NEW DELHI: Highlights of 2010-11 budget presented by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in parliament Friday:

- Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee presents Union Budget for 2010-11 in the Lok Sabha

- Indian economy was facing grave uncertainty. Growth had started decelerating when interim and full budget for 2009-10 were presented

- At home there was added uncertainty because of subnormal southwest monsoon

- Indian economy now in a far better position than it was eight years ago

- India weathered economic crisis well

- First challenge before Government is to quickly revert to high GDP growth path of 9 per cent

- Second challenge is to harness economic growth to make it more inclusive and consolidate gains

- Impressive recovery in the past few months. Can witness faster recovery in the coming months

- We have strengthened food security

- Bottleneck of public delivery mechanism can hold us back

- Focus shifted to non-governmental actors and an enabling government. Government concentrates on supporting and delivering services to the economically backward sections

- Fiscal year 2009-10 was challenging for Indian economy

- Economy stablished in Q1 of 2009 itself

- 18.5 per cent manufacturing growth in December was highest in two decade

- Export in January encouraging

- Figures for merchandise exports for January encouraging after turnaround in November and December last

- Double digit food inflation last year due to bad monsoon and drought-like conditions

- Erratic monsoon and drought-like conditions forced supply side bottleneck that fuelled inflation

- Government conscious of the situation of price rise and taking steps to tackle it

- Need to review stimulus imparted to econony

- Need to ensure that the demand-supply imbalance is managed

- FM stresses on the need to make growth more broad-based.

- Need to review the public spending and mobilise resources

- Status paper on public debt within six months

- Government hopes to implement direct tax code from April 2011

- Earnest endeavour to implement General Sales Tax in April 2011

- Government will raise Rs 25,000 crore from disinvestment of its stake in state-owned firms

- Kirit Parekh report on fuel price deregulation will be taken up by Oil Minister Murli Deora in due course

- Nutrient based fertiliser subsidy scheme to come into force from April 1, 2010

- Nutrient based fertiliser subsidy will reduce volatality of subsidy and also reduce it

- Market capitalisation of five PSUs listed since October increased by 3.5 times

- FDI inflows steady during the year. Government has taken series of steps to simplify FDI regime

- Government has decided to set up apex-level Financial Stability and Development Council.

- RBI considering some additional banking licenses to private companies, NBFC will also be considered if they meet criteria

- Government to provide Rs 16,500 crore to public sector banks to maintain tier-I capital

- Government intends to make FDI policy user friendly by compling all guidelines into one document

- Government to continue interest subvention of 2 per cent for one more year for exports covering handicrafts, carpets, handlooms and small and medium enterprises

- Government to provide Rs 300 crore to organise 60,000 pulse and oilseed villages and provide integrated intervention of watershed and related programme

- Rs 200 crore provided for climate resilient agriculture initiative

- Government committed to ensure continued growth of Special Economic Zones.

- Need to take firm view on opening up of the retail sector

- Deficit in foodgrains storage capacity to be met by private sector participation

- Repayment of loan by farmers extended by six months to June 30, 2010 in view of drought and floods in some part of the country

- Interest subvention for timely repayment of crop loans raised from one per cent to two per cent, bringing the effective rate of interest to five per cent

- Road transport allocation raised by 13 per cent to Rs 19,894 crore

- Propose to maintain thrust of upgrading infrastructure in rural and urban areas. IIFCL authorised to refinance infrastructure projects

- Rs 1,73,552 crore provided for infrastructure development

- Allocation for Railways fixed at Rs 16,752 crore, an increase of Rs 950 crore over last financial year

- Government proposes to set Coal Development Regulatory Authority.

- Mega power plant policy modified to lower cost of generation; allocation to power sector more than doubled to Rs 5,130 crore in 2010-11

- Government for competitive bidding for coal blocks for captive power plants

- Rs 500 crore allocated for solar and hydro projects for Ladakh region

- Clean Energy Fund to be created for research in new energy sources

- Allocation for new and renewable energy ministry increased by 61 per cent to Rs 1,000 crore

- One-time grant of Rs 200 crore provided to Tirupur textile cluster in Tamil Nadu.

