How to claim income tax deduction for investments made in April – July 2020

One of the key points to note while accounting for these investments made from April to July is that a deduction once claimed in FY20 on an investment made, cannot be claimed again for FY21

The government had imposed a nationwide lockdown in March due to the coronavirus pandemic outbreak across India. As a result of this lockdown that began in March, days before the close of the financial year, several taxpayers had been denied the opportunity to make tax saving investment for financial year 2019-20 (FY20). The government had hence extended the due date up to June 30, 2020, and has recently given a further extension until July 31, 2020 for making tax saving investments pertaining to FY20. This move has given taxpayers more time to invest and save tax.

Taking the above example into consideration, it is entirely up to the taxpayer to decide which financial year he wants to claim the deduction for investments made in the months of April to July 2020. However, another point to consider is that the government has introduced a new tax regime in Budget 2020, where taxpayers can pay taxes at reduced tax rates, if they opt to not claim any deductions from their income.

If a tax filer decides to pay tax under this new regime for FY21, then it would be prudent to plan ahead and claim whatever investments are possible for FY20 only. The remaining unclaimed investments will not be able to be carried forward in such cases.

How to claim?

Those who want to claim deductions for investments made in April, May, June and July 2020 in FY20, are required to file schedule DI, or Details of Investments, in their ITR forms for FY20, which are due on November 30, 2020. Schedule DI will contain details relating to investments, deposits and payments made under section 80C to section 80GGC of the Income Tax Act, where the eligible amount of deduction for FY20 is to be disclosed. Further, deductions attributable to any investment or expenditure made during April 1, 2020 and July 31, 2020 need to be separately specified. Any amount utilised out of the capital gains account for FY20 for investments in schedule 54 to 54GB will also need to be specified in this schedule…Read More

Govt refuses to share Swiss a/c details of Indians, cites confidentiality

In reply to an RTI query, the ministry also refused to disclose the details of black money received from other foreign countries

The Finance Ministry has declined to share Swiss bank accounts details of Indians saying it is covered under “confidentiality provisions” of a tax treaty signed between India and Switzerland. In reply to an RTI query, the ministry also refused to disclose the details of black money received from other foreign countries.

“Information exchanged under such tax agreements is covered under confidentiality provisions of respective agreements. Thus, disclosure of tax related information and information sought/obtained from foreign governments is exempted under section 8 (1) (a) and 8 (1) (f) of the Right to Information (RTI) Act,” it said in response to the RTI application filed by this PTI journalist.

The section 8 (1) (a) bars disclosure of information “which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, relation with foreign State or lead to incitement of an offence”. The other section exempts disclosure of “information received in confidence from foreign government”.

The ministry was asked to provide the details of information received from Switzerland related to accounts of Indians in banks there. It was also asked to provide the details of information received from foreign countries on black money, including details of such cases shared with India. India had in September got the first set of Swiss bank account details of its nationals under a new automatic information exchange pact….

$30 billion wiped off stock in 3 sessions as doubts on higher tax lingers

The realisation that the new tax rate applies not just to the super rich but also to trusts – a structure of choice for a large number of foreign funds that invest in the nation

It’s an old saw of India’s spending archives – the fallen angel lies in subtleties of the fine print. A higher extra charge on well off Indians in the monetary allowance has scared non-inhabitant and abroad finances enough to delete Rs 2.3 trillion ($30 billion) in market an incentive from organizations in the S&P BSE Sensex in the course of the last three sessions.

The reason: the acknowledgment that the new duty rate applies to the overly rich as well as to trusts – a structure of decision for countless outside assets that put resources into the country. The proposition “appears to have incidentally” hauled outside portfolio financial specialists into the duty net and should be explained by the legislature, said KR Sekar, an accomplice at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP.

Fund Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her spending discourse Friday proposed to build the extra charge from 15 percent to 25 percent for those with assessable livelihoods of between Rs 20 million and Rs 50 million, and to 37 percent for those acquiring more than Rs 50 million. This takes the viable expense rate for those two gatherings to 39 percent and 42.74 percent, individually.

