Thursday, Feb 2, 2023
BUDGET 2023 SIMPLIFIED
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In the old days, Bollywood movies often promised that they would cover every genre – action, romance, drama, comedy et al. Modi 2.0’s last full budget follows the same template with something for everyone. The budget was kept in tune with a financial vision coupled with fiscal discipline that saw India emerge unscathed and as one of the bright marks in a global economy subdued by Covid-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war. The first budget of “Amrit Kaal” – a term PM Modi used during his Independence Day Speech in 2021 and which refers to a golden era of prosperity – will be remembered as a Capex-heavy budget ahead of an election year signifying a government confident in its approach.

The government has achieved a delicate balance between economics and politics, looking to amp up infrastructure while ensuring that welfare schemes reach the last mile. The government is ramping up its digital infrastructure to minimise leakages. But in all, it is intent on keeping a hawkish view on fiscal profligacy to keep the books in order. To achieve Amrit Kaal, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the government would focus on seven priorities (Saptarishi):

  1. Inclusive Development
  2. Reaching the Last Mile
  3. Infrastructure and Investment
  4. Unleashing the Potential
  5. Green Growth
  6. Youth Power
  7. Financial Sector

In major highlights, the Centre’s capital expenditure has been hiked by 33% to a record Rs 10 trillion for infrastructure development which is the highest ever capital outlay by India. The CAPEX-to-GDP ratio, which rose to 2.7% in 2022-23 is estimated to be 3.3% in the new financial year. Meanwhile, Indian Railways is set to get a capital expenditure push of Rs 2.4 lakh crore in the financial year 2023-24, an increase of 65.6% from the previous year. The govt also announced a 50-year interest-free loan to states to boost capital expenditure, which is conditional on the states' increasing actual capital expenditure, and parts of this outlay will be linked to reforms.

In its disinvestment target to bridge the fiscal deficit, the Centre expects to raise Rs 51,000 crore from stake sales in various state-run companies. Data from the DIPAM website shows that proceeds from disinvestment only stood at Rs 31,106.64 crore, 48% of the budgeted amount of Rs 65,000 crore.

The lavish spending on Railways is to ensure that it puts India's growth on the fast track. With Hydrogen trains in the offing and the undertaking to refurbish 1,275 stations, some real big-ticket plans are afoot to make a truly vande bharat.

Unlocking agriculture potential: The government (through its PM-PRANAM plan) will look to incentivise States and Union Territories to promote alternative fertilisers and balanced use of chemical fertilisers. Through Shree Anna, the plan is to make India a global hub for millets. Sab ka saath, Sab ka vikas: To ensure that no one is left behind, the government has decided to start Pradhan Mantri Development Mission, more teachers will be employed for Ekalvaya Model schools, so that they can impart quality education. With an eye on education, it will set up 157 new nursing colleges and plans to overcome the Covid-19 education gap by encouraging states to set up physical libraries and provide infrastructure access to the National Digital Library.

Also, to help particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs), it announced the Pradhan Mantra PVTG Development mission with ₹15,000 crores allocated over the next three years to provide PVTG families and habitations with basic facilities.

Indirect and Direct Tax Proposals: The personal income tax regime was further simplified by changing it to five slabs, while the tax rebate ceiling was increased to Rs 7 lakh. Meanwhile, tax benefits were announced for the industry with an enhanced limit for micro-enterprises and extending 15% corporate tax benefits to new co-operatives.

Mention must be made of the National Data Governance Policy. The KYC process will be simplified to keep abreast of digital India with a one-stop solution for reconciliation and updating of identity using DigiLocker Service and Aadhaar. PAN would be used as a Common Business Identifier for all digital systems, while a unified filing process would be brought to eliminate unnecessary red tape while filing the same set of information.

Finally, a plethora of announcements were made keeping sustainability in mind which would focus on policies to reduce carbon intensity and provide large-scale green job opportunities. While there was no direct mention of mutual funds, the received wisdom is that debt mutual funds would benefit from fiscal consolidation while infra mutual funds would gain from the continued focus on infrastructure and investment.

Budget 2023 - Top Articles
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WIIFM(WHAT'S IN IT FOR ME?)

