Budget 2014 bestows Sports University for State, TV channel for NE
Source: The Sangai Express / Agencies

New Delhi, July 10 2014: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Thursday allocated Rs.400 crore for the development of Indian sports, including upgradation of sports infrastructure in Jammu and Kashmir, a sports university in Manipur and training for athletes for the upcoming Commonwealth Games and Asiad.

Arun Jaitely also announced introduction of a new 24X7 television channel for the Northeast region.

Meanwhile, many players and sports lovers of the State have lauded the NDA Government's decision to open a sports university in Manipur.

Youth Affairs and Sports Commissioner Dr RK Nimai remarked that the Union Finance Ministry's announce- ment to open a sports university in the State is a welcome step.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley

No other States deserve sports university as much as Manipur does, he added.

Olympian P Nillakamal observed that the Government of India made the right decision to choose Manipur for the sports university given the State's epithet of sports power house in the country.

The sports university would give a major fillip to sports persons and youngsters of the State.

The sports university would also benefit players of other States too, Nillakamal said.

The biggest beneficiary was the state of Jammu and Kashmir, where the government will be investing Rs.200 crore to upgrade indoor and outdoor stadiums to international standards.

"Jammu and Kashmir has a lot of sporting talent which is not finding expression due to inadequate sports facilities.

I propose to provide a sum of Rs.200 crore for upgrading the indoor and outdoor sports stadiums to international standards in Jammu and in Kashmir Valley," Jaitley said while presenting the national budget in the Lok Sabha.

Jaitley also said that a sports university will be set up in Manipur.

For this, Rs.100 crore will be provided in the current financial year.

"I also propose to set up a sports university in Manipur.

For this I am providing a sum of Rs.100 crore in the current financial year," he said.

Jaitley also allocated Rs.100 crore for the training of sportsperson for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games starting July 23 and the Asian Games in Incheon in September.

To encourage sports in India, the government will set up a National Sports Academy, Jaitley said in his maiden budget speech.

The government will also set-up a Centre for Disability Sports.

"Sports are an integral part of growing up and personality development.

Unfortunately, in our country, sports have not been main-streamed to date.

The government will set up national level sports academies for major games in different parts of the country to mainstream sports," he said.

These academies will provide international level training facilities at junior and sub-junior levels.

Academies will also be set up for shooting, archery, boxing, wrestling, weightlifting and track and field events.

A new channel named 'Arun Prabha', which will be a 24x7 channel, will be started in the northeast region," Mr Jaitley said while tabling the union budget in the parliament.

He also announced a sum of Rs.1,000 crore for rail connectivity and Rs.2,000 crore for road connectivity in the northeast region.

The Government today said it will allocate Rs.500 crore for its 'Digital India' initiative to set up broadband network in villages and promote local manufacturing of hardware and Indian software products.

Under the Digital India initiative, National Rural Internet and Technology Mission, the government will focus on setting up broadband in villages, promote local manufacturing of hardware and Indian software products, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said while presenting the Budget for 2014-15 .

"A special focus will be on supporting software products startups.

A national rural Internet and technology mission service in villages and training in IT...I have provided a sum of Rs.500 crore for this purpose," he informed Parliament.

Also in what could provide more opportunities for the technology firms, the Minister proposed to set up 100 smart cities for which the government will provide Rs.7,060 crore.

Besides, in a bid to boost the earnings of the small and medium enterprises, Jaitley said manufacturing units will be allowed to sell their products through retail and e-commerce platforms.

India raised the personal tax exemption limit by Rs.50,000 for those below the age of 60 as finance minister Arun Jaitley presented his maiden budget aimed at boosting growth to create millions of new jobs.

The new exemption limit was fixed at Rs.2.5 lakh � from the existing Rs.2 lakh.

For senior citizens, the exemption limit was raised from Rs.2.5 lakh to Rs.3 lakh.

Besides, the government raised the tax exemption on home loans from Rs.1.5 lakh to Rs.2 lakh.

Retaining the tax collection targets, the government kept direct tax rates unchanged and said it will review the direct tax code proposal.

Jaitley said, in the current fiscal, the non-tax revenue was seen at Rs.2.12 trillion rupees, while the capital receipts were seen at Rs.739.5 billion.

In another major move, the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit was raised to 49% in insurance and defence.

Jaitley also promised a stable tax regime and the formation of a high-level committee to deal with retrospective taxation, but refused to change rules in such cases.