Worldwide and non-inhabitant speculators take part in India by means of non-corporate trusts and the supposed relationship of people or AOPs. Issue is, the structures are treated keeping pace with people for expense purposes. That has stirred worries about the toll being appropriate to outsiders when the country has developed as Asia’s greatest goal for value cash in 2019…

Income Tax dept revises Form 16: Here’s all you need to know

The amended form will come into effect from May 12, 2019. This means the income tax returns for financial year 2018-19 will have to be filed on the basis of revised Form 16

The Income Tax department has revised Form 16 by adding various details, including income from house property and remuneration received from other employers, thereby making it more comprehensive to help check tax avoidance. The amended form will come into effect from May 12, 2019. This means the income tax returns for financial year 2018-19 will have to be filed on the basis of revised Form 16. Form 16 is a certificate issued by employers, giving details of employees’ TDS (tax deducted at source) usually by mid June and is used in filing I-T returns.

Here’s the revised Form 16

The move is aimed at stricter scrutiny of claims made by assessees to check tax avoidance or evasion. The Income-tax Act, 1961 requires every employer to issue a certificate giving details of salary along with the tax deducted at source (TDS) of each its employee in Form 16. 

It will also include segregated information regardingdeductions under various tax saving schemes, investments in tax savings instruments, different allowances received by the employee as well as income from other sources. The I-T department has already notified income tax return forms for fiscal 2018-19. Salaried class and those who do not have to get their accounts audited, will have to file their ITRs by July 31 this year.

Meanwhile, the income tax department has also modified Form 24Q, which is furnished by employer to the tax department. It will include additional details like Permanent Account Number (PAN) of non-institutional entities from whom the employee has taken loan for buying or constructing housing property….

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File your income tax returns and keep these dos and don'ts in mind

File on time and keep your documents safe even after filing in case your ITR is scrutinised later on

 

 

The deadline for filing your income tax returns for the FY 2016-17 is the 31st July, 2018. It is, therefore, necessary that all taxpayers be aware of the essential dos and don’ts of tax filing so that they can avoid last-minute errors. Take a look at our list below:

DOs

1. Organize

It is important to keep your documents ready at the go. For filing, you will need all your old tax receipts, receipts of income and investments, Form 26AS, Form 16 etc. Keep these documents handy when filing for a quicker process; and also remember to keep them safe after you are done filling out the form online. You might need them in case your return is called out for scrutiny later.

2. Check your calculation

Go over your tax documents and do your calculations. Then, go over your math once again to ensure that all your calculations are correct. If you want help, you can always turn to an expert who will help you check your calculations and ensure accuracy. Besides, e-filing is highly recommended since that itself eliminates the chance of error. Those with income in excess of Rs 500,000 or those seeking a refund, must mandatorily e-file.

DON’Ts

1. Make mistakes in details

During filing, you will be asked to fill in many details such as your bank details (account number, IFSC code, name as per bank records etc.), PAN number, postal address, and email id. Incorrect information can cause problems in your return being processed. You may also not be able to receive important communications from the tax department like refund cheque, error notices etc.

2. Forget to claim Section 80 deductions

The best way to reduce your tax liability is to use the deductions offered under Section 80 to their fullest. Even if you were not able to submit proof of investment to your employer earlier, you can still claim the deductions while filing the ITR, however keeping all proofs safely is very important, should the assessing officer ask for them later...READ MORE

Here is how you can save money, time and effort by paying presumptive tax

Opting for presumptive taxation helps professionals and freelancers show income on an estimated basis

 

With times evolving, a large part of today’s taxpayers works for itself rather than taking the conventional 9-to-5 job. It is common to see people quitting their comfortable jobs and becoming freelance professionals, consultants, doctors, interior decorators, etc.

India's tax laws have made it mandatory for individuals in professions like legal, medical, engineering, architectural, accountancy services, etc, to maintain books of accounts so that tax authorities can compute their total income. A freelancer who is into any of these professions would also be bound by this mandate. A freelancer might be relieved of this if she opts to go for presumptive taxation. Read on to understand the concept of presumptive taxation, the benefits of opting for the same and the conditions attached.

What is Presumptive Taxation?

Opting for presumptive taxation helps professionals and freelancers show income on an estimated basis. Further, they are not required to maintain detailed accounting records or spend time separating business expenses from personal ones.

This special scheme of reporting income is called the ‘presumptive scheme’. Presumptive means your income is assumed and actual numbers do not have to be reported. Tax is paid on the assumed income.

