From expansion of national highways, affordable housing to manufacturing of 400 new generation Vande Bharat trains and more such measures, the government aims to enhance job creation and boost economic activity.
Total government spending will be 4.6 per cent more than the current year and additional support of Rs 1 lakh crore to states has been announced.
Complete coverage: Union Budget 2022-23
How budget will impact consumers
Here’s a snapshot from budget documents:
‘Fastest pace of economic growth’
* The government projects India’s economy to grow by 9.2 per cent in the current fiscal year. Finance minister said that India is expected to grow at fastest pace among all major economies.
* According to budget documents, the economy stands to recover 101.3 per cent of the pre-pandemic output of 2019-20.
* India’s gross domestic product (GDP) in dollar terms has already crossed $3 trillion, CEA Nageswaran said during psot-budget press conference.
Fiscal deficit slightly higher at 6.9%
* Fiscal deficit is projected to be higher at 6.9 per cent this fiscal as against 6.8 per cent estimated earlier
* The fiscal deficit of the government for 2022-23 is estimated to be Rs 16,61,196 crore.
* The Revised Estimates for 2021-22 indicate a fiscal deficit of Rs 15,91,089 crore as against the Budget Estimates of Rs 15,06,812 crore.
* The total expenditure in 2022-23 is estimated at Rs 39.45 lakh crore, while the total receipts other than borrowings are estimated at Rs 22.84 lakh crore.
* The finance minister stated that the outlay for capital expenditure in the Union Budget is once again being stepped up sharply by 35.4 per cent from Rs 5.54 lakh crore in the current year to Rs 7.50 lakh crore in 2022-23.
Inflation pressure remains
* Soaring inflation levels continue to be a cause of concern for the economy. Retail inflation in India accelerated to a five-month high of 5.59 per cent in December fueled by souring cooking gas price.
Robust forex accumulation
* Foreign exchange reserves stood at $634.287 billion on January 21, providing a cover equivalent to 13 months of imports projected for 2021-22.
PM Gatishakti
* PM GatiShakti National Master Plan will encompass the seven engines for economic transformation, seamless multimodal connectivity and logistics efficiency.
* The seven engines include roads, railways, airports, ports, mass transport, waterways, and logistics infrastructure. All seven engines will pull forward the economy in union.
* Sitharaman said 400 new Vande Bharat trains will be introduced and the Railways will also develop new products for small farmers and MSMEs.
* Integration of postal and railways network facilitating parcel movement was announced.
* The finance minister said 100 PM GatiShakti Cargo Terminals for multi-modal logistics facilities will be developed during the next three years.
* Master plan has been formulated for highways, targets to complete 25,000 km national highways in 2022-23.
Agriculture and food processing
* The budget allocation for the ministry of agriculture and farmers’ welfare has been raised marginally by 4.5 per cent to Rs 1,32,513 crore for 2022-23 fiscal.
* Sitharaman said the government will promote the use of ‘Kisan Drones’ for crop assessment, digitization of land records and spraying of insecticides.
* To finance startups and rural enterprises working in agri-space, the minister said the government will facilitate a fund with blended capital raised under the co-investment model through Nabard.
Education
* A Digital University would be established to provide access to students across the country for world-class quality universal education.
* It will have a personalized learning experience at their doorsteps and it would be made available in different Indian languages and ICT formats.
* One class one TV channel program to be expanded to 200 TV channels.
* Virtual labs and skilling e-labs will be established to promote critical thinking skills and stimulated learning environment.
* Sitharaman also announced that the Digital Ecosystem for Skilling and Livelihood – the DESH-Stack e-portal would be launched.
Healthcare
* The health sector has been allocated Rs 86,200.65 crore in the Union Budget, a hike of 16 per cent over Rs 73,931 crore in 2021-22.
* It also announced a National Tele Mental Health Program to improve access to quality mental health counseling and care services.
* An open platform for National Digital Health Ecosystem will also be rolled out.
* For the National Health Mission, the budget allocation increased from Rs 36,576 crore in 2021-22 to Rs 37,000 crore in 2022-23.
Tax proposals
* Govt’s GST collection in January 2022 at Rs 1,4 lakh crore was highest ever
* Taxpayers have been allowed a one-time window to correct omissions in income tax returns (ITR). They can file the updated returns within 2 years from the assessment year.
* No change has been announced in personal income tax slabs or limits for standard deduction.
* 30 per cent tax on income from transfer of virtual digital assets has been proposed by the budget.
* One per cent tax deducted at source (TDS) on transfer of virtual assets above a threshold, gifts would be taxed, the minister said.
* Government will soon roll out digital rupee based on blockchain technology, the finance minister said.
* Tax relief for persons with disability
* Extension of period for incorporation of eligible startups for providing incentives
* Concessional corporate tax rate of 15 per cent would be available for one more year till March 2024 for newly incorporated manufacturing companies.
* The government has proposed to increase tax deduction from 10% to 14 per cent on contribution to NPS by state government to employees.
PLI scheme
* Sitharaman that the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme of the Center has the potential to create 60 lakh new jobs during the next five years.
* She said that the spectrum auctions will be conducted in 2022, to facilitate the roll out of 5G mobile services within 2022-23, by private telecom providers and a scheme for design-led manufacturing will be launched to build a strong ecosystem for 5G as part of the PLI scheme.
* For facilitating domestic manufacturing, an additional allocation of Rs 19,500 crore for PLI scheme for manufacturing of high efficiency (solar) modules with a priority of fully integrated manufacturing units for polysilicon to solar PV modules will be made.
real estate
* Allocation of Rs 48,000 crore in Budget under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY)
* Faster approvals for affordable housing in urban areas
Boost for MSMEs
* Sitharaman said a Raising and Accelerating MSME Performance (RAMP) program will be rolled out with a Rs 6,000 crore outlay spread over 5 years for MSMEs.
* The Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) that provided much needed additional credit to over 1.3 crore MSMEs will be extended till March 2023 with its guarantee cover expanded by Rs 50,000 crore to Rs 5 lakh crore.
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