Individuals

Low Income

  • Prime Minister Awas Yojana (PMAY) - enhanced by 66% to over Rs. 79,000 crores (from Rs 48,000 crore in FY2022-2023) to provide affordable houses
  • Financial support for poor prisoners to afford penalty or bail amount

Income < ₹7 Lakhs

  • No tax for income upto ₹7 lakhs

Income > ₹7 Lakhs

  • For income more than ₹7 lakhs, the taxes will be calculated based on the below slabs:
Slab Tax Rate
₹0-3 lakh 0%
₹3-6 lakh 5%
₹6-9 lakh 10%
₹9-12 lakh 15%
₹12-15 lakh 20%
Above ₹15 lakh 30%
  • For a salaried person with an income of ₹15.5 lakh or more standard deduction is increased to ₹52,500

Income <₹2 Crores

  • Reduction of the surcharge rate from 37% to 25% in the new tax regime.

Tribes

  • Pradhan Mantri PVTG Development Mission - ₹15,000 crores allocated over the next 3 years to provide PVTG families and habitations with basic facilities such as safe housing, clean drinking water and sanitation, improved access to education, health and nutrition, road and telecom connectivity, and sustainable livelihood opportunities.
  • Eklavya Model Residential Schools - recruit 38,800 teachers and support staff for the 740 Eklavya Model Residential Schools, serving 3.5 lakh tribal students.

Women

  • Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana National Rural Livelihood Mission - 81 Lakh Self Help Groups will be enabled to scale up their operations to serve the large consumer markets (supply of raw materials and for better design, quality, branding, and marketing)
  • Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav Mahila Samman Bachat Patra - a one-time new small savings scheme available for a two-year period up to March 2025 for deposits upto ₹2 lakh for a tenure of up to 2 years at 7.5% fixed interest rate with partial withdrawal option.

    • Senior Citizens

    • Senior Citizen Savings Scheme - maximum deposit limit enhanced from ₹15 lakh to ₹30 lakh.
    • Monthly Income Account Scheme - maximum deposit limit enhanced from ₹4.5 lakh to ₹9 lakh for single account and from ₹9 lakh to ₹15 lakh for joint account.
    • Each salaried person with an income of ₹15.5 lakh or more will thus stand to benefit by ₹52,500.

    Gen Z

    • Providing EEE status to Agniveer Fund.
    • No income tax up to Rs 7 lakh.
    • Extend the date of incorporation for income tax benefits to start-ups from 31.03.23 to 31.3.24
    • Extend the benefit of carry forward of losses on change of shareholding of start-ups from seven years of incorporation to ten years.
    • One hundred and fifty-seven new nursing colleges to be established in co-location with the existing 157 medical colleges established since 2014.
    • National Digital Library for Children and Adolescents
    • Collaboration with NGOs that work in literacy will also be a part of this initiative.
    • Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 4.0 will be launched to skill lakhs of youth within the next three years.
    • On-job training, industry partnership, and alignment of courses with needs of industry will be emphasized.
    • The scheme will also cover new age courses for Industry 4.0 like coding, AI, robotics, mechatronics, IOT, 3D printing, drones, and soft skills.
    • To skill youth for international opportunities, 30 Skill India International Centres will be set up across different States.
    • The digital ecosystem for skilling will be further expanded with the launch of a unified Skill India Digital platform for enabling demand-based formal skilling, Llinking with employers including MSMEs, and facilitating access to entrepreneurship schemes.
    • National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme - To provide stipend support to 47 lakh youth in three years, Direct Benefit Transfer under a pan-India National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme will be rolled out.

    New vs. Old Tax Regime

    New Tax Regime Old Tax Regime
    Slab Tax Rate
    ₹0-3 lakh 0%
    ₹3-6 lakh 5%
    ₹6-9 lakh 10%
    ₹9-12 lakh 15%
    ₹12-15 lakh 20%
    Above ₹15 lakh 30%
    Slab Tax Rate
    ₹0-2.5 lakh 0%
    ₹2.5-5 lakh 5%
    ₹5-10 lakh 20%
    Above ₹10 lakh 30%
    - -
    - -
    • For a salaried person with an income of ₹15.5 lakh or more standard deduction is increased to ₹52,500

    Type of Companies

    For all

    • 39,000 compliances have been reduced and more than 3,400 legal provisions have been decriminalised
    • Jan Vishwas Bill to amend 42 Central Acts

