The Union Budget for 2011-12 has proposed increase in the Income Tax Exemption Limit by 20,000 rupees and lowering of qualifying age for tax relief for senior citizens from 65 to 60.Presenting the Budget in the Lok Sabha today, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee proposed to increase the Income Tax Exemption Limit for individual tax payers from 1 lakh 60 thousand rupees to 1 lakh 80 thousand. Each individual tax payer will get a tax relief of 2 thousand rupees. Amidst cheers from Members, he announced reduction of qualifying age for senior citizens, and said the exemption limit to them is also proposed to be increased from 2 lakh 40 thousand rupees to 2 lakh 50 thousand. Announcing a new category of very senior citizens of 80 years and above, Mukherjee said that they will be eligible for a higher exemption limit of 5 lakh rupees.The budget proposes lower five per cent surcharge for corporate sector, 2.5 per cent less than before. But , minimum Alternative Tax is to go up from 18 per cent to 18.5 per cent of book profits. To attract Foreign Funds for Infrastructure Projects, special vehicles to be created in the form of Infrastructure Debt Funds. Interest payments on borrowing from these funds to attract a lower 5 per cent tax from 20 per cent. To promote savings, the additional deduction of 20 thousand rupees for investment in long-term infrastructure bonds extended for one more year. A lower rate of 15 per cent of tax proposed on dividends received by an Indian company from its foreign subsidiary. Announcing liberalisaion of Housing finance, Mukherjee said the interest subvention of one per cent on housing loans extended upto 15 lakh rupees for houses that does not cost more than 25 lakhs. Existing Housing Loam limit will be enhanced to 25 lakh rupees for dwelling units under priority sector lending. Besides, investment-linked deduction will cover housing sector also and extended for agriculture sector.Turning to Indirect Taxes, the budget proposes no change in the standard 10 per Central Excise Duty or in the Peak Customs Duty but some rationalizations made. The lower rate of duty, however, raised from 4 to 5 per cent.Announcing the Government's decision to stay on course towards Goods and Services Tax, Mukherjee proposed 130 more items to be brought in in the tax net with the nominal Excise Duty of one per cent. Basic food and fuel would continue to be exempt from the one per cent duty and in the case of jewellery and articles of gold, silver and precious metals, the levy will apply only to goods sold under a brand name. The optional levy of 10 per cent on readymade garments will be mandatory for branded garments.To boost agriculture, credit flow to farmers proposed to be raised to 4 lakhs 75 thousand crore rupees, one lakh crore rupees more than this year. Interest subvention has been increased to 2 to 3 per cent on short term crop loans to farmers who pay their crop loan on time. Equipment for storage, and warehousing facilities exempted from duty.Customs Duty for specified agricultural machinery reduced from 5 to 2.5 per cent and on micro-irrigation equipment and 7.5 per to 5 per cent. De-oiled rice brawn cake fully exempted from Basic Customs Duty. Expressing high food prices as a principle concern, Mukherjee said, despite improvement in the availability of most food items, consumers were denied the benefit of seasonal fall in prices during winter. But he said, the government has succeeded in core inflation under check. The budget says, NABARD's capital will be strengthened by 3 thousand crore rupees. Fifteen more mega food parks proposed to be set up for next year.Announcing concessions for the manufacturing sector, the budget proposes reduction of basic customs duty on raw silk from 30 to 5 per cent. The duty on textile intermediates and chemical inputs will be 2.5 per cent from five. Stainless steel scrap has been fully exempted. Manufacture of syringes and needles to attract 4 per cent countervailing duty instead of five.Concessions available to mobile handset parts will be extended for one year adding more items in the list. Iron ore will attract 20 per cent export duty, 5 per cent more than the present rate.Clean environment gaining more attention now. The budget proposes a slew of concessions. Four per cent Excise Duty provided for specific parts of electrical vehicle to be extended to batteries imported by manufacturers. Concessional 10 per cent Excise Duty proposed for fuel cell or Hydrogen cell-technology-based vehicles. Full exemption from Customs Duty provided to specific parts of such vehicles. The kits for conversion of fossil fuel vehicles will attract a lesser duty of 10 per cent and their parts only 5 per cent. The duty on LED lights reduced to 5 per cent with full exemption of countervailing duty. The solar lantern used in far-flung villages to attract a 5 per