Have you ever been curious about our country’s financial matters? Never ever feel that being a beneficiary of government financial standards. As you know, for a smooth function of even a small business firm, effective systematic financial and managerial decisions should be needed. If so, what about a country’s financial function and how relevant there should be a systematic sophisticated and long-term plan that has to be put forward? Let’s go into Benjamin Franklin’s view” By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail”.
A budget plan has a greater contribution to the nation’s progression. According to Rosette Mugidde Wamambe, Ethics officer at the African Development Bank and finance analyst, “Budgeting isn’t just for people who do not have enough money. It is for everyone who wants to ensure that their money is enough”. You know budgeting is nothing but proclaiming your money where to go. Budgeting is nothing in the sense of country point, but each citizen’s aspect is more relevant.
Did you go through Union Budget 2023, which was given out by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman? Once you go through the financial Budget for the next year, you must remember the words of Jacob Lew that “ The Budget is not just a collection of numbers, but an expression of our values and aspirations”. India announced or on February 1st that the ministry has delivered a financial budget with the aspiration of 1, 423 061, 201 (World Population Review) crores of people.
What awaits you in this financial year? Is there a more crucial decision taken by the government as a futuristic initiative? Let’s grow through it…
Union Budget 2023-2024
Nirmala Sitharaman, India’s Finance minister, introduced the fifth Budget of the Narendra Modi government as an inclusive vision by holding “Sub Ke Sath Sabka Vikas”. More in a sense, at each stage of budget delivery, the context was clearly going along with the concepts of Amrith Kaal, which was introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the period of the 75th Independence Day celebration.
Through the Amrith Kaal government intends to attain new heights of prosperity for India and its citizens in the period of the next 25 years. Nirmala Sitharaman introduced the budget as the First finance budget of Amrith Kaal. In her own wordings, “Our vision for the Amrit Kaal includes a technology-driven and knowledge-based economy with strong public finances and a robust financial sector. To achieve this, Jan Bhagaidari through sab ka Saath sab ka Vikas is essential”.
Through the 2023-2024 union budget plan, a new tax regime has been implemented by the government. Along with that, there is a considerable hike in railway and capital expenditure allocation. The Amrith kaal vision-oriented Budget includes three significant prospects such as opportunities for citizens with a focus on the youth, growth and job creation, and a strong and stable macroeconomic environment. There are seven priorities proposed that are inclusive development, infrastructure and investment, unleashing the potential, green growth, financial sector, youth power, and reaching the last mile.
Budget 2023 Highlights
Agriculture: The Budget has offered a plan to set up an Agricultural Accelerator Fund to elevate agri-startups by young entrepreneurs. And moreover, Digital infrastructure and Rs 20 lakh crore credit for animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries are planned. Over the next 3 years, 1 crore farmers will receive help for natural farming, and 10,000 bio input centres to be established. As in the case of fisheries,
A sub-scheme under PM Mastya Sampada Yojna with a budget of Rs 6,000 crore to support fishermen’s activities will be launched. India is to be made a global hub for ‘Shree Anna’ through the support of the Indian Institute of Millet Research, Hyderabad, as a Center of Excellence for research, technology, and best practices. Rs 2,516 crore for the computerisation of 63k credit societies. Rs 5,300 crore central aid for the upper Badra project in drought-prone Karnataka for micro-irrigation. 500 new waste-to-wealth initiatives.
Health: The Budget has proposed a plan for implementing 157 new nursing colleges. Furthermore, there is a plan to launch the Sickle Cell Anaemia elimination mission, a new program to enhance research pharmaceuticals, and a key decision to promote joint public and private medical research through ICMR labs. More in the sense Health sector receives Rs 89,155 crore allocation in the Union Budget with a mission to eradicate sickle cell anaemia by 2047.
A new pharmaceutical research program to be formulated and the industry will be encouraged to invest. Rs 86,175 crore to the Department of Health and Family Welfare and Rs 2,980 crore to the Department of Health Research. Budget allocation for Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana is also included. For ICMR, the budget allocation is 2359.58 crores.
Education: Eklavya Model Residential Schools to be established in the next 3 years with 38,800 teachers and support staff for 740 schools serving 3.5 lakh tribal students. National Data Governance Policy to unleash innovation and research by start-ups and academia. UGC grant increased by 9.37% (Rs 459 crores). Central Universities increased by 17.66%, Deemed Universities by 27%, and support for IIMs increased. As a part of education and skilling, there is a plan for revamping teacher training via the District Institute of Education and Training. For the Knowledge improvisation of children and adolescents, National Digital Library will be enabled. Moreover, through states at panchayat and ward levels, physical libraries have to be encouraged.
New Tax Regime: There is a new tax slab established through the new budget introduction. The new income tax slab is,
0% For up to INR 3 lakh
5% For INR 3-6 lakh
10% For INR 6-9 lakh
15% For INR 9-12 lakh
20% For INR 12-15 lakh
30% For above INR 15 lakh.