    Startups

    • Extended the date of incorporation for income tax benefits to start-ups from 31.03.23 to 31.3.24
    • Extended the benefit of carry forward of losses on change of shareholding of start-ups from 7 years of incorporation to 10 years.
    • Agriculture Accelerator Fund - to encourage agri-startups by young entrepreneurs in rural areas and will aim at bringing innovative and affordable solutions for challenges faced by farmers
    • National Data Governance Policy to help innovation and research

    MSMEs/SMBs and Co-Ops

    • Decriminalisation under section 276A of the Income Tax Act
    • Vivad se Vishwas I - In cases of failure by MSMEs to execute contracts during the Covid period, 95% of the forfeited amount relating to bid or performance security, will be returned to them by government and government undertakings
    • Vivad se Vishwas II - to settle contractual disputes of government and government undertakings, wherein arbitral award is under challenge in a court, a voluntary settlement scheme with standardized terms will be introduced. This will be done by offering graded settlement terms depending on pendency level of the dispute.
    • Entity DigiLocker - storing and sharing documents online securely, whenever needed, with various authorities, regulators, banks and other business entities.
    • Credit Guarantee - infusion of ₹9,000 crore in the corpus to enable additional collateral-free guaranteed credit of ₹2 lakh crore, with a 1% reduction in cost of interest
    • Continue the concessional BCD of 2.5% on copper scrap for MSME secondary copper producers.
    • Micro enterprises with turnover up to ₹2 crore and certain professionals with turnover of up to ₹50 lakh can avail the benefit of presumptive taxation - enhanced limits of ₹3 crore and ₹75 lakh respectively, to the tax payers whose cash receipts are no more than 5%
    • Allow deduction for expenditure incurred on payments made to MSMEs only when payment is actually made, to support timely receipt of payments
    • New co-operatives that commence manufacturing activities till 31.3.2024 shall get the benefit of a lower tax rate of 15%.
    • Sugar co-operatives are allowed to claim payments made to sugarcane farmers for the period prior to assessment year 2016-17 as expenditure
    • Higher limit of ₹2 lakh per member for cash deposits to and loans in cash by Primary Agricultural Co-operative Societies (PACS) and Primary Co-operative Agriculture and Rural Development Banks (PCARDBs)
    • Higher limit of ₹3 crore for TDS on cash withdrawal is being provided to co-operative societies.

    Commodities

    • Increase in the custom duty on articles made from dore and bars of gold and platinum
    • Increase in the import duty on silver dore, bars and articles
    • Continue the exemption from Basic Customs Duty on raw materials for manufacture of CRGO Steel, ferrous scrap and nickel cathode
    • Continue the concessional BCD of 2.5% on copper scrap
    >

    Export/Import

    • Relief in customs duty on import of certain parts and inputs like camera lens
    • Continue the concessional duty on lithium-ion cells for batteries for another year
    • Reduction of the basic customs duty on parts of open cells of TV panels to 2.5%.
    • Minor changes in the basic custom duties, cesses and surcharges on some items including toys, bicycles, automobiles and naphtha.
    • Basic customs duty on electric kitchen chimney is increased from 7.5% to 15% and that on heat coils for these is proposed to be reduced from 20% to 15%.
    • Exemption of basic custom duty on Denatured ethyl alcohol
    • Basic customs duty is reduced on acid grade fluorspar from 5% to 2.5%
    • Basic customs duty on crude glycerin for use in manufacture of epicholorhydrin is proposed to be reduced from 7.5% to 2.5%.
    • Reduction of duty on export of shrimp feed
    • Reduction of basic customs duty on seeds used in the manufacture of Lab Grown Diamonds (LGDs)
    • Increase in the custom duty on articles made from dore and bars of gold and platinum
    • Increase in the import duty on silver dore, bars and articles
    • Continue the exemption from Basic Customs Duty on raw materials for manufacture of CRGO Steel, ferrous scrap and nickel cathode
    • Continue the concessional BCD of 2.5% on copper scrap
    • Basic customs duty rate on compounded rubber is being increased from 10% to 25%, at par with that on natural rubber other than latex
    • National Calamity Contingent Duty (NCCD) on specified cigarettes proposed to be revised upwards by about 16%.
    >

