Union Budget 2023-24 presents a vision for Amrit Kaal’s blueprint for an empowered and inclusive economy.
The Union Budget presented by the Honorable Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, is a good one as it tackles the core issues of growth, capital expenditure, and employment.The Union Government has strategically taken critical sectors of the Indian economy under the umbrella of progress. Here are the key highlights of the Budget that includes agriculture, infrastructure, housing, electric vehicles (EV), solar, and taxation.
SEVEN PRIORITIES OF THE BUDGET
Inclusive Development
Reaching The Last Mile
Infra & Investment
Unleashing The Potential
Green Growth
Youth Power
Financial Sector
Talking about the five big things the Finance Minister announced was an increase in the income tax rebate limit from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 7 lakh stating that the new tax regime will now be the default tax regime. She also proposed to change the tax structure in this regime by reducing the number of tax slabs to 5 and increasing the tax exemption limit to Rs 3 lakh.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed to raise the capital expenditure target by 33% to Rs.10 lakh crore for the next fiscal year starting April 1 which is 3.3% of the country’s economic output.
Nirmala Sitharaman provided an outlay of Rs 35,000 crore to achieve energy transition and net zero objectives and listed green growth among the seven priorities of the government.
In her Budget speech, the Finance Minister announced a hike in taxes on cigarettes by 16 per cent.
The government will target a budget deficit of 5.9% of GDP for 2023/24, compared to 6.4% for the current fiscal year.
THE BUDGET COMPRISES OF THE FOLLOWING
ATMA NIRBHAR CLEAN PLANT PROGRAMME
ENCOURAGING AGRITECH STARTUPS
ASSISTANCE FOR TRADITIONAL ARTISANS
AND CRAFTSPEOPLE
PUSH FOR AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES
NATIONAL DIGITAL LIBRARY
PM PRIMITIVE VULNERABLE TRIBAL GROUPS
MISSION
To improve the social-economic condition of the Particularly Tribal Groups, the PMPBTG Development mission will be launched, to saturate PBTG habitations with basic facilities. Rs 15,000 cr to be made available to implement the scheme in the next 3 years.
FOCUS ON EDUCATION
THE OUTLAY FOR PM AWAAS YOJANA BEING
ENHANCED BY 66% TO OVER RS 79,000 CRORES
CAPITAL INVESTMENT OUTLAY INCREASED BY 33%
BOOSTER FOR RAILWAYS, TRANSPORT AND INFRA PROJECTS
50-YEAR INTEREST-FREE LOAN TO STATE
GOVERNMENTS EXTENDED FOR ONE MORE YEAR
DIGILOCKER- ONE-STOP KYC MAINTENANCE
SYSTEM
For business establishments required to have Permanent Account Number, the PAN will be used as a common identifier for all Digital Systems of specified government agencies.
RS 35,000 CRORES PRIORITY CAPITAL FOR ENERGY TRANSITION
PRADHAN MANTRI KAUSHAL VIKAS YOJANA 4.0
The government will launch Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 4.0 to skill the youth for international opportunities.
PUSH FOR TOURISM
REVAMPED CREDIT GUARANTEE SCHEME FOR MSMES
BIO INPUT RESOURCE CENTERS
Over the next 3 years, one crore farmers will get assistance to adopt natural farming. 10,000 bio-input resource centers will be set up.
100 LABS FOR DEVELOPING APPS USING 5G
SERVICES
CUSTOM DUTY The govt proposed Customs duty exemptions on the import of capital goods and machinery required for lithium-ion batteries. The government also proposes to increase customs duty on silver to align with duty on gold and platinum.
CIGARETTES TO GET COSTLIER AS BUDGET
PROPOSES 16% HIKE IN DUTY
AVERAGE PROCESSING TIME FOR INCOME TAX RETURNS REDUCED FROM 93 DAYS TO 16 DAYSThe government intends to roll out next-gen common IT Return forms and strengthen the grievance redressal mechanism.
INCOME REBATE LIMIT INCREASED TO RS 7
LAKH FROM RS 5 LAKH IN THE NEW TAX REGIME
LAB-GROWN DIAMOND
Lab Grown Diamonds (LGD) is a technology-and innovation-driven emerging sector with high employment potential.To encourage indigenous production of LGD seeds and machines and to reduce import dependency, a research and development grant will be provided to
one of the ITs for five years. To reduce the cost of production, a proposal to review the custom duty rate on LGD seeds will be indicated.
DEFENCE BUDGET
Defense budget was increased to Rs 5.94 lakh crore for 2023-24 from last year’s allocation of Rs 5.25 lakh crore. A total of Rs 1.62 lakh crore has been set aside for capital expenditure It includes purchasing new weapons, aircraft, warships and other military hardware. For 2022-23, the budgetary allocation for capital outlay was Rs 1.52 lakh crore but the revised estimate showed the expenditure at Rs 1.50 lakh crore.
FIRST BUDGET OF AMRIT KAAL WILL BUILD A STRONG FOUNDATION FOR BUILDING A DEVELOPED INDIA. SAYS PM
This budget will fulfill dreams of aspirational society including poor people, middle-class people, farmers: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Union Budget 2023.
NEW SAVINGS SCHEME FOR WOMEN WITH A 7.5% FIXED INTEREST RATE FOR 2 YEARS
GOVT DOUBLES DEPOSIT LIMIT FOR SENIOR CITIZEN SAVINGS SCHEME
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed to double the deposit limit for Senior Citizen Savings Scheme to Rs 30 lakh and Monthly Income Account Scheme to Rs 9 lakh from Rs 4.5 lakh for a single account and from Rs 9 lakh to Rs 15 lakh for a joint account.