The 2015 Union budget of India refers to 2015–2016

Union budget of India The Union Budget of India, also referred to as the ''Annual Financial Statement'' in Article 112 of the Constitution of India, is the annual budget of the Republic of India. The Government presents it on the first day of February so that it coul ...

. The beginning of the budget printing began on 19 February 2015 with the traditional

halwa Halva (also halvah, halwa, and other spellings, Persian : حلوا) is a type of confectionery originating from Persia and widely spread throughout the Middle East. The name is used for a broad variety of recipes, generally a thick paste made f ...

ceremony. From 20 February until the presentation of budget about 100 government employees remained locked up in the North Block of the

Secretariat Building, New Delhi The Secretariat Building or Central Secretariat is where the Cabinet Secretariat is housed, which administers the Government of India. Built in the 1910s, it is home to some of the most important ministries of the Cabinet of India. Situated at ...

, which houses the budget printing press, to maintain secrecy. The budget was presented on 28 February by Finance Minister

Arun Jaitley Arun Jaitley (28 December 1952 – 24 August 2019) was an Indian politician and attorney. A member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Jaitley served as the Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs of the Government of India from 2014 to 2019. Jai ...

Summary

Taxation

Personal income tax

There was no change in income tax slabs of individuals. The

wealth tax A wealth tax (also called a capital tax or equity tax) is a tax on an entity's holdings of assets. This includes the total value of personal assets, including cash, bank deposits, real estate, assets in insurance and pension plans, ownershi ...

was abolished. The surcharge on individuals, Hindu Undivided Families (HUF), associations of persons (AOPs), bodies of individuals (BOI)s, artificial juridical persons,

firm A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared go ...

s, cooperative societies and

local authorities Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

having income earning crore or more, was raised from 10% to 12%. The permitted deduction limit was raised up to towards health insurance for ordinary citizens, an increase from previous . For

senior citizens Old age refers to ages nearing or surpassing the life expectancy of human beings, and is thus the end of the human life cycle. Terms and euphemisms for people at this age include old people, the elderly (worldwide usage), OAPs (British usage ...

, it was raised to from previous . For very senior citizens, i.e. 80 or above, who don't have insurance, a deduction of was allowed. A deduction up to was allowed on the treatment of select very serious diseases for very senior citizens. A deduction up to was allowed for

differently-abled Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, se ...

citizens. An additional was permitted on the new pension scheme. Salaried employees were given the choice between Employees' Provident Fund and

National Pension Scheme National Pension System Trust (NPS Trust) is a specialised division of Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority which is under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Finance of the Government of India. The National Pension System (NPS) is ...

as their pension fund. Investments in Sukanya Samriddhi Scheme and interest payouts were made eligible for deductions. Exemptions for transport allowances was raised from to per month, it is thus per year. This exemption is usually given to individual salaried employees for commuting from home to workplace. It was announced that premature withdrawal from pension funds, if service period is less than 5 years, will result in deduction of tax at source. If withdrawal amount is more than then 10% tax will be deducted.

Corporate tax

It announced that corporate tax rate will be gradually reduced from 30% to 25% over the period of 4 years, starting in April 2016. 2% surcharge was introduced on earnings above 10 crores. However, it was also announced that exemptions and incentives will also be removed. It was announced that donations made to Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and Clean Ganga plan under corporate social responsibility will get 100% deduction. The General Anti-Avoidance Rule was delayed by two years.

Yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consci ...

trusts were classified as charitable trusts and given tax benefits.

Service tax

The service tax rate was raised from 12.36% to 14%. A

Swachh Bharat Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, or Clean India Mission is a country-wide campaign initiated by the Government of India in 2014 to eliminate open defecation and improve solid waste management. It is a restructured version of ...

cess Cess is a tax that is generally levied for promoting services like health and education. Governments often charge cess for the purpose of development in social sectors. The word is a shortened form of "assess". The spelling is due to a mistaken ...

was announced, under which 2% will be added on select services. The service tax exemption given to

mutual fund A mutual fund is a professionally managed investment fund that pools money from many investors to purchase securities. The term is typically used in the United States, Canada, and India, while similar structures across the globe include the SICAV ...

agents was withdrawn.

