Economy
- Top focus of the budget this year are: PM Gati Shakti, Inclusive Development, Productivity Enhancement, Sunrise Opportunities, Energy Transition, Climate Action, Financing of investments
- ECLGS cover expanded to Rs 5 lakh crore
- Productivity-linked incentive schemes in 14 sectors have received excellent response; received investment intentions worth Rs 30 lakh crore
Expenditure and deficit & other key numbers
- Projected fiscal deficit of 6.4% of GDP in 2022/23
- Revised fiscal deficit for 2021/22 at 6.9% of GDP
- 50 year interest free loans over and above normal borrowing allowed for states
- Scheme for financial assistance to states for capital investment outlay to be Rs 1 lakh crore for 2022/23
- Public issue of Life Insurance Corporation expected shortly
Taxes
- Surcharge on long-term capital gains capped at 15 per cent
- Updated return can be filed within 2 years from the end of the relevant assessment year.
- Alternate Minimum Tax for cooperative societies to be cut to 15%
- Tax deduction limit increased to 14% on employer’s contribution to NPS account of state govt employees
Infra & manufacturing
- PM Gatishakti masterplan for expressways will be formulated in next financial year
- 100 PM Gati Shakti terminals to be set up in next three years
- Concessional corporate tax rate of 15 pc would be available for 1 more year till March 2024 for newly incorporated manufacturing companies
Steps on digital currency
- Launch of blockchain-based digital rupee starting 2022-23
- To launch scheme for taxation of virtual digital assets
- Losses from sale of virtual digital assets cannot be offset against other income
- Income from virtual digital assets to be taxed at 30%
Housing & urban planning
- Rs 48, 000 crore is allotted for PM Awas Yojana
- In 2022-23, 80 lakh houses will be completed for identified beneficiaries of PM Awas Yojana; 60,000 houses will be identified as beneficiaries for PM Awas Yojana in rural & urban areas
- 60,000 crore allocated for providing access to tap water to 3.8 crore households
Agriculture
- Govt to pay Rs 2.37 lakh crore towards procurement of wheat and paddy under MSP operations
- Kisan Drones for crop assessment, land records, spraying of insecticides expected to drive a wave of technology in Agri sector
- Ken Betwa river linking project worth Rs 44,605 crore announced
- Draft DPRs for 5 river links have been finalized
- Govt will promote chemical-free natural farming throughout the country to boost sustainable agricultural productivity and income of farmers
Electric Vehicles
- Battery swapping policy to allow EV charging stations for automobiles will be framed
- Private sector will be encouraged to create sustainable and innovative business models for battery and energy as a service, improving the efficiency in the EV ecosystem
Education & skilling
- States to be encouraged to revise syllabi of agricultural universities to meet needs of natural, zero-budget & organic farming, modern-day agriculture
- 1-Class-1-TV Channel to be implemented to provide supplementary education to children to make up for loss of formal education due to Covid
Finance & inclusion
- Rs 1 lakh crore financial assistance to states to be provided in 2022-23 to catalyse investments
- Proposed to introduce Digital Rupee by RBI using blockchain technology, starting 2022-23
- Post offices will come on the core banking system, enabling financial inclusion and access to accounts through net banking, mobile banking, ATMs, and also provide online transfer of funds between post office accounts and bank accounts
- 75 digital banks in 75 districts will be set up by scheduled commercial banks to encourage digital payments
- Sovereign green bonds to be launched to fund green infra, to be part of government’s borrowing programme in FY23
Defence
- Govt committed to reduce import and promote self reliance in defence sector
- Defense R&D will be opened up for industry, startups and academia with 25% of defense R&D budget
- Private industry will be encouraged to take up the design and development of military platforms and equipment in collaboration with DRDO and other organizations through SPV model
- 68% of capital procurement budget in defence will be earmarked for domestic industry in 2022-23 (up from the 58% last fiscal)
Transportation including Railways
- 400 new generation Vande Bharat trains to be manufactured in next 3 years
- Railway Ministry to be allocated Rs 140367.13 crore – Rs 20,311 crore more than the revised figures of the previous fiscal
- National highways network to be expanded by 25,000 km in 2022-23
- Highways expansion to cost Rs 20,000 crore in 2022-23
Miscelleneous
- Rs 3062.60 crore allocated under sports budget for financial year 2022-23, an increase of Rs 305.58 crore over last year
- Spectrum auction will be conducted in 2022 for the rollout of 5G
- 2 lakh Anganwadis to be upgraded for improving child health
- ePassports will be rolled out in 2022-23 for convenience in overseas travel. E-passport with embedded chip will be rolled out