NEW DELHI: The Union Budget seeks to complement macro-economic level growth with a focus on micro-economic level all inclusive welfare. The Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman tabled the Union Budget 2022-23 in Parliament yesterday.
The budget provides impetus for growth along four priorities: PM GatiShakti, Inclusive development, Productivity enhancement & investment, sunrise opportunities, energy transition, and climate action; and financing of investments. The key highlights of the budget include: India’s economic growth estimated at 9.2% to be the highest among all large economies. 60 lakh new jobs to be created under the productivity linked incentive scheme in 14 sectors.
PLI Schemes have the potential to create an additional production of Rs 30 lakh crore. Entering Amrit Kaal, the 25 year long lead up to India @ 100, The Budget estimates the effective capital expenditure of the Central government at Rs 10.68 lakh crore in 2022-23, making up about 4.1 per cent of the GDP.
The gross GST collections for the month of January 2022 are Rs 1,40,986 crore, the highest since the inception of the tax in 2017. In a major push for digital currency, digital rupee will be issued using blockchain technology by the RBI starting 2022-23. Income from the transfer of any virtual digital asset shall be taxed at the rate of 30 per cent. Income tax relief to cooperative societies with reduction in rate of surcharge from 12% to 7% for income upto Rs 10 crores; and taxpayers can now file an updated return within 2 years from the relevant assessment year.
No change in I-T slabs
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There was no change in the income tax slabs in this year’s budget, dashing hopes of taxpayers.
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Despite wide expectations, there was no change in standard deduction either.
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The government has proposed to provide a one-time window to correct omissions in income tax returns (ITRs) filed.
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Taxpayers can file the updated returns within two years from the assessment years.
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FM Sitharaman proposed a 30 per cent tax on income from transfer of virtual digital assets.
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She announced tax relief for people with disabilities.
Road Transport
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National Highways Network to be expanded by 25000 Kms.
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Rs 20000 Crore to be mobilized.
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Multimodal Logistics Parks.
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Contracts to be awarded through PPP mode.
Railways
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‘One Station, One Product’ concept to help local businesses & supply chains.
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2000 Km of railway network to be brought under Kavach.
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400 new generation Vande Bharat Trains to be manufactured during the next three years.
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100 PM GatiShakti Cargo terminals in the next 3 years.
Agriculture
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Rs. 2.37 lakh crore direct payment to 1.63 crore farmers for procurement of wheat and paddy.
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Chemical-free Natural farming to be promoted throughout the county.
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‘Kisan Drones’ for crop assessment, digitization of land records, spraying of insecticides and nutrients.
MSME
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Udyam, e-shram, NCS & ASEEM portals to be interlinked.
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130 lakh MSMEs provided additional credit under Emergency Credit Linked Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS)
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Guarantee cover under ECLGS to be expanded by Rs 50000 Crore to total cover of Rs 5 Lakh Crore.
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Rs 2 lakh Cr additional credit for Micro & Small Enterprises
Land records Management
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Unique Land Parcel Identification Number for IT-based management of land records.
Education
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‘One class-One TV channel’ programme of PM eVIDYA to be expanded to 200 TV channels.
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Virtual labs and skilling e-labs to be set up High-quality e-content will be developed for delivery through Digital Teachers.
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Digital University for world-class quality universal education with personalised learning experience to be established.
Health
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An open platform for National Digital Health Ecosystem to be rolled out.
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‘National Tele Mental Health Programme’ for quality mental health counselling and care services to be launched.
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A network of 23 tele-mental health centres of excellence will be set up.
Saksham Anganwadi
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Integrated benefits to women & children through Mission Shakti, Mission Vatsalya, Saksham Anganwadi & Poshan 2.0.
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2 lakh anganwadis to be upgraded to Saksham Anganwadis.
Har Ghar, Nal Se Jal
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Rs. 60,000 crore allocated to cover 3.8 crore households in 2022-23 under Har Ghar, Nal se Jal.
AVGC Promotion Task Force
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An animation, visual effects, gaming, and comic (AVGC) promotion task force to be set-up to realize the potential of this sector.
Banking
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100 per cent of 1.5 lakh post offices to come on the core banking system.
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Scheduled Commercial Banks to set up 75 Digital Banking Units (DBUs) in 75 districts.
AtmaNirbharta in Defence
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68% of capital procurement budget earmarked for domestic industry in 2022-23, up from 58% in 2021-22.
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Defence R&D to be opened up for industry, startups and academia with 25% of defence R&D budget earmarked.
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Independent nodal umbrella body to be set up for meeting testing and certification requirements.
Digital Rupee
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Introduction of Digital Rupee by the Reserve Bank of India starting 2022-23.
Housing for all
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Rs. 48,000 crore allocated for completion of 80 lakh houses in 2022-23 under PM Awas Yojana.
e-Passport
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e-Passports with embedded chip and futuristic technology to be rolled out.
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Telecom Sector Scheme for design-led manufacturing to be launched to build a strong ecosystem for 5G as part of the Production Linked Incentive Scheme.
Sunrise opportunities
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Government contribution to be provided for R&D in Sunrise Opportunities like Artificial Intelligence, Geospatial Systems and Drones, Semiconductor and its eco-system, Space Economy, Genomics and Pharmaceuticals, Green Energy, and Clean Mobility Systems.
Energy transition & climate action
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Additional allocation of Rs. 19,500 crore for Production Linked Incentive for manufacture of high efficiency solar modules to meet the goal of 280 GW of installed solar power by 2030.
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Five to seven per cent biomass pellets to be co-fired in thermal power plants.
Fiscal space to states
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Allocation of Rs. 1 lakh crore in 2022-23 to assist the states in catalysing overall investments in the economy: fifty-year interest-free loans, over and above normal borrowings.
Fiscal Management
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Budget Estimates 2021-22: Rs. 34.83 lakh crore; Revised Estimates 2021-22: Rs. 37.70 lakh crore.
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Total expenditure in 2022-23 estimated at Rs. 39.45 lakh cr.
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Total receipts other than borrowings in 2022-23 estimated at Rs. 22.84 lakh crore.
Fiscal deficit in current year
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6.9% of GDP (against 6.8% in Budget Estimates).
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Fiscal deficit in 2022-23 estimated at 6.4% of GDP.
