Customs duty on cement and cement clinker reduced to 20 per cent from 25 per cent.
More funds allocated to the rural roads projects.
Railway freight rates for cement reduced by 0.96 per cent. Railway freight rates for coal increased by 0.83 per cent.
The cement manufacturing companies can avail of a higher rate of depreciation of up to 40 per cent on capital goods if they increase their capacity by 25 per cent. |
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Excise duty on cement hiked by Rs 50 to Rs 400 per tonne.
Major announcements on the infrastructure side including roadways, airports and convention centres.
Tax breaks on specified housing projects have been extended till 2005. |
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The Finance Minister has proposed to extend such a measure to other infrastructure sectors. The IIG includes the like of IDBI, IDFC, ICICI Bank, SBI, LIC, Bank of Baroda and Punjab National Bank. The consortium will pool their resources to an extent of Rs 40,000 crore (Rs 400 billion). Initially, airports, seaports and tourism will be the target sectors of the IIG.
The FM has also emphasized a great deal on completion of various irrigation projects and the development of a multinational standard port in Kochi.
Additional 2 per cent education cess on all direct and indirect tax. |