Union Budget 2023-24: Key Highlights and Complete Details

Key Highlights of Union Budget 2023-24

The following are the important points that need to be observed from the latest Union Budget that was introduced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on 1 February 2023 into the Parliament ahead of the Fiscal Year 2023 – 2024:

Agriculture In Union Budget 2023-2024

• Building a digital infrastructure for the Agricultural Sector and the Government will focus on establishing a specific Agriculture Accelerator Fund that shall fuel the growth of Young Agro Entrepreneurs.
• Schemes such as Atmanirbhar Horticulture Clean Plant Program and PM Matsya Sampada Yojana have been declared for substantial growth of the sectors in India.
• Additionally, the Government will also focus on educating and promulgating awareness regarding “Shree Anna“, which is prominently produced in India.
• Moreover, increased production of Cotton will be prioritised as per the latest budget.
• Bhartiya Prakritik Kheti Bio-Input Resource Centres will promulgate 1 crore farmers to take up natural farming and 10,000 Bio-Input Resource Centres will be established.

Healthcare and Education Budget Details

• 157 Medical Colleges have been set up in the country since 2014. In order to support them and ensure better functioning of the healthcare sector, 157 Nursing Colleges will be established in complementary locations.
• The Government further focuses to eliminate Sickle Cell Anaemia by 2047.
• Centre of Excellence will concentrate on and promote Pharma and Medical Research.
• A better and revised Teachers Training has been envisioned.
• Further, the Government promises to develop the District Institutes of Education and Training as a Centre of Excellence.
• The establishment of a National Digital Library for Children and Adolescents has also been envisaged in the Union Budget 2023-2024.
• The Centre will recruit 3800 teachers in 740 Eklavya Model Schools.
• One Lakh Ancient Inscriptions will be digitalized.
• Artificial Intelligence is advocated in terms of education.
• Lab Grown Diamonds LGD is a highly lucrative sector which will be actively promoted in India. This will also give in increased opportunities for employment. The Government of India is all set to promote this sector by providing the Indian Institute of Technology with a research and development grant for five years.
• National Education Policy will be further implemented.

Development and Infrastructure Initiative in Union Budget 2023-2024

• Rs. 5,300 crore have been allocated to the Upper Bhadra Project in drought-prone areas of Karnataka.
• The Central Government of India has declared the Pradhan Mantri PVTG Development Mission, the development of Aspirational Districts and Blocks, a 66% increment in the budget for the PM Awas Yojana, and the establishment of the Urban Infrastructure Development Fund UIDF.
• Capital Investment has increased by 33% just like in the previous three years. It has been enhanced to Rs. 10 lakh crore, which will account for 3.3% of the Gross Domestic Product GDP.
• Effective Capital Expenditure has been increased and Rs. 13.7 Lakh Crore have been allocated which shall account for 4.5% of the GDP.
• Further Support has been provided to State Government for Capital Investment.
• Harmonized Master List of Infrastructure will be reviewed.
• Private Investment into the Infrastructure will be widely promoted.
• Further, Railways and Roadways have been provided with hiked budgets for the purpose of development.
• Urban Planning has been actively advocated for the purpose of transformation into the Sustainable Cities of Tomorrow.
• Urban Sanitation will be promoted thoroughly.
• KYC Procedure will be further simplified.
• Rs. 7000 Crore has been allocated for the development of E-Courts.
• 5G Services in Engineering Institutions to fuel better opportunities in terms of employment.
• For better employment of fintech services, the Government will towards bringing more and more documents online on DigiLocker.
• 50 locations will be developed in view of Tourism.
• States will be assisted in establishing Unity Malls.

Union Budget 2023 for Jobs and Employment

• Enhancement of Capital Investment will fuel employment and private investments.
• Mission Karmayogi will require the employees to develop the skills and shall prioritise their holistic growth.
• Jan Vishwas Bill will amend 42 Central Acts to promote better entrepreneurship.
• 39,000 compliances have been reduced and 3,400 legal provisions have been decriminalized for enhancing the ease of business.
• National Data Governance Policy will unleash support to support to Start-Ups for the purpose of Innovation and Research.
• PAN will act as a Common Business Identifier in the digital system of Government Organisational Settings.
• Vivad se Vishwas I and II have assistance to offer to MSMEs, and also, in terms of Settling Contractual Disputes.
• Financing will now be Result Based rather than Input Based.
• Entity DigiLocker will be introduced for MSMEs.
• Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 4.0 will promote on-job training, industry partnership, and alignment of courses with the needs of the industry.
• A unified Skill India Digital Platform will be launched.
• National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme will provide a stipend to nearly 47 Lakh young candidates.
• With the Promotion of Tourism, the Government authorities will support the development of Business in the prime tourist attractions in the same line.

