Page 29 - Plastics News February 2020

FeAtures

Investment Clearance Cell will be set up through a portal,
which will provide end-to-end facilitation, support and
information on land banks.

100 new airports under UDAN scheme
In line with the government's commitment to promote
domestic travel, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman
announced 100 more airports by 2024 under the UDAN
(Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) regional connectivity scheme.
Two other major infrastructure announcements made in
the budget speech were the proposed completion of the
Delhi-Mumbai expressway by 2023, and the launch of a
Chennai-Bengaluru expressway.

Kisan Rail & Krishi Udan schemes for farmers
The Indian Railways will set up Kisan Rail through public-
private partnership (PPP) model for the transportation of
perishable goods. The trains will have a refrigerator to
keep goods fresh. The Civil Aviation Ministry will launch
Krishi Udan scheme on international and national routes
to assist farmers in transporting agricultural products
so that it improves their "value realisation", especially
in the north-east and tribal districts. The Budget talks
of steps to check water depletion in 100 water-stressed
districts, It plans to expand Kisan Urja Suraksha Evam
Utthaan Mahabhiyan scheme to aid 2 million farmers set
up standalone solar pumps and help another 1.5 million
farmers solarise their grid-connected pumps.
Rs 99,300 crore allocated for education sector;
new education policy soon
The Union Budget 2020 allotted Rs 99,300 crore for
the education sector, while Rs 3,000 crore for skill
development. FM Sitharaman said that the government
will soon announce new education policy. She added that
steps will take measure to attract external commercial
borrowing and foreign direct investment (FDI) in the
education sector.

Abolish Dividend Distribution Tax (DDT)
Sitharaman during her Budget 2020 speech said Dividend
Distribution Tax has been removed and will be applicable
to individual investors only. Currently, companies
are required to pay DDT on the dividend paid to its
shareholders at the rate of 15 per cent plus applicable
surcharge and cess, which is in addition to the tax
payable by the company on its profits.

29 Februar y 2020 Plastics News