This scheme was earlier allowed for businesses; professionals could not opt for it. The benefits of the scheme lie in the ease and simplicity of return filing. It allows small taxpayers to focus on their work by reducing their compliance burden.

This scheme, brought into the statute vide Finance Act 2016 effective from April 1, 2016, allows professionals having gross receipts of up to Rs 5 million to file their returns declaring 50 per cent of their gross receipts (income before deducting expenses) as income. After giving effect to the deductions under section 80, tax must be paid on the balance amount.

Creative professionals eligible to opt for this scheme have been listed by the government -- architects, interior decorators, engineers, technical consultants or those in any other profession as notified by the board.

How to deal with receipts from outside India?

A resident Indian earning income in an Indian bank account from a foreign client

This is a confusion that creative professionals usually have. Whether the income they make from a foreign client is taxed in India or not? The answer is ‘YES’. As a resident of India for income tax purposes, your global income will be taxed in India.

A resident Indian earning income in a foreign bank account from a foreign client

Being a resident Indian, even if you receive income from a foreign client in your foreign bank account, it will be taxed in India. To sum up, for a resident of India, her global income would be taxable in India. However, she can take recourse to the provisions of the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (DTAA) that India has entered into with various countries to ensure her income does not get taxed twice. Therefore, if she is offering to tax in India her foreign income which has already been taxed in another country, she can claim the credit for such tax paid abroad against her tax liability in India.

What are the Benefits of presumptive taxation?

1.Easy to file: The tax form is shorter and simpler as compared to the complex 30 pages ITR form. For presumptive taxation ITR 4 is filed.

2.Save money: Professionals can now file tax returns on their own instead of paying a tax consultant. Typically, consultants charge anywhere from Rs 5,000 to Rs 15,000 for such filings.

3.Save tax: Usually, professionals do not have many expenses to declare. By declaring 50 per cent of the income as profit and the rest as expenses, a lot of tax saving can be done.

4.No books of accounts: Freelancers who opt for the presumptive scheme are not required to maintain books of accounts.

For an enhanced understanding of Presumptive Taxation, let us take an example:

Shweta is an interior decorator. She earned an income of Rs 4 million in 2017-18 -- that is, between April 1, 2017, and March 31, 2018. That is a lot of money, but it also leads to a lot of tax. In the normal course of things, without using the benefit of presumptive tax, Shweta’s taxable income (the amount she would need to pay tax on) would be something like this.

Article Source: Business Standard

From Amitabh Bachchan to Vijay Mallya: 714 Indians named in Paradise Papers

India ranks 19th out of the 180 countries covered under the leaked data in terms of the number of names involved

 

A fresh, vast leak of financial records, dubbed the Paradise Papers, has shined the light on how global corporate giants and hedge funds allegedly skirted taxes and the apparently hidden wealth of prominent Indians. This cache of 13.4 million documents follows over a year after the release of the Panama papers and includes names of Indians such as Amitabh Bachchan, MoS Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha, and Vijay Mallya, among others, reported Indian Express. The paper has not suggested any illegality associated with the leaked names.

India ranks 19th out of the 180 countries covered under the leaked data in terms of the number of names involved, reported the Indian Express on Monday. Further, according to the report, 714 Indians find mention in the papers.

The leaked data, obtained by German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, as was the case with the Panama Papers, and investigated by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), originates from two firms – Bermuda's Appleby and Singapore's Asiaciti – as well as from 19 tax havens across the world.

ALSO READ :Queen Elizabeth to Facebook: Paradise Papers expose tax haven secrets of ultra-wealthy

In fact, the national daily highlights that an Indian company, the Nand Lal Khemka-founded Sun Group, was found to be Appleby’s second-largest client internationally with 118 separate offshore entities.

Involvement of Indian scam-tainted firms

The papers, according to the report, also reveal that Appleby's Indian clients included firms that are under the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) scanner in relation to various cases. Firms involved in the Sun-TV-Aircel-Maxis case, Essar-Loop 2G case, SNC-Lavalin Kerala hydroelectric scandal (which involved the now-acquitted Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan), and the Rajasthan ambulance scam under the CBI.....read more<<<<

Chocolate mithais to attract 5% GST, Centre clarifies

Rates for kulfi, dosa batter, portable toilets spelt out

Sandesh, with or without chocolate, will be taxed at 5 per cent, the government clarified on Thursday along with the goods and services tax (GST) rates for other items, including rakhis, idli-dosa batter and kulfi.

