Indian security personnel stand guard near sacks containing the papers of the federal budget for the 2014, 2015 fiscal year, at the parliament in New Delhi
Indian security personnel stand guard by the sacks containing the papers of the Union Budget 2014 at the Parliament in New Delhi.Reuters

The Union Budget announced on Thursday, 10 July 2014, might have drawn criticism from a few people who opined that allotting ₹200 crore to build a statue was pointless. However, it did bring in some cheers when it came to allotment of funds to the education, defence and infrastructure sectors.

Here are a few important allotments announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley:

  • ₹ 500 crore alloted to education sector: The Finance Minister announced that ₹500 crore will be allotted to open five new IITs and IIMs in India soon. He also said that ₹100 crore has been set aside for virtual classrooms as Communication Linked Interface for Cultivating Knowledge (CLICK) and online courses.

Additionally, a provision of ₹28, 635 crore has been made for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and ₹ 4,966 crore allocated for Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan. The government has also promised facility of sanitation and proper drinking water in all the girl's school.

  • Defence allocation raised to ₹ 2,29,000 crore: The Finance Minister announced that allocation for defence has been raised to ₹ 2,29,000 crore and proposed to implement the policy of "one rank one pension."

He further allocated an amount of ₹ 5,000 crore to increase the capital outlay for Defence modernization.

  • Alloted ₹ 7,060 crore for smart cities: Jaitley said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a vision of developing 100 Smart Cities and therefore ₹ 7,060 crore has been set aside for the purpose. These new cities will be developed to accommodate the fast growing population.
  • ₹ 50,000 crore to develop urban areas: The budget allocated ₹ 50,000 crore for infrastructure in urban areas, including public transport, sanitation and drinking water.

Jaitley emphasized the development of metro rail systems and allocated ₹100 crore for Metro Projects in Lucknow and Hyderabad.

  • ₹ 700 crore proposed for power and water reforms to make Delhi a world class city: The budget proposes ₹ 200 crore for power reforms and ₹ 500 crore for water reforms to make Delhi a World Class City.

An amount of ₹ 150 crore has also been allocated to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and ₹ 188 crore allotted to Puducherry as a disaster preparedness amount.

  • ₹ 100 crore allotted for 29 schemes: Jaitley proposed 29 schemes, in which the government will invest ₹ 100 crore for its implementation. Few of the schemes are:

- Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojana

- Virtual Classrooms

- National Adaptation Fund

- Development of Madrassas

- Employment Centres