Centre-State funding reconfiguration: select schemes fully Union funded, others delinked or shifted to revised sharing pattern.
The Union Government reconfigures funding for Centrally Sponsored Schemes following higher tax devolution, designating 31 schemes for full Union sponsorship, 8 schemes to be delinked from Central support, and 24 schemes to operate under a revised Centre-State sharing pattern requiring increased State contributions; administrative Ministries/Departments must work out sharing details and implementation against 2015-16 plan outlays.

Budget revenue receipts breakdown highlighting tax and non tax composition and fiscal deficit financing methods.
Budget itemizes receipts into Tax Revenue (detailed by major tax heads and net of transfers to states and specific funds) and Non Tax Revenue (interest, dividends, grants, other receipts), yielding Total Revenue Receipts. Capital receipts are split into Non debt Receipts (loan recoveries and miscellaneous capital) and Debt Receipts (market loans, short term borrowings, external assistance, securities against small savings, provident fund and other net receipts). Total Receipts incorporate draw down of cash balances and identify financing of the fiscal deficit through debt and cash balances.

Plug-and-play power projects to be awarded after required clearances via transparent auction, enabling large infrastructure investment.
The Budget announces five new plug-and-play Ultra-Mega Power Projects to be awarded after all required clearances and linkages are secured through a transparent auction system, with the model proposed for replication across other infrastructure sectors; it also records that the second unit of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Station is scheduled for commissioning in 2015-16.

Financial institution classification expanded to bring larger NBFCs within SARFAESI recovery framework, affecting enforcement rights.
The Budget proposes using the national postal network to establish a Payments Bank to widen access to formal financial services and support nationwide deposit-inclusion efforts; and proposes designating registered NBFCs meeting an asset-size threshold as Financial Institutions for purposes of the SARFAESI Act, thereby bringing qualifying NBFCs within statutory recovery mechanisms.

Universal social security: new insurance and pension schemes to extend life, accident and pension coverage with targeted subsidies.
A programme of universal social security measures is announced to extend basic life, accidental and pension protections to the poor and under privileged by leveraging the Jan Dhan platform. Three principal schemes are proposed: a low cost accidental insurance plan, a defined benefit pension scheme with a temporary government co contribution incentive for new accounts, and a life insurance plan covering natural and accidental death for a nominal annual premium. A Senior Citizen Welfare Fund is proposed to appropriate unclaimed statutory savings to subsidize premiums for vulnerable groups and finance assistive devices for impoverished senior citizens.

Co-operative federalism expands state tax devolution, increasing state flexibility while shifting fiscal responsibility to states.
Budget At a Glance 2015-2016 defines Revenue, Effective Revenue, Fiscal and Primary Deficits and sets out aggregate receipts, expenditures and borrowing needs. It emphasizes a shift to co-operative federalism with higher tax devolution to States reducing Centre fiscal space while increasing State flexibility to design and finance programmes; the Centre will continue catalytic support for national priorities. The Plan outlay is largely maintained, with increased allocations for infrastructure and social sectors, and adjustments to Centre-State sharing for several schemes, including delinking eight schemes.

Choice between EPF and NPS introduced, with optional employee EPF contribution and alternative health insurance option.
Employees will be given an option between the Employees Provident Fund and the New Pension Scheme, and lower-earning employees may opt out of employee EPF contributions without reducing the employer's contribution. Similar optionality is proposed for health coverage, allowing choice between statutory insurance and an IRDA-recognized health insurance product, with implementation to follow amending legislation after stakeholder consultation.

Budget allocations expand social sector funding and top up the Nirbhaya Fund while boosting digital and industrial infrastructure.
Budget allocations for 2015-16 earmark funding for Education (including Mid Day Meals), Health, Rural Development (including MGNREGA), Housing and Urban Development, Women and Child Development, Water Resources and Namami Gange, and increase the Nirbhaya Fund to support women's security, advocacy and awareness. The Budget also provides initial capital for the National Optical Fibre Network to extend village connectivity and for DMIC corridors and select industrial regions, with additional funds to be provided as expenditure picks up.

Sector neutral financial redressal agency to be established to address grievances across financial service providers and strengthen consumer protection.
A task force is proposed to design a sector neutral financial redressal agency to handle grievances against all financial service providers, aiming to strengthen consumer protection and impose consistent redressal standards across banking, insurance, securities, and other financial sectors. Concurrently, work on task forces for a Financial Data Management Centre, a Financial Sector Appellate Tribunal, a Resolution Corporation, and a Public Debt Management Agency is progressing, and suggestions on the Indian Financial Code are being reviewed for future parliamentary consideration.

Public Debt Management Agency consolidates external and domestic government debt to deepen the bond market and promote investment.
Creation of a Public Debt Management Agency centralising external and domestic government debt management into one institution to deepen the domestic bond market and promote investment, initiated via the national budget as the first step toward bond market development.