However, ambiguity persisted over whether the tax rate for plastic furniture would be 28 per cent as furniture or 18 per cent as plastic items. The sharp jump in tax on car leasing is also expected to be taken up in the GST Council meeting on Saturday.

“Sandesh, whether or not containing chocolate, will attract 5 per cent GST,” the government clarified on Thursday.

#Economynews 

The clarification comes amid reports that sweet shops have discontinued chocolate barfis and chocolate sandesh. The GST rate on chocolates is 28 per cent and Indian sweets are taxed at 5 per cent. Although milk is exempt in the GST, khoya, or concentrated milk, will attract 5 per cent GST.

“Sweet shops in Kolkata were in panic over different GST rates based on the types of sweets and ingredients. Now the government has clarified that the GST rate on all Indian sweets is 5 per cent,” said Archit Gupta, founder and chief executive officer of ClearTax.

The GST was implemented on July 1 and subsumed most indirect taxes such as excise duty, service tax and value-added tax.

The government also clarified that kulfi — the Indian frozen dessert — would attract 18 per cent GST, like ice-cream. Besides, idli-dosa batter would attract 18 per cent GST under the food mixes category, it said.

>>>READ MORE<<<

July factory activity contracts to 9-yr low on confusion over GST implementation

July brought the biggest month-on-month decline since November 2008, just after the collapse of Lehman Brothers triggered a financial crisis

Factory activity plunged last month and had its deepest contraction in more than nine years after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new tax policy severely hurt output and demand, a survey showed on Tuesday.

The Nikkei/IHS Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 47.9 in July from June's 50.9, its first reading below the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction since December and its lowest reading since February 2009.

A Reuters poll predicted a modest July dip to 50.8. But July brought the biggest month-on-month decline since November 2008, just after the collapse of Lehman Brothers triggered a financial crisis and brought on a global recession.

An output sub-index fell to 46.3, its lowest since early 2009, from 51.7 in June, while contractions were reported across all major sub-indexes in the survey, including new orders, purchasing activity and employment.

"The introduction of the goods and services tax (GST) weighed heavily on the Indian manufacturing industry in July," said Pollyanna De Lima, economist at IHS Markit.

"New orders and output decreased for the first time since the demonetisation-related downturn."

On Nov. 8, Modi stunned the country by ordering the removal of 500-rupee and 1,000-rupee notes, which removed about 86 percent of the currency in circulation and put activity on the skids in a predominantly cash-reliant economy.

Another huge change in India has been implementation of a national GST, which took effect on July 1. While the near-term impact is expected to be negative, the economy should reap benefits in the medium to longer-term, many analysts say.

(Economy news)

In July, a lack of clarity among producers on the new tax system hurt output even though factories cuts prices for their goods.

Even though input costs rose, firms cut prices to try and stimulate weak demand, suggesting retail inflation - which fell to a five-year low in June - is likely to remain subdued in coming months, adding pressure on the Reserve Bank of India to cut rates on Wednesday.

"The weakening trend for demand, relatively muted cost inflationary pressures and discounted factory gate charges provide powerful tools for monetary policy easing," said De Lima.

Benami property: Aadhaar-PAN link opposed in name of privacy, says Jaitley

Arun Jaitley said, 'People should voluntarily made disclosures and come within the tax net'

Economy news : Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Monday said example needs to be set to create a deterrent ag the inst use of anonymous people to hide ill-gotten wealth, amid some politicians and their family members coming under the scanner for alleged benami deals.

Referring to opposition of PAN-Aadhaar linkage, he said it is an "effective anti-evasion measure" and will get rid of multiple PAN cards and mismatch in income and expenditure, but it is being opposed "in the name of privacy".

He also said that the government is using technology to reduce the interface between a tax department official and the taxpayer to not just cut compliance cost but also corruption and harassment.

Addressing tax officers at the Income Tax Day event here, he said that tax rates have to become more reasonable but for that to happen, the tax base has to be widened by including more people in the net.

"These days we are finding political leaders also resorted to (benami dealings)," he said, without naming anyone. "Therefore (we are) unearthing them."

He said the government has taken steps under the stringent Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016 that provides for confiscating properties of those who use name of other people to convert unaccounted wealth into white.

"Unless we can set some examples, we set down right deterrent against such kind of practices" can this practice of benami properties end, he said.