The new tax regulations will bring significant savings to Indian taxpayers. If you earn an annual income of 9 Lakh Rupees, you can expect to pay only 45,000 Rupees in taxes, a reduction from previous years. For those earning 15 Lakh Rupees, taxes have been reduced from 1.87 Lakh Rupees to 1.5 Lakh Rupees. Additionally, taxpayers can enjoy a standard deduction of 50,000 Rupees under the new regime. Good news for Agniveers as well, as payments received from the Agniveer Corpus Fund will be exempt from taxes. However, those with insurance policies that have a premium over 5 Lakh Rupees can expect their tax exemptions to be removed.
The government introduced TDS for online games. The Indian government has announced tax changes to increase savings and convenience for taxpayers. Tax exemption for leave encashment on retirement for non-govt salaried employees has been raised from 3L to 25L Rupees. Co-operative societies now have a higher limit of 3 Crore Rupees for TDS on cash withdrawals. The next-gen Common IT Return Form is being rolled out for easier tax filing. The grievance redressal mechanism is also being strengthened. The TDS rate for EPF withdrawal in non-PAN cases is reduced from 30% to 20% on the taxable portion.
Indirect Taxes: there are some considerable changes brought by the Budget, including a 2.5% reduction in the crude glycerine for basic customs duty. 16% hike on cigarettes, as part of encouraging TV manufacturing, customs duty of open cells of TV panels is reduced by 2.5%. Concessional duty on Lithium-ion cells will be extended to next year. The Indian government has reduced the number of basic custom duty rates on goods excluding textiles and agriculture from 21 to 13, resulting in minor tax changes for items such as toys, bicycles, and automobiles. And also, the import duty on silver bars increased as it aligned with gold and platinum.
Saving schemes: The Indian government has introduced several new savings options for senior citizens and women. The deposit limit for Senior Citizen Savings Scheme has been raised from 15L to 30L Rupees. The Monthly Income Scheme limit has also doubled for joint accounts. A new savings opportunity, the Mahila Samman Saving Certificate, is now available for women offering a deposit of up to 2L Rupees for 2 years at 7.5% interest with partial withdrawal options. This scheme will be available until March 2025.
Railway: The Indian government has allocated a record-breaking 2.4 Lakh Crore Rupees for the railways in FY24, which is nearly 9 times the allocation made in FY14. The allocation for track renewal has also been increased from 15,388.05 Crore Rupees in RE 2022-23 to 17,296.84 Crore Rupees this year. The Railways plans to roll out 75 Vande Bharat trains by August 2023.
Defence: The Indian government has increased the defence budget to 5.94 Lakh Crore Rupees, up from 5.25 Lakh Crore Rupees last year. 1.62 Lakh Crore Rupees has been set aside for capital expenditure including purchases of new weapons, aircraft, warships, and military hardware. The capital budget for the Border Roads Organization has also been increased to 5,000 Crore Rupees. The Indian Air Force received the highest capital outlay at 57,137.09 Crore Rupees. The Indian Navy received 52,804 Crore Rupees as its capital outlay, while the Army was allocated 37,241 Crore Rupees. The Defence Research Development Organization (DRDO) was allocated 23,264 Crore Rupees.
MSME: A new credit guarantee for MSMEs will be implemented on April 1st, 2023, with an infusion of 9,000 Crore Rupees into its corpus. This will provide an additional 2 Lakh Crore Rupees in collateral-free guaranteed credit and reduce the cost of credit by 1%.
As per the aim regarding the inclusive development achievements, through the Budget, it is announced that 9 crore drinking water connections to rural houses, 47.8 crore PM Jan Dhan bank accounts formulation, 220 crores covid-19 vaccinations targeting the 102 crore persons, 11.7 crore household toilets, under SBM, and 9.6 core LPG connection under Ujjawala.
Moreover, Let’s we can discuss what gets cheaper and what’s become costlier.
Cheaper
Mobile Phones
Lab-grown diamonds
Shrimp feed
Machinery for lithium-ion batteries
Raw materials and EV industry
Costlier
Cigarettes
Silver
Compounded rubber
Articles from gold bars imported electric kitchen chimneys, Luxury cars and EVs.
In the banking industry the government brought up amendments to the Banking Regulations Act to improvise banking governance. As part of the initiation regarding the job opportunity or employability, the Budget proposes a plan to launch Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas 4.0. For skill upgradation, there is a division to implement 30 skill India International Centres across the states. Bring Direct Benefit Transfer as part of the Pan -India National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme for providing the stipend to 47 lakh youth in three years.
In the clean energy aspects, there are 35000 crores allocated as capital mainly for the energy transition. Under the Environment Protection Act there will be a Green Credit Program. As per the budget report for the financial year of 2023-2024, 50 additional airports, helipads, water aero drones, advanced landing grounds etc., will be developed. For Urban development the government will spend 10000 crores per year.
The Budget plays a significant role in a nation’s development, which plays a crucial role in the upgradation of citizens through effective implementation. Each decision of a budget report can bring paradigm changes in the country’s faces. Bring lots of changes, trying to upgrade and elevate the country’s financial positions and development- Budget resulting in future sustainability and stable growth with positive elevation both personally as well as nationally.
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