Lottery ticket A lottery is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw lotteries, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of ...

sellers and

chit fund A chit fund is a type of rotating savings and credit association system practiced in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan other Asian countries. Chit fund schemes may be organized by financial institutions, or informally among friends, relative ...

agents were brought under the ambit of service tax. Varishta Bima Yojana for senior citizens was exempt from service tax. Pre-cooling, ripening, retail packing and labelling of vegetables and fruits were exempted from service tax. Ambulance services were exempted from service tax. Visits to

music concert A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety ...

amusement Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or animal actively maintains the experience, and is associated with enjoyment, happiness, laughter and pleasure. It is an emotion with po ...

and

theme park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

s were brought under the ambit of service tax. Visits to

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoo ...

s, national parks,

wildlife sanctuaries A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

and tiger reserves were exempted service tax. Social security Salaried employees were given the choice between Employees' Provident Fund and

as their pension fund. Two new

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...

schemes and a pension fund were announced to improve the

social security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...

of the poor citizens.

Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY, translation: ''Prime Minister's Safety Insurance Scheme'') is a government-backed accident insurance scheme in India. It was originally mentioned in the 2015 Budget speech by Finance Minister Late Aru ...

with an annual premium of will provide a coverage of lakh for full disability or death, and 1 lakh for partial disability. Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana is a life insurance scheme with an annual premium of , it will pay lakh in case of death. Atal Pension Yojana is a pension scheme targeted at the unorganised sector.

Excise

The education cess were subsumed from central

excise file:Lincoln Beer Stamp 1871.JPG, upright=1.2, 1871 U.S. Revenue stamp for 1/6 barrel of beer. Brewers would receive the stamp sheets, cut them into individual stamps, cancel them, and paste them over the Bunghole, bung of the beer barrel so when ...

duty. Instead, the central excise duty rates were rounded off from 12.36% to 12.5%. The clean energy cess was increased from to per tonne of coal. It was announced that the Goods and Services Tax is expected to be implemented by 1 April 2016. The excise duty on cigarettes was increased by 25%. The excise on cut

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

was raised from to per kg. The duty on plastic bags was increased from 12% to 18%. The duty on soft drinks and packaged water was increased from 12% to 18%. On cement, it increased from per tonne to per tonne. The duty was removed from compounds used in the manufacture of

incense stick Incense is aromatic biotic material that releases fragrant smoke when burnt. The term is used for either the material or the aroma. Incense is used for aesthetic reasons, religious worship, aromatherapy, meditation, and ceremony. It may also be ...

s. Excise duty on

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hog ...

footwear was reduced from 12% to 6%. The duty on locally manufactured

mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whi ...

s, LED/ LCD panels,

LED lights An LED lamp or LED light bulb is an electric light that produces light using light-emitting diodes (LEDs). LED lamps are significantly more energy-efficient than equivalent incandescent lamps and can be significantly more efficient than mos ...

and lamps was reduced. The duty on

ambulance An ambulance is a medically equipped vehicle which transports patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to medi ...

chassis reduced from 24% to 12.5%.

Custom duty

22 components used in electronics sector were exempted from import duty. Basic custom duty on

magnetron The cavity magnetron is a high-power vacuum tube used in early radar systems and currently in microwave ovens and linear particle accelerators. It generates microwaves using the interaction of a stream of electrons with a magnetic field while ...

s were removed. Import duty on various refrigerator components were removed. Import duty on

solar water heater Solar water heating (SWH) is heating water by sunlight, using a solar thermal collector. A variety of configurations are available at varying cost to provide solutions in different climates and latitudes. SWHs are widely used for residential an ...

s was removed. Some pacemaker components were exempted. Duty on imported

commercial vehicle A commercial vehicle is any type of motor vehicle used for transporting goods or paying passengers. The United States defines a "commercial motor vehicle" as any self-propelled or towed vehicle used on a public highway in interstate commerce to t ...

was increased from 10% to 40%.