Raids were conducted in recent weeks at various places including Delhi and Haryana over alleged Rs 1,000 crore benami land deals involving the RJD chief and his family.

Jaitley said that the situation where the compliant tax payer has to actually pay twice over -- once his own share of taxes and the second time a higher share to compensate the non-compliant, cannot be allowed.

"Our vision is: we will use technology, we will ensure that our procedure is simple, we will ensure that there is almost negligent interface between (tax) department and assessee, (and) we would like our rates to become even more reasonable, but to enable us to that we need to expand our base," he said.

People should voluntarily made disclosures and come within the tax net, he said.

India, on the one hand, boasts of being the fastest growing major economy in the world but on the other hand lacks in some of the essential expenditure, he said.

"A more empowered country will need to be a country which is empowered by honest and compliant taxpayers. The faster we can do it, the greater it will be in the larger interest of the country," he said. 

(READ MORE)

 

Income inequality: In India, a CEO earns 416 times more than his employee

The seriousness of India's commitment to end income disparity has been ranked 132nd out of 152 nations

The seriousness of India's commitment to end income disparity has been ranked 132nd out of 152 nations owing to low spending on health and education, a crumbling tax system and wide gaps in gender pay.

Prepared by Development Finance International and Oxfam, the first index to measure the commitment of governments to reducing the gap between the rich and the poor is based on three main indicators — government action on social spending, tax and labour rights — areas critical to reducing the gap.

The report, the result of the investigation for a year, says that while countries such as Sweden, Chile, Namibia and Uruguay have taken strong steps to reduce inequality, countries such as India and Nigeria perform poorly overall. Among the rich countries, the United States earns a bad rating.

The World Bank predicts that by 2030, almost half a billion people will still be living in extreme poverty. Back in 2015, 193 governments promised to reduce inequality as part of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).(economy news)

The report raps India particularly hard on the knuckle but not before revealing that in the country, the chief executive officer (CEO) of a top information technology (IT) firm brings in a massive 416 times the salary of his company’s typical employee.

India managed to secure a lowly 149th position on the health, education and social protection spending indicator, ranking below nations like Yemen, Senegal, Congo and Serbia.

Oxfam calculates that if India were to reduce inequality by a third, more than 170 million people would no longer be poor. It also questioned the lack of a concerted effort by the government to tackle inequality.

India secured the 91st rank among nations on the progressive structure and incidence of tax indicator. "The tax structure looks reasonably progressive on paper, but in practice, much of the progressive tax is not collected," the report said.

While many countries are collecting very little tax overall, India collects just 16.7% of gross domestic product (GDP), while comparable economies such as Indonesia collects 11.9% and South Africa manages to collect over 27%....read full story 

Aadhaar mandatory for school kids too! Visit your bank to speed up process

Govt has asked states to complete Aadhaar enrollment of school children by August 31

Centre has asked Karnataka and 15 other states to complete Aadhaar enrollment of school children by August 31 and submit the data to ensure serving of the mid-day meal to them "in a seamless manner." According to Deccan Herald, this comes as the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry observed that many of these 16 States were lagging far behind in completion of the task, with Nagaland having enrolled just 15 percent of 1,59,449 students to Aadhaar.

In Karnataka, only 70 percent of the total number of students have so far been enrolled to Aaadhar card. A total of 49,10,765 students enrolled in the Government schools in the State.

“The stipulated date for completing 100% Aadhaar enrollment is August 31, 2017. I earnestly suggest the Aadhaar enrollment campaign be given an added thrust by the Government of Karnataka in a time bound manner,” school education department secretary of the HRD Ministry Anil Swarup stated in his letter to Karnataka Chief Secretary Subhash C Khuntia.

As per date with the Ministry, just 23% of the total school students have been enrolled to Aaadhar in Andhra Pradesh, 26% in Uttar Pradesh, 28% Odisha, 42% in Rajasthan, 61% in Madhya Pradesh and 63% in Bihar.(economy news)

West Bengal Government has not shared any update on the Aadhaar enrollment of school students despite HRD Ministry's “repeated requests and reminders,” an official said.

Aadhaar enrolment centres at banks

To simplify the process, now, one out of 10 bank branches will have Aadhaar enrolment facility. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has asked private as well as public sector banks to set up Aadhaar enrolment facility in at least one out of 10 branches in the coming weeks, a top official has said.