- Allocation for National Ganga River Basin Authority doubled to Rs 500 crore

- Alternative port to be developed at Sagar Island in West Bengal

- Draft of Food Security Bill ready, to be placed in public domain soon

- Outlay for social sectors pegged at Rs 1,37,674 crore, accounting for 37 per cent of the total plan allocation

- Plan allocation for school education raised from Rs 26,800 crore to Rs 31,036 crore in 2010-11

- 25 per cent of plan outlay earmarked for rural infrastructure development

- Plan allocation for health and family welfare increased to Rs 22,300 crore from Rs 19,534 crore

- For rural development, Rs 66,100 crore have been allocated

- Allocation for NREGA stepped up to Rs 40,100 crore in 2010-11

- Indira Awas Yojana scheme's unit cost raised to Rs 45,000 in plain area and Rs 48,500 in hilly areas

- Allocation for urban development increased by 75 per cent to Rs 5,400 crore in 2010-11

- One per cent interest subvention loan for houses costing up to Rs 20 lakh extended to March 31, 2011; Rs 700 crore provided.

- Allocation for development of micro and small scale sector raised from Rs 1,794 crore to Rs 2,400 crore

- Rs 1,270 crore provided for slum development programme, marking an increase of 700 per cent

- Government decides to set up National Social Security Fund with initial allocation of Rs 1000 crore to provide social security to workers in unorganised sector

- Government to contribute Rs 1,000 per year to each account holder under the new pension scheme

- Exclusive skill development programme to be launched for textile and garment sector employees

- Allocation for women and child development hiked by 80 per cent

- Plan outlay for Ministry of Social Justice raised by 80 per cent to Rs 4,500 crore

- Plan allocation for Ministry of Minority Affairs raised from Rs 1,740 crore to Rs 2,600 crore

- Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Committee to be set up

- Rs 1,900 crore allocated for Unique Identification Authority of India.

- A unique identity symbol would be provided to the Indian Rupee in line with US Dollar, British Pound Sterling, Euro and Japanese Yen

- Defence allocation pegged at Rs 1,47,344 crore in 2010-11 against Rs 1,41,703 crore in the previous year. Of this, capital expenditure would account for Rs 60,000 crore

- Planning Commission to prepare integrated action plan for Naxal-affected areas

- FM appeals to "misguided elements" (left wing extremists) to eschew violence and join the mainstream

- Gross tax receipts pegged at Rs 7,46,656 crore for 2010-11, non-tax revenues at Rs 1,48,118 crore

- Total expenditure pegged at Rs 11.8 lakh crore, an increase of 8.6 per cent

- Fiscal deficit at 5.5 per cent

- Fiscal deficit seen at 4.8 per cent and 4.1 per cent in 2011-12 and 2012-13 respectively

- Non-plan expenditure pegged at Rs 37,392 crore and Plan expenditure at Rs 7,35,657 crore in budget estimates. 15 per cent increase in plan expenditure and six per cent in non-plan expenditure

- Finance Minister to continue giving cash subsidy for fuel and fertiliser instead of previous practice of bonds

- Fiscal deficit pegged at 6.9 per cent in 2009-10 as against 7.8 per cent in the previous fiscal.

- Government's net borrowing to be Rs 3,45,010 crore for 2010-11

- Income Tax department ready with two-page Saral-2 return forms for individual salaried assesses.

- FM prunes tax rates: Income up to Rs 1.6 lakh - nil Income above Rs 1.6 lakh and up to Rs 5 lakh - 10 per cent Income above Rs 5 lakh and up to Rs 8 lakh - 20 per cent Income above Rs 8 lakh - 30 per cent.

- New tax rates would offer relief to 60 per cent of tax-payers

- Additional deduction of Rs 20,000 allowed on long term infrastructure bonds for income tax payers; this is above Rs one lakh on saving instruments allowed already

- Investment linked tax deductions to be allowed to two-star hotels anywhere in the country

- Weighted deduction of 125 per cent for payments to approved associations doing social and statistical research

- One-time interim relief to housing and real estate sector

- Businesses up to Rs 60 lakh and professionals up to Rs 15 lakh to be exempted from auditing obligations of their accounts

- FM allows housing projects to complete projects in five years instead of four years to avail tax break

- Revenue loss of Rs 26,000 crore on direct tax proposals.

- FM raises central excise duty on all non-petroleum products from 8 to 10 per cent

- No capital gains tax on conversion of a business entity into Limited Liability Partnership

- FM hikes customs duty on crude oil to 5 per cent, on diesel and petrol to 7.5 per cent and on refined other products to 10 per cent

- Structural changes in excise duties on cigarettes, cigars and cigarillos

- Clean energy cess of Rs 50 per ton to be levied on coal produced in India

- Concessional excise duty of 4 per cent on solar cycle rickshaws.

- Balloons exempted from central excise duty

- Customs and central excise proposals to result in a net revenue gain of Rs 43,500 crore

- Certain more services to be brought under Service Tax net

- Certain accredited news agencies exempted from service tax

- Net revenue gain from tax proposals at Rs 20,500 crore

- India emerges from global slowdown faster than any other nation, says FM