    Financial Regulation

    General

    • GIFT IFSC
      • IFSCA gets the power under the SEZ ACT to avoid dual regulation
      • Single window IT system for registration and approval (IFSCA, SEZ authorities, GSTN, RBI, SEBI, and IRDAI)
      • IFSC banking units of foreign banks permitted to finance acquisitions
      • EXIM Bank's subsidiary to be set up for trade refinancing
      • Amending IFSCA Act for statutory provisions for arbitration
      • Recognizing offshore derivative instruments as valid contracts.
      • Faciliate the set up of Data Embassies in GIFT IFSC for countries looking for digital continuity solutions
    • Amendments to the Banking Regulation Act, the Banking Companies Act, and the Reserve Bank of India Act are proposed to improve Governance and Investor Protection in the Banking sector
    • SEBI will be empowered to develop, regulate, maintain, and enforce norms and standards for education in the National Institute of Securities Markets and to recognize the award of degrees, diplomas, and certificates
    • Less stringent contract execution for MSMEs and Easier and standardized settlement scheme (aimed to settle contractual disputes faster) to help the Covid-affected MSMEs
    • Set up a Central Data Processing Centre for faster handling of administrative work under the Companies Act
    • Simplified KYC process to adopt a "risk-based" approach vs. the existing one-size-fits-all one that can meet the needs of digital India.
    • One-stop solution for identity and address updating maintained by various govt entities using the DigiLocker service and Aadhar as the foundational identity
    • Making PAN the Common Business Identifier for all digital systems of specified government agencies to encourage ease of doing business
    • Unified filing process through a common portal to eliminate the need to separately submit the same set of information to different government agencies
    • National Financial Information Registry to serve as the central repository of financial and ancillary information, to facilitate efficient flow of credit, promote financial inclusion, and foster financial stability
    • Deploy about 100 Joint Commissioners for disposal of small appeals

    By Industry

    Health

    • 157 new nursing colleges to be established
    • Launched Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission by 2047 - entail awareness creation, universal screening of 7 crore people in the age group of 0-40 years in affected tribal areas, and counselling through collaborative efforts of central ministries and state governments
    • Medical Research - Facilities in select ICMR Labs will be made available for research by public and private medical college faculty and private sector R&D teams for encouraging collaborative research and innovation.
    • Pharma Innovation - a new programme to promote research and innovation in pharmaceuticals will be taken up through centers of excellence.
    • Multidisciplinary courses for medical devices - in existing institutions to ensure availability of skilled manpower for futuristic medical technologies, high-end manufacturing, and research

    Education & Skilling

    • 157 new nursing colleges to be established
    • Teachers’ Training - District Institutes of Education and Training will be developed to revamp teachers’ training
    • Set up a National Digital Library for Children and Adolescents
    • States to set up physical libraries at panchayat and ward levels and provide infrastructure for accessing the National Digital Library resources.
    • National Book Trust, Children’s Book Trust, NGOs that work in literacy and financial sector regulators and organizations to provide age-appropriate reading material to these libraries.
    • Eklavya Model Residential Schools - recruit 38,800 teachers and support staff for the 740 Eklavya Model Residential Schools, serving 3.5 lakh tribal students.
    • 100 labs for developing applications (smart classrooms, precision farming, intelligent transport systems, and health care) using 5G services will be set up in engineering institutions
    • National Education Policy - skilling, adopted economic policies that facilitate job creation at scale, and have supported business opportunities to empower the youth
    • Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 4.0 - On-job training, industry partnership, and alignment of courses for Industry 4.0 like coding, AI, robotics, mechatronics, IOT, 3D printing, drones, and soft skills.
    • Skill India Digital platform - enabling demand-based formal skilling, linking with employers including MSMEs, and facilitating access to entrepreneurship schemes.
    • National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme - stipend support to 47 lakh youth in three years

