BCTT stands withdrawn; Exemption norms for charitable trusts/institutions to be tightened;

STT like Commodity Exchange Tax introduced;

Sponsorship of employees sportspersons + guest houses taken outside FBT;

Short-term capital gains tax hiked to 15%; No change in STT rate;

Parent company allowed to avail dividend distribution tax ;

Tax holiday for hospitals in rural India announced;

Five-year Tax holiday for hotels in UNESCO-recognised sites;

Outsources researched : weighted deduction of 125% allowed

Income Tax exemption limit hiked to Rs 1.5 lakh from Rs 1.1 lakh; Exemption for women assessees hiked to Rs 1.8 lakh; Sr citizens exempted upto Rs 2.25 lakh;

No change in corporate tax rate;

Sec 80C benefits extended upto Rs 15000/- for medical insurance of parents;

Exemption limit for small service providers hiked to Rs 10 lakh;

Four new services under service tax net : Asset management service + customised software + games of change;

1 % NCCD shifted from textile to cellular industry;

Specific duty levied on unbranded petrol;

Bulk cement and packaged cement : Duty parity achieved;

Anti-AIDS drugs exempted from excise duty;

Small cars and two-wheelers : Excise duty reduced from 12% to 8%;

Cenvat rate reduced to 14%; All pharma goods to attract only 8% excise duty;

Export duty on chrome hiked ;

Duty exemption to Naptha withdrawn but not for fertiliser;;

Sports goods : Duty on machinery reduced to 5%; Duty for diamond industry reduced;

Specified life-saving drugs : Customs duty reduced to 5%; exempt from excise duty;

Peak rate for non-agri products not changed; Duty for project imports reduced to 5%;

Revenue defict is 1.4%; Fiscal deficit to be 3.1 %;

Central Plan Scheme Monitoring System to be set up to monitor 1000 Central Schemes ;

Rs 50 Cr allocated for tiger protection force;

Climate change : Institutional mechanism to be put in place;

Defence outlay hiked by 10%;

Funds for 22 Sainik Schools; Smart card-based PDS delivery system to be introduced by Haryana + Chandigarh on pilot basis;

Rs 750 Cr earmarked for ITIs upgradation;

Non-profit corpn to be set up for skill imparting; Rs 1000 Cr earmarked;

Pan Indian market for Securities : Empowered Committee of States to be urged to look into stamp duty;

Bond trading to be encouraged;

Rs 2000 Cr Risk Funding scheme to be introduced by SIDBI;

Banks to launch total financial inclusion scheme;

Coal Regulator to be in place soon; Allocation for IT Ministry hiked;

Allocation for roads in N-E hiked;

Budget announces National T & D Fund for power sector;

Rs 5500 cr for Rajiv Gandhi rural electrification scheme;

Rs 3003 cr budget support for CPSEs;

Debt relief & debt waiver scheme to be completed by June, 2008; Over 1 cr farmers to get benefits; Total package to be worth Rs 60,000 Cr;

Scheme for debt waiver & debt relief for farmers : All agri loans upto Dec, 2007 to be covered - marginal & small farmers to get complete waiver; One-time settlement scheme for other farmers; Rescheduled loans also to be eligible for waiver;

Nutrient-based subsidy scheme being examined for agri sector;

Plantation crops like tea, coffee, rubber etc to get budget support;

Rs 500 Cr more for drip and sprinkler water irrigation scheme;

Gross Capital Formation in agri sector to be hiked to 16% to realise 4% growth rate;

LIC to cover all women Self Help Groups; Rs 500 Cr earmarked;

54 Ministries / Depts set up cells for gender budgeting - Rs 1000 Cr for women specific schemes;

Budget support for Minorities Ministry hiked to Rs 1000 Cr;

Arunachal gets Rs 500 Cr;

Budget allocation for N-E hiked to Rs 16447 Cr;

Budget support for Rajiv Gandhi Drinking Water Scheme hiked;

Allocation for Rural and Urban employment scheme hiked;

AIDS control programme to get Rs 993 Cr;

Healthcare budget outlay hiked by 15%; Wages for Anganwadi workers hiked to Rs 1500;

Health insurance scheme for workers in unorganised sector; Two National Institutes for ageing to be set up;

6000 Model Schools Scheme to be introduced; 20 Navodaya Vidayalaya in SC/ST districts;

Allocation for education hiked to Rs 34400 Cr;

Budget allocation for Bharat Nirmal hiked to Rs 31800 Cr;

52 villages getting telephone connections every day;

Govt to moderate capital inflows on temporary basis;

Agri sector projected to grow at 2.6 % this fiscal;

CBDT Member (Budget) A J Majumdar is retiring today; Farewell at 2.30 PM;

Will PC extend tax holiday for EoUs? (See 'Breaking News');

Survey hints at taxing e-commerce;

CENTRAL EXCISE SECTION

Tariff 02 to 14, Non-Tariff 10 to 14 and explanatory notes

SERVICE TAX SECTION

Notification 04 to 15 and explanatory notes

CUSTOMS SECTION

Tariff 20 to 29, Non-Tariff 11 and explanatory notes

budget speech

Finance Bill

D.O. Letter from JS(TRU)