended to remove provision for limiting voting rights of a person holding shares of a banking company to 10 per cent irrespective of his shareholding

The benefits of Section 72A of Income Tax Act to be extended to nationalised banks. Any company can now merge with a nationalised bank with consequential tax benefit

Stock exchanges opting for corporatisation or demutualisation to be exempted from capital gains tax

75 items deleted from the reservation list for small scale industrial sector. These include laboratory chemicals and reagents, leather and leather products, plastic products, chemicals and chemical products and paper products

Three-tier excise duty structure of 8 per cent, 16 per cent and 24 per cent proposed

Peak Customs duty reduced from 30 per cent to 25 per cent. Agricultural and dairy products excluded from this cut

Excise duty reduced on a range of garments and fabrics

Additional Excise Duty Act to be amended to facilitate introduction of Value Added Tax (VAT)

States to be allowed to levy sales tax on textiles, sugar and tobacco products at a rate not exceeding 4 per cent to augment their resources and integrate this tax with VAT

The ceiling rate of Central Sales Tax for inter-state sale between registered dealers to be reduced to 2 per cent; The Centre to compensate the states for revenue loss on this account

Interest rates on public provident fund and small savings schemes to be reduced by one percentage point with immediate effect. Interest on relief and savings bonds also to be reset accordingly

Interest-free period for warehoused goods increased from 30 to 90 days and the rate of interest for the period beyond 90 days reduced to reflect the market rate of interest

Customs clearance procedures to be brought at par with international standards. A self-assessment scheme for importers and exporters to be introduced for this purpose

Non-resident Indians