Highlights of the Union budget 2022-23

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    • Recently, Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1 presented a budget worth Rs 39.45 lakh crore with massive push to infrastructure spending.

    Union Budget of India

    • According to Article 112 of the Indian Constitution, the annual financial statement of a year is a statement of the estimated receipts and expenditure of the government for that particular year.
      • The term ‘Union Budget’ is nowhere mentioned in the Indian Constitution. 
    • It keeps the account of the government’s finances for the fiscal year that runs from 1st April to 31st March.
    • It is classified into Revenue Budget and Capital Budget.
      • Revenue Budget: It includes the government’s revenue receipts and expenditure.
        • There are two kinds of revenue receipts: tax and non-tax revenue. 
        • Revenue expenditure is the expenditure incurred on day to day functioning of the government and on various services offered to citizens.
        • If revenue expenditure exceeds revenue receipts, the government incurs a revenue deficit.
      • Capital Budget: It includes capital receipts and payments of the government. 
        • Loans from the public, foreign governments and RBI form a major part of the government’s capital receipts.
        • Capital expenditure is the expenditure on the development of machinery, equipment, building, health facilities, education etc.
    • Fiscal deficit is incurred when the government’s total expenditure exceeds its total revenue.
    • Objectives and Significance:
      • Resource allocation in the best interest of the society and allocating resources optimally for public welfare.
      • Uplift downtrodden sections of the society by reducing poverty levels and creating employment.
      • Creating programmes for citizens so that they get basic needs such as food, shelter, education and health care.
      • Make sure that there is a fair distribution of income through taxes and subsidies.
      • Control inflation, deflation and economic fluctuations thus ensuring economic stability in the country.
    • The Budget of any country is crucial as it has widespread implications on that country’s economic stability and general life as such.

    Key Highlights of the Budget 2022

    • About:
      • India’s economic growth is estimated at 9.2% to be the highest among all large economies.
      • India’s gross domestic product (GDP) in dollar terms has already crossed $3 trillion.
      • 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.
      • Amrit Kaal, the 25 year long lead up to India @100, the budget provides impetus for growth along four priorities:
        • PM GatiShakti
        • Inclusive Development
        • Productivity Enhancement & Investment, Sunrise opportunities, Energy Transition, and Climate Action.
        • Financing of investments
    • PM GatiShakti:
      • The seven engines that drive PMGatiShakti are Roads, Railways, Airports, Ports, Mass Transport, Waterways and Logistics Infrastructure.
      • The scope of PM GatiShakti National Master Plan will encompass the seven engines for economic transformation, seamless multimodal connectivity and logistics efficiency.
    • Infra, Roadways, Railways, Waterways and Logistics:
      • New rail products in the form of ‘One Station – One Product’, 400 next-gen Vande Bharat trains, and 100 PM Gati Shakti cargo terminals over the next three years provides integration of NIP with Gati Shakti and is likely to prove crucial in employment generation.
      • National Ropeways Development Program, Parvatmala to be taken up on PPP mode.
      • Draft DPRs for 5 river links Damanganga-Pinjal, Par- Tapi-Narmada, Godavari-Krishna, Krishna-Pennar & Pennar-Kaveri have been finalized.
      • 400 Vande Bharat trains with higher efficiency for passengers will be developed in the next three years.
      • Four multi-modal national parks contracts will be awarded in FY23.
    • Agriculture:
      • Government to promote funds for blended finance (government share limited to 20%) for sunrise opportunities such as climate action, agri-tech, etc.
      • Fund to be facilitated through NABARD to finance startups for agriculture and rural enterprise, relevant for farm produce value chain. Startups will support FPOs and provide tech to farmers.
      • Use of Kisan Drones to be promoted for crop assessment, digitisation of land records, spraying of insecticides and nutrients.
      • MSP for farmers to be transferred directly into bank accounts.
      • Chemical-free natural farming to be promoted in India.
        • Zero-budget natural farming: The agriculture universities in the country will be encouraged to include these areas in their syllabus.
    • Education:
      • A Digital University would be established to provide access to students across the country for world-class quality universal education.
      • One class one TV channel programme to be expanded to 200 TV channels.
      • Virtual labs and skilling e-labs will be established to promote critical thinking skills and simulated learning environments.
      • 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 National Tele Mental Health Programme will be launched to improve access to quality mental health counselling and care services.
      • An open platform for the 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:
      • 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.
      • Digital rupee to be issued using blockchain and other technologies; to be issued by RBI starting 2022-23. This will give a big boost to the economy.
      • 30 per cent tax on income from transfer of virtual digital assets has been proposed.
      • One per cent tax deducted at source (TDS) on transfer of virtual assets above a threshold, gifts would be taxed.
      • Both Centre and States govt employees’ tax deduction limit to be increased from 10% to 14% to help the social security benefits of state govt employees and bring them at par with the Central govt employees.
    • For MSMEs
      • Udyam, e-shram, NCS and ASEEM portals to be interlinked.
      • 130 lakh MSMEs provided additional credit under Emergency Credit Linked Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS). ECLGS to be extended up to March 2023.
      • Guarantee cover under ECLGS to be expanded by Rs 50000 Crore to total cover of Rs 5 Lakh Crore.
    • Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for North-East Region (PM-DevINE):
      • New scheme PM-DevINE launched to fund infrastructure and social development projects in the North-East.
      • An initial allocation of Rs. 1,500 crore was made to enable livelihood activities for youth and women under the scheme.
    • Other Social Infrastructure Initiatives
      • Vibrant Villages Programme for development of Border villages with sparse population, limited connectivity and infrastructure on the northern border.
      • Rs. 48,000 crore allocated for completion of 80 lakh houses in 2022-23 under PM Awas Yojana.
      • Modernization of building bye laws, Town Planning Schemes (TPS), and Transit Oriented Development (TOD) will be implemented.
      • Unique Land Parcel Identification Number for IT-based management of land records.
    • GIFT-IFSC:
      • World-class foreign universities and institutions to be allowed in the GIFT City.
      • An International Arbitration Centre to be set up for timely settlement of disputes under international jurisprudence.
    • Rupee Comes from:
      • For every rupee in the government coffer, 58 paise will come from direct and indirect taxes, 35 paise from borrowings and other liabilities, 5 paise from non-tax revenue like disinvestment and 2 paise from non-debt capital receipts.
        • GST contributes 16 paise in every rupee revenue, while corporation tax will contribute 15 paise to each rupee earned.
    • Rupee Goes to:
      • Interest payments at 20 paise for every rupee, followed by the states’ share of taxes and duties at 17 paise. Allocation for the defence stood at 8 paise. 
      • Expenditure on central sector schemes will be 15 paise, while the allocation for centrally-sponsored schemes will be 9 paise.
      • The expenditure on the ‘Finance Commission and other transfers’ is pegged at 10 paise. Subsidies and pension will account for 8 paise and 4 paise.

    Sources: FE+PIB+Indiagov

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