stantial potential for domestic value addition in certain sectors, like food processing, electronics, auto components, footwear and furniture. He thus proposed to reduce customs duty on raw cashew from 5% to 2.5% to help the cashew processing industry. To further incentivise the domestic value addition and Make in India, he proposed to increase customs duty on mobile phones from 15% to 20%, on some of their parts and accessories to 15% and on certain parts of TVs to 15%. “This measure will promote creation of more jobs in the country, ‘Jaitley added. In fact, this will make the domestic items cheaper than imported ones and will generate more demand which, in turn, will create more employment opportunities for the people at large.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR EVERY SECTOR Jaitley has announced that all railway stations and trains will be progressively provided with wi-fi. CCTVs will be provided at all stations and on trains to enhance security of passengers. Air Pollution in Delhi-NCR is a cause for concern and special scheme to be implemented to support Govts of Haryana, Punjab, UP and Delhi NCT to address it and subsidize machinery for management of crop residue For Smart Cities Mission and the AMRUT, he informed that 99 cities have been selected with an outlay of Rs. 2.04 lakh crore under the Smart Cities Mission. Projects worth Rs. 2350 crore have been completed and works of Rs. 20,852 crore are under progress. The National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) has been taken-up to revitalize heritage cities. Under AMRUT program, State level plans of Rs. 77,640 crore for 500 cities have been approved. Water supply contracts for 494 projects worth Rs. 19,428 crore and sewerage work contract for 272 projects costing Rs. 12, 429 crore have been awarded. 482 cities have started Credit Rating and 144 cities have got investment Grade Rating.
CREDIT SUPPORT & INNOVATION Announcing that a provision of Rs. 3794 crore has been provided in the General Budget 2018-19 for the Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises (MSMEs) , Jaitley said that this has been done to provide credit support, capital and interest subsidy and innovations to this Sector. He added that an outlay of Rs.7148 crore has been provided for the Textile Sector. Strongly emphasising that creation of job opportunities and facilitating generation of employment |MARCH, 2018 |TELECOM MIRROR|
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