First of all, This budget is something new. Generally, I love to see how many pages are remaining in front of the Finance minister. This time I realise that this was not a paper budget.But digital devices. Something new and I am happy about it.
“This is the first budget of amritkaal. this budget hopes to build on the foundation laid in the previous budget and blueprint drawn for India @100.” I am a management student. so my concept of a budget is completely different. What I learn is Budget is a way of financial management for one year. As always our finance minister forgets or loves to ignore that budget is a way or tool to show income expenditure for the next year. Things may change or not but this is more or less giving an idea. The government may come up with long-term schemes but how much will be spent in the next year is what the budget is. As a way of saying this is the first budget of Amrit kaal that all are supposed to ignore.
The government increased capital spending by 33% to 10 trillion rupees ($122 billion) which will enable the country to expand its network of roads, ports, and airports, and make it an attractive investment destination.
One thing I Highlight is that for quite some time it was the election budget and so government outlay was largely not available for some good scheme. on the other hand, the Outlay for Pm was yojana increased. by 66%. Karnataka also has its election so the Contribution towards the central Karnataka Bhadra yojana is of no shock. for the first 10 pages out of 58 of the budget speech, can’t find any outlay. But found some great schemes. This budget was the last full budget before the 2024 election so the finance minister take full use of that opportunity. Giving a report-card of development of last 9 years was the right to move.
Economic empowerment of women was a great part to listen but somehow I can’t understand why there is no number attached to it. This was really something that can make the economy really work in rural growth. in fact, what I am listening to is that the rural part of the economy is not having good days. so why not make this one way? PM Vishwakarma KAushal Samman (PM VIKAS) is another great scheme. But why is no number attached?
Fm mentioned the Agricultural aggregator fund but cant finds any contribution towards that. The Fund will aim at bringing innovative and affordable solutions for challenges faced by farmers. It will also bring in modern technologies to transform agricultural practices and increase productivity and profitability. Great concept and much-needed work. But in my view why there is no mention of contribution.
Enhancing the productivity of the cotton crop. as I am from Maharashtra I know how much the cotton crop is important but want to know what can public-private partnership can do here.
The government has increased spending on the farm sector, which accounts for about 19% of the economy.
Horticulture Program to boost the availability of disease-free, quality planting material for high-value horticultural crops. Good move. The percentage contribution of horticulture towards the Indian GDP is 6%. The Indian Greenhouse Horticulture Market was estimated to be valued at $190.84 Million in 2021. So this was one worthy scheme.
The agriculture credit target will be increased to 20 lakh crore with a focus on animal husbandry, dairy, and fisheries with the new scheme PM Matsya Sampada Yojana with a 6000 crore contribution towards fishermen, fish vendors, and micro & small enterprises. This market is underdeveloped. many states in India have sea shores and a sufficiently large number of people depend on them, this is something worthwhile.
The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the importance of the healthcare system and also shows us where it lags. So 150 New nursing colleges in colocation with the existing 157 medical colleges is something much needed. sickle cell anemia, as per the minister of tribal affairs 1 in 58 births have it. So setting up a target to eliminate it by 2047 is one highlight in my view. No contribution towards it makes its success of it questionable. The medical facilities in select ICMR labs open for research for private and public research and development teams are good. The national digital library is another highlight. But for that, money is needed. Sadly can’t find any contribution or investment for that.
Pradahnmantri PVTG scheme is much need scheme but isn’t the objective of it can be added to other schemes which are already working? A good scheme but safe housing, clean drinking water and sanitation, improved access to education, health and nutrition, road and telecom connectivity, and sustainable livelihood opportunities can easily be made available under any other schemes. also by making it 3 years scheme, how that 15000 crores will be spent is another question.
Capital investment outlay is being increased steeply for the third year in a row by 33 percent to ` 10 lakh crore, which would be 3.3 percent of GDP. For the financial year 2021, the proportion of infrastructure investments to the gross domestic product (GDP) was estimated to be nearly four percent. This time government is going By GRANTS TO STATES way. good. The ‘Effective Capital Expenditure’ of the Centre is budgeted at 13.7 lakh crore, which will be 4.5 percent of GDP. The government decided to build 50 additional airports, heliports, and aerodromes and identified 100 fresh projects. Railways will benefit from a record capital outlay of 2.4 trillion rupees. One-year extension for the scheme 50-year interest-free loan to spur investment in infrastructure and to incentivize them for complementary policy actions, with a significantly enhanced outlay of ` 1.3 lakh crore. The budget also opens more private investment in Infrastructure. which highlights that there may be fewer funds from the government. The big number for railway will be made the development project in action in railway.