Suitable changes have been made recently in Aadhaar regulations to facilitate this.

At present, there are 25,000 active enrolment centres across the country but they operate from their own premises. However, none of these centres are being operated from bank premises... read full story 

GST to bring economic freedom, imagination to India: Anil Ambani

Stage is set for another 'historic tryst with destiny', said the industrialist in the Parliament

 

Industrialist Anil Ambani on Thursday termed the Goods and Services Tax (GST), being rolled out from July 1, as India's "economic freedom" and said it would make the country the biggest free and democratic market in the history of humankind.

Speaking here at a mutual fund industry event, the Reliance Group chairman said there are many ways of counting the benefits of GST and as many of counting its costs.

"But there is just one way of describing its true promise. GST is not just another piece of reform or transform, however significant. GST is the liberation of our economic imagination. It is our economic freedom," he said.

Ambani said there are moments in the life of a nation when history is made not in small steps of incremental gain but in giant leaps of ambition.| economy news

"We, the people of India, are privileged to bear witness to one such moment in time," he said, referring to the proposed rollout of GST on midnight of June 30.

"Seventy years ago, at the stroke of the midnight hour, our first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, spoke movingly in the Central Hall of Parliament about India's tryst with destiny.

"At the same mid-night hour tomorrow, as our honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi rises to address a waiting nation from the same august Central Hall, India will be set on course for another historic tryst with destiny," he said.

Ambani said the free market is perhaps the greatest force for economic good in the human history of all earthly inventions.|economy policy

He said the free market is a force for generating wealth and transforming lives and the real promise of GST is the promise of economic liberation.

With the promise of 'One Nation, One Tax, One Market', it would create a borderless world of 1.3 billion people -- producers and consumers engaged in a seamless exchange of goods and services, skill sets and capital, labour and ideas.

Ambani said the world has seen nothing like this before and in less than 48 hours, India will emerge as the biggest free and democratic market in the history of humankind.

"In tandem with its policy precursor -- demonetisation -- GST will forever change the ground rules of doing any kind of trade, commerce or business in India.

"The leadership advantage is backed by strong macro- economic stability," he said while adding that the economy has moved from low inflation to high growth, from fiscal rectitude to prudential current account management, and fom one of the highest savings rates in the world to one of the fastest rates of economic growth.

He said that from insolvency code to NPA resolution, the present government has undertaken a fundamental overhaul of India's financial infrastructure while consolidating and strengthening the banking sector.

"But the greatest achievement of the government lies in the area of financial inclusion, thus setting in motion a growth dynamic for financial intermediaries which is unprecedented in its scope and size," he added.

Rs 48,000 cr Delhi Budget: AAP focuses on health, education, no new taxes

Kejriwal government abolished the plan and non-plan expenditure heads

#LATEST | A Rs 48,000-crore budget for the national capital was today presented by the AAP government, laying major focus on improving transport, health, water distribution and education infrastructure.

In its third Budget, the Arvind Kejriwal government abolished the plan and non-plan expenditure heads and presented it in terms of revenue and capital classification in line with the Centre's decision.

There was no proposal on levying any new tax.

In a first, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who holds the finance portfolio, also presented an "outcome budget" which he said would act like a "contract" between the government and the people.

Sisodia asserted that the economy of the state will grow "despite demonetisation".

At the same time, he said note ban has led to contraction in the city's estimated GSDP for the ongoing financial year (at constant prices) although it will still be higher than the projected growth at the national level.

At current prices, the national capital's economic growth has been pegged at 12.76 per cent.

"When we allocate money for skywalk, merely constructing it would not be counted as success. Its success would depend on how many people actually use it. That in a nutshell explains the objective of the outcome component," he said.

Eyeing the municipal polls, the government has earmarked a record Rs 7,571 crore for the civic bodies, which comes to about 15 per cent of the total allocation.

The government alloted Rs 11,300 crore for education, about 24 per cent of the total Budget, to the education sector. Last year's allocation was Rs 10,690 crore.

An outlay of Rs 5,736 crore has been made for the health sector, a priority area for AAP government.

Rs 1,156 crore has been set aside for the phase four of the Delhi Metro while Rs 100 crore has been earmarked for developing bus terminals and depots.

(READ MORE)