Finance Minister doles out tax concessions for industry

Pranab Mukherjee, Finance Minister, announced a number of amendments to the Finance Bill including decreasing the service tax burden on construction services and air travel. It also raised the export duty on iron ore lumps and reduced the import duty on melting scrap for stainless steel.

The Finance Minister announced a debt relief package to the small growers of coffee. He also provided relief to medium and large growers by allowing re-scheduling of loans. The total financial implication for the Centre would be Rs241.33-crore, while the benefit to coffee growers will be about Rs362.82-crore.

Mukherjee announced that new hospitals with at least 100 beds and constructed anywhere in India would now be entitled for investment-linked deduction.

Also, housing projects developed for slum redevelopment and rehabilitation under Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) will be eligible for investment-linked deduction for income-tax purposes.

"Several suggestions have been made by trade associations. Considering all inputs, I propose to provide tax relief to this construction sector by enhancing the rate of abatement from 67 per cent to 75 per cent of the gross value where such value includes value of land constructed upon," Mukherjee said.