Act East policy promotes manufacturing hubs in CMLV through SPVs to catalyse Indian private sector investment.
Establishment of manufacturing hubs in CMLV countries under the Act East policy will be facilitated by a project development company through separate special purpose vehicles to catalyse Indian private sector investment in Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam.

Priority lending to SC/ST enterprises under a new MUDRA Bank to refinance microfinance and expand credit access.
The Union Budget proposes establishment of the Micro Units Development Refinance Agency (MUDRA) Bank as a refinance and funding vehicle for small, informal enterprises, with a dedicated corpus and separate credit guarantee corpus to support lending through intermediary lenders and micro finance institutions; lending under this arrangement will prioritise enterprises owned by Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to promote inclusive growth by expanding access to formal credit.

Composite caps replace FDI and FPI distinction, simplifying foreign investment rules and permitting AIF investments.
Elimination of the regulatory distinction between foreign portfolio and foreign direct investment, replaced by composite caps to simplify foreign investment procedures; sectors already on the automatic route remain unaffected; foreign investments into Alternate Investment Funds are permitted to broaden capital sources and attract inflows.

Surcharge on high income taxpayers expanded and increased for companies; education cesses retained, altering post tax liability.
The budget proposes a revised surcharge regime applying to high-income individuals and various non-corporate entities, higher surcharges on domestic companies as income rises, differentiated surcharge rates for foreign companies, and an increased surcharge on tax payable in respect of dividend distribution and share buyback; education cess and secondary and higher education cess are retained.

Trade Receivables Discounting System to enable invoice financing for MSME liquidity while a comprehensive bankruptcy code reforms insolvency resolution.
An electronic Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS) will be established to facilitate financing of MSME trade receivables by enabling discounting of invoices from corporate and other buyers through multiple financiers to improve MSME liquidity. Separately, a Comprehensive Bankruptcy Code will replace SICA and BIFR to provide legal certainty, speed, alignment with global standards, and enhanced judicial capacity for insolvency resolution.

Gold Monetisation Scheme to replace existing schemes, allowing depositors interest and jewellers access to metal loans.
The Budget proposes a Gold Monetisation Scheme replacing existing Gold Deposit and Gold Metal Loan Schemes, allowing depositors to earn interest in metal accounts, enabling jewellers to obtain loans in their metal accounts, and permitting banks and dealers to monetize gold. It also proposes a Sovereign Gold Bond carrying fixed interest and redeemable in terms of gold face value, and the development of an Indian Gold Coin to reduce demand for foreign coins and recycle domestic gold.

Prohibition on cash advances in property transactions imposes equal penalties and strengthens anti-money laundering measures.
The Budget 2015-16 prohibits acceptance or repayment of cash advances for immovable property transactions at or above the statutory threshold and imposes an equal monetary penalty for contraventions. It proposes treating false customs declarations as a predicate offence under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and announces a comprehensive new law on black money abroad featuring non-compoundable penal sanctions, mandatory foreign asset return filing, taxation of undisclosed foreign income at the maximum marginal rate, and amendments to PMLA and foreign exchange law to enable enforcement.

Agricultural credit target expanded to bolster rural refinance funds and ease access to credit for small and marginal farmers.
The Budget sets a national agricultural credit target for the year and earmarks specific allocations to four rural credit facilities-the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund corpus, a Long Term Rural Credit Fund, a Short Term Cooperative Rural Credit Refinance Fund, and a Short Term Regional Rural Bank refinance fund-to strengthen short and long term lending capacity and channel refinance support to cooperative and regional rural banks serving small and marginal farmers.

Customs duty adjustments to incentivise domestic manufacturing, with targeted exemptions and selective tariff increases.
Budget measures adjusted customs and excise duties to promote domestic manufacturing: Basic Customs Duty reductions and nil-rating for specified inputs and components, full or partial exemptions of CVD and SAD for certain manufacturing raw materials, targeted SAD reductions on metal scrap and LED inputs to address CENVAT credit accumulation, and excise duty restructuring on selected goods; simultaneous tariff increases imposed on metallurgical coke, iron and steel products and commercial vehicles to protect import-competing sectors.

Simplification of tax procedures: higher tribunal thresholds and rationalized indirect tax penalties to ease compliance and disputes.
Proposed simplification of tax procedures includes raising monetary thresholds for single member tribunal hearings, rationalizing indirect tax penalties to promote compliance, allowing digitally signed invoices and electronic records for excise and service tax assesses, extending the time limit for CENVAT credit, revising excise and service tax rates and registrations, and implementing Tax Administration Reform Commission recommendations. Substantive changes replace the wealth tax with an additional surcharge on very high incomes, clarify indirect transfer provisions including dividend treatment by foreign companies, increase the transfer pricing applicability threshold, rationalize MAT for certain investors, permit full 80G deductions for specified donations, and allow seized cash to be adjusted against tax liability.