Education

A scheme called Nayi Manzil was announced which will help minority youth without school-leaving certificate to find employment. Five new

All India Institutes of Medical Sciences The All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is a group of autonomous government public medical universities of higher education under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare , Government of India. These institutes h ...

(AIIMS) were announced for Jammu and Kashmir,

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...

and

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

. The setting up of second AIIMS like institution in Bihar was announced in 2015 Union budget. An Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) will set up in

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

and the

Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad (abbreviated IIT (ISM), Dhanbad) is a prestigious public technical university located in Dhanbad, India. It has main campus of 218 acres in Sardar Patel Nagar area of Dhanbad and ...

will be upgraded to an IIT. Two new

Indian Institutes of Management The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are central government-owned-public business schools for management offering undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral and executive programmes along with some additional courses in the field of busines ...

(IIM) announced for Jammu and Kashmir and

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

. A new Post Graduate Institute of Horticulture Research and Education was announced for Amritsar. Three new National Institutes of Pharmaceutical Education and Research were announced for Maharashtra,

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...

and Chhattisgarh. Two new Institutes of Science and Education Research were announced for

Nagaland Nagaland () is a landlocked state in the northeastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south and the Sagaing Region of Myanmar to the east. Its capital cit ...

and

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

. Two new institutes called Apprenticeship Training Institute for Women were announced for

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land a ...

and

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

. A networked system called the Student Financial Aid Authority was announced which would monitor the allocation of scholarships and educational loans under the Pradhan Mantri Vidya Lakshmi Karyakram. The

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

budget was allocated crore for the year 2015–16. This was a reduction from the revised estimates from 2014 to 2015 which was crore. The school education sector was allocated crore and higher education sector was allocated crore.

Investments

A proposed Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Bill, which would criminalise cash transactions of or above for purchase of immovable properties, was announced.

Permanent Account Number A permanent account number (PAN) is a ten-character alphanumeric identifier, issued in the form of a laminated "PAN card", by the Indian Income Tax Department, to any "person" who applies for it or to whom the department allots the number wi ...

(PAN) was made mandatory for transactions above lakh. Three new

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

deposit schemes were announced to reduce import of gold and monetise the gold held by citizens. A

gold coin A gold coin is a coin that is made mostly or entirely of gold. Most gold coins minted since 1800 are 90–92% gold (22karat), while most of today's gold bullion coins are pure gold, such as the Britannia, Canadian Maple Leaf, and American Buf ...

with the

Ashoka Chakra Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, s ...

on the face will be created. The listing of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) was made easier. It was announced that foreign investments will be allowed in Alternative Investment Fund (AIF), which are pooled investments in real estate, private equity and hedge funds. A simpler bankruptcy law would be created. The SARFAESI Act will be expanded to cover non-banking financial institutions (NBFC) which will make it easier for them to recover

non-performing asset A non-performing loan (NPL) is a bank loan that is subject to late repayment or is unlikely to be repaid by the borrower in full. Non-performing loans represent a major challenge for the banking sector, as it reduces the profitability of banks, and ...

s (NPA).

Other announcements

The states of

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

and

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...

were given special assistance packages from the centre. A startup incubator programme called Self Employment and Talent Utilisation (SETU) was announced. It was allocated crore.

Revenues and expenditures

The Plan Expenditure for 2014-15 was revised from crore to crore due to a large deficit. The Plan Expenditure for 2015-16 was set at crore. The Non-Plan Expenditure was estimated at crore, with the total being estimated at crore. The government expects crore as tax receipts, of which crore will go to state governments. Non-tax receipts were estimated at crore for 2015–16. The defence budget was increased from lakh crore in 2014–15 to lakh crore in 2015–16, an increase of 10.95%. The expenditure on healthcare was set at crore for 2015–16, a reduction from crore in 2014–15. Tax-free infrastructure

bond Bond or bonds may refer to: Common meanings * Bond (finance), a type of debt security * Bail bond, a commercial third-party guarantor of surety bonds in the United States * Chemical bond, the attraction of atoms, ions or molecules to form chemica ...

s were re-introduced after a gap of one year. The

fiscal deficit The government budget balance, also alternatively referred to as general government balance, public budget balance, or public fiscal balance, is the overall difference between government revenues and spending. A positive balance is called a ''g ...

for 2014-15 was 4.1% of the

GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is ofte ...

