Indian Budget 2008 – What happened

1st March 2008 /

In my earlier post I have given my guess list. My list was correct by more than 3/4th.

What happened from my list:

FM had done nothing for Dollar hit export industry including IT
Increase in Defence spending
Dividend tax was tweaked
Income tax exemptions increased by good percentages
6th Pay commission was accepted
Farm credits /benefits were announced

What didn’t happen from my list:

Service tax rates were not changed (Good)
A new committee for simplification didn’t happen (Good, we have had enough committees)

The points I liked about the budget:

Promised allocation for Minimum Work / Employment schemes
Pushing the states for more accountability on central funded projects
Drinking water availability in all villages and in all schools in India
Allocation of over Rs.200 Crores for Chennai’s Desalination plant
Service tax for Customized Software (though I don’t like the tax, it at least put an end to all arbitration on whether it is applicable or not)
No change in corporate tax rate (Good)