    Green Energy and Sustainability

    • Promote battery energy storage systems (with a capacity of 4,000 MWH) through Viability Gap Funding
    • Promote coastal shipping for energy-efficient transportation
    • Funds allocation to replace older polluting Government vehicles and ambulances
    • Custom duty exemption to import of capital goods for Li-ion battery manufacturing used in electric vehicles
    • National Green Hydrogen Mission - ₹19,700 crores to reduce the dependence on fossil fuel imports
    • ₹35,000 crores for priority capital investments towards energy transition and net zero objectives, and energy security by the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas
    • ₹20,700 crores to construct an Inter-state transmission system for evacuation and grid integration of 13 GW renewable energy from Ladakh
    • Exemption of excise duty on GST-paid compressed biogas contained in it
    • Excise duty benefit on blended CNG
    • Incentivizing states to encourage the usage of alternate fertilizers
    • ₹10,000 crore investment to set up 500 new waste-to-wealth plants under the GOBARdhan scheme
    • Green Credit program to incentivize sustainable actions by companies, individuals, and local bodies
    • 10K bio inputs centers to encourage farmers to adopt natural farming
    • MISHTI - Mangrove plantation along the coastline
    • Amrit Dharohar - over the next three years to encourage optimal use of wetlands, and enhance bio-diversity, carbon stock, eco-tourism opportunities and income generation for local communities.

    Infrastructure

    • Capex outlay increased by 33% to ₹10 lakh crore
    • 50-year interest-free loan to states for 1 more year to boost capital expenditure, which is conditional on the states' increasing actual capital expenditure, and parts of this outlay will be linked to reforms
    • More opportunities for private investment in Infrastructure (railways, roads, urban infrastructure, and power)
    • ₹2.40 lakh crore outlay has been provided for the Railways to enhance growth potential and job creation
    • ₹75,000 crore investment, including ₹15,000 crores from private sources for 100 critical transport infrastructure projects, for last and first-mile connectivity for ports, coal, steel, fertilizer, and food grains sectors
    • 50 additional airports, heliports, water aerodromes and advance landing grounds will be revived for improving regional air connectivity.
    • Prime Minister Awas Yojana (PMAY) - enhanced by 66% to over Rs. 79,000 crores (from Rs 48,000 crore in FY2022-2023) to provide affordable houses
    • States and cities encouraged to undertake urban planning reforms and actions to transform our cities into ‘sustainable cities of tomorrow’
    • Cities will be incentivized to improve their credit worthiness for municipal bonds through property tax governance reforms and ring-fencing user charges on urban infrastructure
    • Urban Infrastructure Development Fund through use of priority sector lending shortfall
      • Managed by the National Housing Bank, and will be used by public agencies to create urban infrastructure in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities
      • Approx ₹10,000 crore per annum allocation
    • All cities and towns to have 100% mechanical desludging of septic tanks and sewers to transition from manhole to machine-hole mode

    Agriculture

    • Digital Public Infrastructure for Agriculture - an open source, open standard, and interoperable public good to enable inclusive, farmer-centric solutions through relevant information services for crop planning and health, improved access to farm inputs, credit, and insurance, help for crop estimation, market intelligence, and support for the growth of agri-tech industry and start-ups.
    • Agriculture Accelerator Fund - to encourage agri-startups by young entrepreneurs in rural areas and will aim at bringing innovative and affordable solutions for challenges faced by farmers
    • Cotton Crop - cluster-based and value chain approach through Public Private Partnerships (PPP) to enhance productivity through collaboration between farmers, state, and industry for input supplies, extension services, and market linkages.
    • Atmanirbhar Horticulture Clean Plant Program - to boost the availability of disease-free, quality planting material for high-value horticultural crops at an outlay of ₹2,200 crores.
    • Agriculture Credit - will be increased to ₹20 lakh crore with a focus on animal husbandry, dairy, and fisheries.
    • PM Matsya Sampada Yojana - a new ₹6,000 crore sub-scheme to further enable activities of fishermen, fish vendors, and micro & small enterprises, improve value chain efficiencies, and expand the market.
    • ₹5,300 crores allocated to Upper Bhadra Project in the drought-prone central region of Karnataka, to provide sustainable micro irrigation and filling up of surface tanks for drinking water.
    • Global Hub for Millets: ‘Shree Anna’ - Indian Institute of Millet Research, Hyderabad will be supported as the Centre of Excellence for sharing best practices, research, and technologies at the international level to make India a global hub for 'Shree Anna'
      • Ministry of Cooperation - formed with a mandate to realise the vision of ‘Sahakar Se Samriddhi’
      • Computerisation of 63,000 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) with an investment of ₹2,516 crore
      • National cooperative database is being prepared for country-wide mapping of cooperative societies
      • Decentralised storage capacity to help farmers store their produce and realize remunerative prices through sale at appropriate times
      • Facilitate setting up of a large number of multipurpose cooperative societies, primary fishery societies and dairy cooperative societies in uncovered panchayats and villages in the next 5 years.