. The target set for 2015-16 was that the fiscal deficit would be brought down to 3.9%. The revenue deficit target for 2015-16 was set at 2.8% of the GDP, 0.1% lower from 2014 to 2015.

Responses

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament fro ...

BJP The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mo ...

political party called the budget progressive and positive. Home Minister

Rajnath Singh Rajnath Singh (; born 10 July 1951) is an Indian politician serving as the Defence Minister of India. He is currently the Deputy Leader of the House Lok Sabha. He is the former President of Bharatiya Janata Party. He has previously served as ...

of BJP called the budget an important step towards building a modern India. BJP president Amit Shah praised the anti- black money measures.

Mallikarjun Kharge Mapanna Mallikarjun Kharge (born 21 July 1942) is an Indian politician, who is the current president of the Indian National Congress, and Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha from Karnataka since 16 February 2021. He became the first person outside ...

of INC political party called the budget pro-industrialist. Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram of INC said the budget appeases taxpayers and corporates but ignores the poor. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of INC said that the budget had good intentions but lacked a proper road map.

Nitish Kumar Nitish Kumar (born 1 March 1951) is an Indian politician, who is serving as Chief Minister of Bihar since 22 February 2015, having previous held the office from 2005 to 2014 and for a short period in 2000. The leader of the Janata Dal (Unit ...

, Chief Minister of

, thanked the Finance Minister for the special assistance package and the new AIIMS in Bihar.

Tarun Gogoi Tarun Gogoi (11 October 1936 – 23 November 2020) was an Indian politician who served as the Chief Minister of Assam from 2001 to 2016. He was a member of the Indian National Congress and led the party to a record three consecutive electoral vi ...

, Chief Minister of

, called the budget pro-rich and pro-corporate and criticised it for the lack of benefits for

North East India , native_name_lang = mni , settlement_type = , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , motto = , image_map = Northeast india.png , ...

Naveen Patnaik Naveen Patnaik (born 16 October 1946) is an Indian politician serving as the current and 14th Chief Minister of Odisha. He is also the president of the Biju Janata Dal, a writer and has authored three books. He is the longest-serving chief min ...

, Chief Minister of

, called the budget disappointing as it lacked as special packages for Odisha, pointing that West Bengal and Bihar were granted special packages but Odisha was ignored despite facing two natural disasters in the near past Phailin and

Hudhud Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm Hudhud was a strong tropical cyclone that caused extensive damage and loss of life in eastern India and Nepal during October 2014. Hudhud originated from a low-pressure system that formed under the influence of an u ...

. Indian stock index

SENSEX The BSE SENSEX (also known as the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index or simply SENSEX) is a free-float market-weighted stock market index of 30 well-established and financially sound companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The 30 ...

gained 140 points on the day of budget announcement. Kishore Biyani, CEO of

Future Group Future Group is an Indian conglomerate, founded by Kishore Biyani and based in Mumbai. The company is known in Indian retail and fashion sectors, operating supermarket chains Big Bazaar and Food Bazaar, lifestyle stores Brand Factory and Centra ...

, said new service tax rate may discourage

consumption Consumption may refer to: *Resource consumption *Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically * Consumption (ecology), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms * Consumption (economics), the purchasing of newly produced goods for curren ...

Summary

Taxation

Personal income tax

Corporate tax

Service tax

Excise

Custom duty

Education

Investments

Other announcements

Revenues and expenditures

Responses

See also

References

Further reading