Union Budget 2023-24 Live Updates
Nirmala Sitharaman, the finance minister, unveiled the Union Budget 2023 on Wednesday. She made adjustments to the income tax system and emphasised projects related to agriculture and tourism, introducing a new agriculture accelerator fund and putting tourism promotion on mission mode.
This is Sitharaman’s sixth budget address and the last comprehensive one for the Modi administration before the Lok Sabha elections early the next year. The Union Budget for this year focuses on seven important topics, including inclusive development,reaching the last mile,unleashing the potential, green growth, young power, and financial sector.
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The government would make it easier for nations looking for digital continuity solutions to set up Data Embassies in GIFT IFSC.
Through a PPP model with viability gap funding, the government would promote coastal shipping as the more affordable, energy-efficient, and cost-effective means of transportation for both people and goods.
Under the GOBARdhan (Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources Dhan) programme, 500 new waste to wealth plants will be created. There will be 300 community- or cluster-based plants, 200 compressed biogas (CBG) plants, with a total investment of Rs 10,000 crore, 75 of which will be in metropolitan areas.
To encourage States and Union Territories to promote alternative fertilisers and balanced usage of chemical fertilisers, PM-PRANAM, or the PM Programme for Restoration, Awareness, Nourishment, and Amelioration of Mother Earth, would be introduced.
The Environment (Protection) Act will provide for the notification of a green credit programme. This would encourage ecologically responsible behaviour on the part of businesses, people, and local organisations while also assisting in the mobilisation of additional resources for such efforts.
More than 3,400 law requirements have been made less punishable, and more than 39,000 compliances have been decreased. The Jan Vishwas Bill to alter 42 Central Acts was introduced by the government to advance trust-based governance.
Plans for civil servant capacity-building are being developed and put into action by the Center, States, and UTs as part of Mission Karmayogi. To help thousands of government workers enhance their skills and promote a people-centric approach, the government has introduced iGOT Karmayogi, an integrated online training platform
With an investment of Rs 7,000 crore, Phase 3 of the E-Courts project would be launched for effective administration.
FM stated that a mission will shortly be launched with the goal of eradicating sickle cell anaemia by the year 2047. Through the joint efforts of national ministries and state governments, the mission would raise awareness among the general public by universally screening seven crore persons in the age range of 0 to 40 years in tribal areas and providing counselling.
One lakh ancient inscriptions will be added to the Bharat Shared Repository of Inscriptions, With the first step of digitization. It will be housed in a digital epigraphy museum. The Amrit Dharohar project will be put into place over the following three years in order to promote the best use of wetlands and improve biodiversity.
The Upper Bhadra project in Karnataka would receive help from the Center in the sum of Rs 5,300 crore. In the drought-prone central parts of Karnataka, a central assistance of Rs 5,300 crore will be supplied for the Upper Bhadra Project, FM stated in his budget speech.
Through the sale of stakes in numerous state-run businesses, the government hopes to raise Rs 51,000 crore. In FY23, the government planned to raise Rs 65,000 crore through divestitures.
The people who built this nation traditionally via their labours, or Vishvakarma, are responsible. For the first time, a plan for Vishvakarma training and support has been included in the budget: PM Narendra Modi
FM suggested doubling the Senior Citizen Savings Scheme and Monthly Income Account Scheme deposit limits to Rs. 30 lakh and Rs. 9 lakh, respectively. She announced that the Senior Citizen Savings Scheme’s maximum deposit amount would increase from Rs 15 lakh to Rs 30 lakh.
She also suggested raising the monthly income account scheme’s maximum deposit limits from 4.5 lakh rupees to 9 lakh rupees for a single account and from 9 lakh to 15 lakh rupees for a joint account.
A Mahila Samman Saving Certificate with a fixed interest rate of 7.5% for two years launched by FM. The deposit may be made in a woman’s or a girl child’s name. The scheme will also allow for partial withdrawals, and the maximum deposit amount has been set at Rs 2 lakh.
To encourage home manufacture, the government proposed raising the import duty on silver dore, bars, and articles. She added that there are now higher customs taxes on items made of dore and bars of gold and platinum.
For the upcoming fiscal year, the government reduced its budget for the scheme to 600 billion rupees ($7.34 billion). The amount is the smallest since 2017–18 and less than the projected 894 billion rupee spending commitment for 2022–23. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, passed more than 15 years ago, allows people to sign up for jobs that pay a minimum wage for at least 100 days per year, such as building roads, drilling wells, or developing other rural infrastructure.
The Union Budget checks off all the expected boxes, including boosting investment in capital expenditures by 33%, promoting consumption by enticing taxpayers to switch to the new tax system with lower taxes and spend the extra money instead of using savings to lessen the tax burden under the old system, and continuing on the fiscal consolidation path with a fiscal deficit target of 5.9%. To address concerns about the exodus of HNIs, the maximum tax rate on personal income has also been lowered, according to Ranen Banerjee, partner and leader of PwC India’s Economic Advisory Services.
The FM proposed capping the deduction from capital gains on investment in residential property under sections 54 and 54F at Rs 10 crore in order to effectively target tax breaks and exemptions. Limiting the income tax exemption from the payouts of extremely valuable insurance plans is another suggestion.
Last but not least, in 2002, when the highest basic pay in the government was Rs 30,000/pm, the limit of Rs 3 lakh for tax exemption on leave encashment upon retirement of non-government salaried employees was last set. I suggest raising this cap to Rs. 25 lakh in order to keep up with increases in government wages.
In the new tax system, FM advocated lowering the highest surcharge rate from 37% to 25%. The maximum tax rate would be reduced as a result to 39%.
FM expanded the standard deduction’s benefits to the new tax system for the salaried class and retirees, including family pensioners. Thus, each salaried individual earning Rs 15.5 lakh or more will stand to gain Rs 52,500.
Someone making Rs 9 lakh a year income will only require to pay Rs 45,000. Only 5% of his or her income comes from this. It represents a decrease of 25% off the current amount due, which is Rs 60,000/-. A person earning Rs 15 lakh would also only be needed to pay Rs 1.5 lakh, or 10% of their income, which represents a 20% reduction from their current responsibility of Rs 1,87,500.
According to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, India will lose Rs. 35,000 crore in net tax collection as a result of changes made to direct and indirect taxes in the Union Budget to help people with middle-class incomes.
Around Rs. 38,000 crore in revenue would be lost, of which Rs. 37,000 crore will come from direct taxes and Rs. 1,000 crore from indirect taxes, while an extra Rs. 3,000 crore in income will be mobilised. So, around Rs. 35,000 crore in revenue are lost each year, according to Sitharaman, who also announced the Union Budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins on April 1.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made a significant announcement, saying that although the new tax system would now be the default tax system, citizens can still benefit from the previous tax system on an opt-out basis.
According to the new tax system, the income tax rebate maximum will rise from Rs. 5 lakh to Rs. 7 lakh, according to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. She continued by saying that the new tax system will now be used by default.
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