    Technology & AI

    • 3 centres of excellence for Artificial Intelligence will be set-up in top educational institutions
    • National Data Governance Policy to unleash innovation and research by start-ups and academia

    Lab Grown Diamonds (LGD)

    • R&D grant will be provided to one of the IITs for five years to develop LGDs
    • Review the custom duty rate on LGD seeds

    Tourism

    • Dekho Apna Desh - Select 50 destinations to enhance tourist experience by improved physical connectivity, virtual connectivity, tourist guides, high standards for food streets and tourists’ security
    • Vibrant Villages - tourism infrastructure and amenities in border villages.
    • Unity Mall - States will be encouraged to set up a Unity Mall in their state capital or most prominent tourism centre or the financial capital for promotion and sale of their own ODOPs (one district, one product), GI products and other handicraft products, and for providing space for such products of all other States.

    By Profession

    Private Sector Employees

    • Reducing the TDS rate from 30 per cent to 20 per cent on taxable portion of EPF withdrawal in non-PAN cases
    • Each salaried person with an income of ₹15.5 lakh or more will thus stand to benefit by ₹52,500.
    • Limit of ₹3 lakh for tax exemption on leave encashment on retirement of non-government salaried employees increased to ₹25 lakh.

    Govt / PSU Employees

    • Mission Karmayogi - capacity-building plans for civil servants.
    • iGOT Karmayogi - Integrated online training platform to provide continuous learning opportunities to upgrade their skills and facilitate people-centric approach.
    • Reducing the TDS rate from 30 per cent to 20 per cent on taxable portion of EPF withdrawal in non-PAN cases
    • Each salaried person with an income of ₹15.5 lakh or more will thus stand to benefit by ₹52,500.

    Business Owners

    • Decriminalisation under section 276A of the Income Tax Act
    • Vivad se Vishwas I - In cases of failure by MSMEs to execute contracts during the Covid period, 95% of the forfeited amount relating to bid or performance security, will be returned to them by government and government undertakings
    • Vivad se Vishwas II - to settle contractual disputes of government and government undertakings, wherein arbitral award is under challenge in a court, a voluntary settlement scheme with standardized terms will be introduced. This will be done by offering graded settlement terms depending on pendency level of the dispute.
    • Entity DigiLocker - storing and sharing documents online securely, whenever needed, with various authorities, regulators, banks and other business entities.
    • Credit Guarantee - infusion of ₹9,000 crore in the corpus to enable additional collateral-free guaranteed credit of ₹2 lakh crore, with a 1% reduction in cost of interest
    • Continue the concessional BCD of 2.5% on copper scrap for MSME secondary copper producers.
    • Micro enterprises with turnover up to ₹2 crore and certain professionals with turnover of up to ₹50 lakh can avail the benefit of presumptive taxation - enhanced limits of ₹3 crore and ₹75 lakh respectively, to the tax payers whose cash receipts are no more than 5%
    • Allow deduction for expenditure incurred on payments made to MSMEs only when payment is actually made, to support timely receipt of payments
    • New co-operatives that commence manufacturing activities till 31.3.2024 shall get the benefit of a lower tax rate of 15%.
    • Sugar co-operatives are allowed to claim payments made to sugarcane farmers for the period prior to assessment year 2016-17 as expenditure
    • Higher limit of ₹2 lakh per member for cash deposits to and loans in cash by Primary Agricultural Co-operative Societies (PACS) and Primary Co-operative Agriculture and Rural Development Banks (PCARDBs)
    • Higher limit of ₹3 crore for TDS on cash withdrawal is being provided to co-operative societies.

    Self-Employed

    • PM Vishwakarma Kaushal Samman - Artisans and craftspeople will be helped to improve the quality, scale, and reach of their products, integrating them with the MSME value chain. The scheme includes financial support, advanced skill training, knowledge of modern digital techniques and efficient green technologies, brand promotion, linkage with local and global markets, digital payments, and social security

