Budget speech 2006-07: Full text

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176. In the meanwhile, there is an urgent matter connected with CST and VAT which has to be attended to. It has become imperative to moderate the price of Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) for domestic use. States are taxing LPG (domestic) at high rates. They should also bear a portion of the burden of high prices of petroleum products. Hence, in order to moderate the price of LPG (domestic), I propose to include LPG (domestic) in the list of ‘declared goods’ under the CST Act.

177. My tax proposals on direct taxes are estimated to yield a gain of about Rs.4,000 crore. On the indirect taxes side, the gain is estimated at Rs.2,000 crore.

XV CONCLUSION

178. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I believe that the world has recognized the potential of India. It is now for us, the generation to which has been given the privilege of carrying the torch, to rediscover the greatness of this country and the potential of its people. The young people of India are building castles, it may appear that those castles are in the air, but as Henry David Thoreau said: "If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them." It is our duty to put the foundations on which the young can build their castles. The UPA Government has pledged itself to that task.

179. Over a hundred years ago, a restless young man in his quest for the core of all spirituality admonished his fellow men in the following words: "We reap what we sow. We are the makers of our own fate. The wind is blowing; those vessels whose sails are unfurled catch it, and go forward on their way, but those which have their sails furled do not catch the wind. Is that the fault of the wind?....... We make our own destiny." Those are the immortal words of Swami Vivekananda. Let us believe in our destiny, let us make our future.

180. Sir, with these words, I commend the Budget to the House.