India's General Budget 2007-08 has come with huge investments on the development of social sectors particularly the health, education and infrastructure.
Budget provisions for various expenditures for the year 2007-08 is as follows:
Education:
- The Government has proposed more allocation for school education, which is around 35% more.
- For Vocational Educational Mission the Finance Minister has proposed a sum of 50 Crores for the beginning of the work.
- 1396 Industrial Training Institutes (ITI) are to be upgraded to Center of Excellence. The Finance Minister has proposed for granting an interest-free loan upto Rs. 2.5 crore to each ITI for development and revision of their courses
- A sum of Rs. 50 Crores are being proposed for Sabarmati Ashram at Ahmedabad, Sewagram Ashram at Wardha, Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute at Pune and Rajendra Samriti Sanghrahalaya at Patna for their constructive work for the nation.
- Budget allocation for Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship Programme given to SC and ST students doing M.Phil and Ph.D increased to Rs.88 crores in 2007-08
Health:
- Proposal for increasing budgetary provisions for the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) to Rs.9,947 crore in 2007-08.
Infrastructure:
- Budgetary support for Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Project (APDRP) increased to Rs.800 crores in 2007-08.
- Allocation for the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana is raised to Rs.3,983 crore in 2007-08.
- Provision on National Highways Development Programme (NHDP) increased to Rs.10,667 crore.
Employment:
National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) is to be expanded to 330 districts. The Government is to make initial allocation of Rs.12, 000 crore for the scheme.
Allocation For SCS, STS, Minorities, and Women Programmes:
Budgetary provisions of expenditures on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes have increased to Rs.3, 271 crores.
Defence:
Budget Allocation for Defence has increased to Rs. 96,000 crores.
Allocation For North East Region:
Budget allocation for the North-Eastern Region reached at Rs.14, 365 crores in the year 2007-08.
Bharat Nirman:
A total sum of Rs. 24,603 crore is proposed for the Bharat Nirman programme in the budget 2007-08.