    Farmers

    • Digital Public Infrastructure for Agriculture - an open source, open standard, and interoperable public good to enable inclusive, farmer-centric solutions through relevant information services for crop planning and health, improved access to farm inputs, credit, and insurance, help for crop estimation, market intelligence, and support for the growth of agri-tech industry and start-ups.
    • Agriculture Accelerator Fund - to encourage agri-startups by young entrepreneurs in rural areas and will aim at bringing innovative and affordable solutions for challenges faced by farmers
    • Cotton Crop - cluster-based and value chain approach through Public Private Partnerships (PPP) to enhance productivity through collaboration between farmers, state, and industry for input supplies, extension services, and market linkages.
    • Atmanirbhar Horticulture Clean Plant Program - to boost the availability of disease-free, quality planting material for high-value horticultural crops at an outlay of ₹2,200 crores.
    • Agriculture Credit - will be increased to ₹20 lakh crore with a focus on animal husbandry, dairy, and fisheries.
    • PM Matsya Sampada Yojana - a new ₹6,000 crore sub-scheme to further enable activities of fishermen, fish vendors, and micro & small enterprises, improve value chain efficiencies, and expand the market.
    • ₹5,300 crores allocated to Upper Bhadra Project in the drought prone central region of Karnataka, to provide sustainable micro irrigation and filling up of surface tanks for drinking water.
    • Global Hub for Millets: ‘Shree Anna’ - Indian Institute of Millet Research, Hyderabad will be supported as the Centre of Excellence for sharing best practices, research, and technologies at the international level to make India a global hub for 'Shree Anna'
    • Ministry of Cooperation - formed with a mandate to realise the vision of ‘Sahakar Se Samriddhi’
      • Computerisation of 63,000 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) with an investment of ₹2,516 crore
      • National cooperative database is being prepared for country-wide mapping of cooperative societies
      • Decentralised storage capacity to help farmers store their produce and realize remunerative prices through sale at appropriate times
      • Facilitate setting up of a large number of multipurpose cooperative societies, primary fishery societies and dairy cooperative societies in uncovered panchayats and villages in the next 5 years.

    Others

    Miscellaneous

    • Bharat Shared Repository of Inscriptions - digital epigraphy museum, with digitization of one lakh ancient inscriptions in the first stage
    • For efficient administration of justice, Phase-3 of the E-Courts project will be launched with an outlay of ₹7,000 crores.
    • Capping the deduction from capital gains on investment in residential house under sections 54 and 54F to ₹10 crore
    • Limit income tax exemption from proceeds of insurance policies with very high value.
    • Not treating conversion of gold into electronic gold receipt and vice versa as capital gain
    • Taxation on income from Market Linked Debentures.
    • Allowing carry forward of losses on strategic disinvestment including that of IDBI Bank

    Reaction on budget

    Narendra Modi

    Prime Minister of India

    " This year's Budget infuses new energy to India's development trajectory.

    Reaction on budget

    S Jaishankar

    External Affairs Minister

    " India’s aspirations and targets are on a scale that will impact the world. Expect these developments to feature prominently in global conversations, including at G20.

    EXPERT SPEAK

    Chandresh Nigam
    Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Axis AMC

    "Capex is the primary theme of the budget. While the government has threaded the needle on fiscal consolidation, the crux of the policy announcements are in line with the larger economic and reformist agendas of the government."
    Jinesh Gopani
    Head, Equity, Axis Mutual Fund

    "Sound and balanced budget, keeping in mind all strata of society. Fiscal deficit and net borrowing targets are a big positive keeping in mind the growth story of India."
    Devang Shah
    Co-Head, Fixed Income, Axis Mutual Fund

    "Budget is meeting the agendas of the government and is very productive in nature. Fiscal deficit estimates and the trajectory towards normalisation is in line with market expectations."
    Ashwin Patni
    Head Products & Alternatives, Axis AMC

    "Budget has focus on four key areas - a continued push towards better quality capital spending, promoting make in India, reiterating the path of fiscal consolidation (albeit in a measured manner), and an effort towards streamlining the individual direct tax regime. Overall it is a budget that should satisfy all key segments and should help support the economy to maintain its growth trajectory."
    Raghav Iyengar
    Chief Business Officer, Axis AMC

    "The budget is a step in the right direction where the fiscal deficit estimates and the trajectory towards normalisation of the fiscal deficit is in line with the market expectations. The budget is an extension of the key agendas driven by the Government over the last 8 years and the numerous developmental projects aimed at making India the 5th largest economy. On the personal and income tax front, the Government’s intension is clearly to streamline taxations and increasing the efficiency of tax collections. We have seen significant fruit borne out of the various changes done to the income tax act in favour of citizens and corporates."
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