Climate Change and Green Initiatives in Union Budget 2023

• The Union Budget 2023-2024 focuses on LiFE or Lifestyle for Environment that envisages net-zero carbon emission by 2070.
• Rs. 19,700 crores allocated to the National Green Hydrogen Mission shall start its execution in the fiscal year 2023 – 2024.
• Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas received a Capital Investment of Rs. 35,000 for energy transition and net zero initiatives and energy security measures.
• Viability Gap Funding will be provided to Battery Energy Storage Systems with a capacity of 4,000 MWH.
• Inter-state transmission system for evacuation and grid integration of 13 GW of renewable energy will be constructed from Ladakh with a Capital Budget of Rs. 20,700 crores. The Centre will pitch in Rs. 8,300 crores for this.
• The Government will launch Green Credit Programme for sustainability.
• PM Programme for Restoration, Awareness, Nourishment and Amelioration of Mother Earth PM-PRANAM will be introduced.
• Under the GOBARdhan scheme, the Government will establish 500 new waste-to-wealth plants.
• To combat afforestation, Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats and Tangible Incomes MISHTI will be concentrated on.
• Amrit Dharohar scheme will be implemented for a duration of 3 years.
• Through viability gap funding, Coastal Shipping will be promulgated.
• The Central Government will further work on the replacement of old vehicles as per the policy under the Budget 2021-2022 and they shall support States to replace public vehicles and ambulances.

Financial Aspects of Budget 2023

• National Financial Information Registry will be established.
• From 1 April 2023, Credit Guarantee for MSMEs will be effective.
• Existing Regulations of the Financial Sector will be reviewed.
• Business activities in the GIFT IFSC will be enhanced and the Government will take relevant steps for the same.
• Investors will be protected in terms of Banking, the Government will add amendments to the Banking Regulation Act, the Banking Companies Act and the Reserve Bank of India Act.
• The Government will empower SEBI to build capacity in the Securities Market.
• In order to respond quickly to firms, the Central Data Processing Centre will be established.
• An integrated IT portal will be established for the purpose of Reclaiming shares and dividends.
• In the Union Budget 2023-2024, special mentions are for digital payments which will be promoted.
• Mahila Samman Savings Certificate Saving Scheme is introduced for Females and Girls.
• The deposit Limit under the Senior Citizen Savings Scheme has been increased from Rs. 15 Lakhs to Rs. 30 Lakhs.
• The deposit limit under the Monthly Income Account Scheme has been increased from Rs. 4.5 Lakhs to Rs. Lakhs for Single Account and from Rs. 9 Lakhs to Rs. 15 Lakhs.
• Fifty Year Loans to the States will be spent on Capital Investment.

TAX under Union Budget 2023-2024

As per the Union Budget 2023-24, the following personal tax income rates have been announced for the following slabs:

Additionally, the citizens earning Rs. 5 Lakh or less never had to pay tax and got rebates. However, the income limit has now been increased to Rs. 7 Lakh in the Union Budget 2023-24. This implies that all the citizens who earn less than Rs. 7 Lakh will not be paying any income tax. Salaried and Pensioners who earn more than or equal to Rs. 15.5 Lakh will get benefitted by 52,500. Further, the maximum tax limit has been reduced from 42.74% to 39%. Since 2002, the limit for tax exemption on leave encashment on the retirement of non-government salaried employees was Rs. 3 Lakh. Since the salaries have been increased, the limit has now been hiked to Rs. 25 Lakh. After all these upgradation and changes, the total revenue forgone shall be about Rs. 35,000 crores on a yearly basis.

Expensive and Cheap Items after Budget 2023

The Financial Minister of India, Nirmala Sitharaman has made the following noteworthy items cheap and expensive in the Union Budget 2023-24:

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