Top 15 Questions from Union Budget 2015-16

1) What is the name of the proposed micro and SME development finance unit that was announced in the Budget? – MUDRA Bank

2) How much allocation has been made for the proposed MUDRA Bank, which has been proposed for giving boost to micro and SME sectors? – Rs. 20,000 crore

3) Which regulator is proposed to be merged with the SEBI as announced in this budget? – Forward Markets Commission

Note: FMC (FMC is the regulator of the commodities market in India)

4) The service tax has been hiked from present 12.36% to – 14%

5) 100% tax deduction has been allowed for contribution to which two important central govt. schemes in this budget? – Swachh Bharat Fund and Namami Gange Fund

6) Which tax has been abolished with a cess in this budget? – Wealth Tax 

Note: (It has been replaced with a 2% cess on super rich individuals. The super rich individuals are those with an annual income of over Rs. 1 crore)

7) The establishment of a new film production centre (Centre for Film Production and Animation) in which Northeastern state has been proposed in the budget? – Arunachal Pradesh

8) What is the name of the new scheme to empower and enable minority youths, announcement for which was made in the budget? – “Nayi Manzil” 

Note: (This scheme was announced to enable minority youth to obtain school leaving certificate and gain better employment)

9) The corporate tax will be reduced from present 30% to 25% as announced in the Budget. This reduction, however, will be done across how many years? – 4 years

10) What is the name of the new insurance scheme announced in the Budget under which insurance coverage of Rs. 2 lakh will be provided with a daily premium of Re.1? –“Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana”

11) How much additional allocation for MGNREGA was announced in the Budget, which had made this year’s MNREGA allocation the highest ever? – Rs. 5,000 crore 

Note: (Total allocation stands at Rs. 34,699 crore)

12) The Budget proposed what status to the non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) registered with RBI with corpus above Rs. 5,000 crore? – Financial Institutions

13) Establishment of how many Ultra Mega Power Plants (UMPPs) with capacity of 4,000 MW each has been proposed in the Budget? – Five 

Note: (Total investment of Rs. 1 lakh crore has been proposed for establishment of these 5 UMPPs)

14) How many years deferment for General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR) was announced in the Budget? – 2 years 

Note: (GAAR is a general set of rules enacted to limit tax avoidance. It was proposed to be effective from April 2015. But with this announcement it has now been deferred to April 2017)

15) What is level of fiscal deficit for 2015-16 as proposed in the budget? – 3.9% of GDP