cent duty from 10 per cent.Giving boost to infrastructure, the budget proposed full exemption for domestic suppliers producing capital goods for mega or ultra mega power projects.Full exemption from Basic Customs Duty is also proposed for bio-asphalt and specified machinery used for construction of National Highways. Cinematographic film, factory-built ambulances are exempted from Excise Duty and spares and capital goods required for ship repairing from Import Duty. The Basic Customs Duty exemption extended to work of art and antiquities for exhibition or display in private art galleries open to the public. Relief measures proposed for lactose for the manufacture of homeopathic medicines, sanitary napkins, baby and adult diapers and bamboo for agarbathies. Basic Customs Duty on two critical raw materials of cement industry – petcoke and gypsum is proposed to be reduced to 2.5 per cent.On Service Taxes, the budget proposes to retain the Standard Rate of 10 per cent. Hotel accommodation with licence to serve liquor and in excess of one thousand rupees charges per day has been brought under the tax net. Air-conditioned hospitals with 25 or more beds will also attract Service Tax.The tax on air travel both on domestic and international raised. Services provided by Life Insurance companies in investment and some more legal services to be brought into tax net. All individual and sole proprietor tax payers with turn over of over 60 lakh rupees freed from formalities of audit.Remuneration for Anganwadi workers has been increased from 1,500 to 3,000 per month. Anganwadi helpers will get 1,500 per month in place of 750 rupees at present. Specific allocation has been earmarked towards scheduled castes sub plan and tribals sub plan. Allocations for primitive tribal groups has been increased from 185 crore rupees to 244 crore rupees.To promote inclusive growth, allocation for social sector has been increased by 17 percent to 1,60,887 crore rupees which works out to 36.4 percent of total plan allocation. The national food security bill will be introduced in Parliament this year.Allocation for Bharat Nirman programme is proposed to be increased by 10,000 crore rupees to 58,000 crore rupess. All the 2,50,000 Panchayats in the country will be provided with rural broadband connectivity in three years. The wage rate under mahatama Gandhi NREGA will be linked to consumer price index for agricultural labour.Education sector will get 25 percent increased allocation to 52,067 crore rupees. Sarva Siksha Abhiyan gets 40 percent higher allocation to 21,000 crore rupees. For the needy scheduled castes ad scheduled tribe candidates studying in class-IX and Xth pre-matric scholarship scheme will also be introduced. All 1500 institutions of higher learning will be connected through optical fibers by March next year. Special grants have been provided to various universities and academic institutions to recognized their excellence. Additional 500 crore rupees will be provided for national skill development fund. An international award with a prize of one crore rupees will also be instituted for promoting values of universal brotherhood as part of 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Dev Rabindra Nath Tagore.Allocation for health sector has been stepped up by 20 percent to 26760 crore. Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana is now being extended to Mahatma Gandhi NREGA beneficiaries, Bidi workers and others to provide basic health cover to poor and marginal workers. The scheme will further be extended to cover unorganized sector in hazardous mining an associated industries. Benefit of government contribution under the Swavlamban pension scheme to be extended from 3 to 5 years for subscribers who enroll during the current and next financial year. Eligibility for pension under Indira Gandhi National old Age Pension scheme for BPL beneficiaries has been reduced from 65 to 60 years. Those above 80 years of age will be get pension of 500 rupees per month in stead of 200 at present.Nutrient based subsidy is proposed to be extended to cover Urea.For Jammu and Kashmir, 8,000 crore rupees have been provided in the current year to meet its development needs. One hundred crore rupees have been allocated for Ladakh and 150 crore for Jammu region to meet their infrastructural needs.To address the problems related to Left Wing extremism, 60 selected tribal and backward districts will be provided 100 percent block grant of 25 crore rupees and 30 crore rupees per district during this year and next financial year respectively.Personnel of Defence and para-military forces discharged from service on medical ground on account of 100 percent disability attributable to government service will get a lump sum ex-gratia compensation of nine lakh rupees. The total allocation for defence services has been put at 1,64,415 crore rupees.