One highlight in my view was One hundred critical transport infrastructure projects. How many of that will go to completion will be the real question. But what they seem to be is important. They will be taken up on priority with an investment of 75,000 crores, including 15,000 crores from private sources.
The budget highlights sustainable cities. I really want o take feedback from smart cities and what happened to them. When we are talking large budgets of some big cities like Mumbai, I am sure their size needs big money. So I can’t see anything new here. What caught my eye is Municipal bonds some cities already start issuing them but I know that credit worthiness of all cities is not the same. I am waiting for more here. Urban infrastructure development fund. Good concept but then again saying this will be handled by the national housing bank and encouraging states to leverage sources from the 15th finance commission will not make much difference. 10000 crore is one good number for this but still not big as I know that roads in Mumbai and Pune only 2 cities need sufficient big amount.
All cities and towns will be enabled for 100 percent mechanical desludging of septic tanks and sewers to transition from manhole to machine-hole mode. Sadly there is no contribution disclosed for this or I was ready to give a standing ovation.
Three centers of excellence for artificial intelligence were steps in the right direction. We are living in the era of ChatGPT and a country like India’s taking steps is important when India is known for software development.
The introduction of results-based financing may be one disputable thing as this may prove a game changer or can be used as a weapon in hands of the wrong people. the financing of select schemes will be changed, on a pilot basis, from ‘input-based’ to ‘result-based’.
Big boost for 5G as One hundred labs for developing applications using 5G services. The labs will cover, among others, applications such as smart classrooms, precision farming, intelligent transport systems, and health care applications. Again outlay? don’t know.
To encourage the indigenous production of LGD seeds and machines and to reduce import dependency, a research and development grant will be provided to one of the IITs for five years.
As someone who loved to read about green fuel technology, I know that hydrogen is the fuel of the future. I am also watching how many Europe countries are heading away from fossil fuels. it is great to see that budget made a contribution toward green hydrogen of 19700 crores. also have an idea that the 2070 target is very small. so 35,000 crores for priority capital investments
towards energy transition and net zero objectives, and energy security is something good to listen to. The target for the national green hydrogen mission aim for output is 5MMT by 2030. as Per PIB, The targets by 2030 are likely to bring in over Rs. 8 lakh crore investments and create over 6 lakh jobs.
energy storage project is something I listen to only on youtube and also about the united states. I wasn’t even expecting to listen to pumped storage projects in the budget. Viability gap funding to such projects makes them possible to think about.
Coastal shipping is another scheme which receives a promotion, To reduce the load on road transport partly and making start towards waterways, I think this is the right step.
Vehicle scrapping policy and vehicle replacement coming into budget mean this will be on agenda for the government. This may lead to buying more electric vehicles for the government.
At one point, I was happy that it was declared but nothing big came out. Pan-India National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme. Something good. But still, need disclosure. Waiting.
Credit guarantees for MSMEs may be highlighted for this budget as it will start from the first day of the financial year through the infusion of ` 9,000 crores in the corpus. This will additional collateral-free guaranteed credit of ` 2 lakh crore. Set up of national financial registry will be set up. Centralization of financial data. good move.
Reclaiming shares and dividends is one headache. so an integrated IT portal will definitely help in this way.
The maximum deposit limit for Monthly Income Account Scheme will be enhanced from 4.5 lakhs to 9 lakhs for a single account and from 9 lakh to ` 15 lakhs for a joint account. much-needed reform for some people. specifically when we are living in a rising interest rate cycle. But does that mean government borrowing will increase?
States will be allowed a fiscal deficit of 3.5 percent of GSDP of which 0.5 percent will be tied to power sector reforms.
A new personal income tax regime for individual taxpayers was introduced in Budget 2020. Effective from FY 2020-21, taxpayers can choose between two income tax regimes – the existing/old tax regime and the new tax regime. Budget 2023 announced changes in the new tax regime and has revised the tax slabs under it to make it more lucrative for taxpayers
