Union Budget 2023-24

Union Budget 2023-24

The Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2023-24 in Parliament on 1 February 2023.

The highlights of the Budget are as follows:

PART A

• Per capita income has more than doubled to ₹1.97 lakh in around nine years.
• Indian economy has increased in size from being 10^th to 5^th largest in the world.
• EPFO membership has more than doubled to 27 crores.
• 7,400 crore digital payments of ₹126 lakh crore have taken place through UPI in 2022.
• 11.7 crore household toilets constructed under Swachh Bharat Mission.
• 9.6 crore LPG connections provided under Ujjwala.
• 220 crore covid vaccination of 102 crore persons.
• 47.8 crore PM Jan Dhan bank accounts.
• Insurance cover for 44.6 crore persons under PM Suraksha Bima and PM Jeevan Jyoti Yojana.
• Cash transfer of ₹2.2 lakh crore to over 11.4 crore farmers under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi.
• Seven priorities of the budget ‘Saptarishi’are inclusive development, reaching the last mile, infrastructure and investment, unleashing the potential, green growth, youth power and financial sector.
• Atmanirbhar Clean Plant Program with an outlay of ₹2200 crore to be launched to boost availability of disease-free, quality planting material for high value horticultural crops.
• Centre to recruit 38,800 teachers and support staff for the 740 Eklavya Model Residential Schools, serving 3.5 lakh tribal students over the next three years.
• Outlay for PM Awas Yojana is being enhanced by 66% to over Rs. 79,000 crore.
• Capital outlay of 2.40 lakh crore has been provided for the Railways, which is the highest ever outlay.
• Urban Infrastructure Development Fund (UIDF)will be established through use of priority Sector Lending shortfall, which will be managed by the national Housing Bank, and will be used by public agencies to create urban infrastructure in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.
• Entity DigiLocker to be setup for use by MSMEs, large business and charitable trusts to store and share documents online securely.
• 500 new ‘waste to wealth’ plants under GOBARdhan(Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources Dhan) scheme to be established for promoting circular economy at total investment of Rs 10,000 crore. 5 per cent compressed biogas mandate to be introduced for all organizations marketing natural and bio gas.
• Centre to facilitate one crore farmers to adopt natural farming over the next three years. For this, 10,000 Bio-Input Resource Centres to be set-up, creating a national-level distributed micro-fertilizer and pesticide manufacturing network.
• Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 4.0, to be launched to skill lakhs of youth within the next three years covering new age courses for Industry 4.0 like coding, AI, robotics, mechatronics, IOT, 3D printing, drones, and soft skills.
• 30 Skill India International Centres to be set up across different States to skill youth for international opportunities.
• Revamped credit guarantee scheme for MSMEs to take effect from 1st April 2023 through infusion of Rs 9,000 crore in the corpus.
• The maximum deposit limit for Senior Citizen Savings Scheme to be enhanced from Rs 15 lakh to Rs 30 lakh.
• Targeted Fiscal Deficit to be below 4.5% by 2025-26.
• Agriculture Accelerator Fund to be set-up to encourage agri-startups by young entrepreneurs in rural areas.
• To make India a global hub for ‘Shree Anna’, the Indian Institute of Millet Research, Hyderabad will be supported as the Centre of Excellence for sharing best practices, research and technologies at the international level.
• ₹20 lakh crore agricultural credit targeted at animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries.
• A new sub-scheme of PM Matsya Sampada Yojana with targeted investment of ₹6,000 crore to be launched to further enable activities of fishermen, fish vendors, and micro & small enterprises, improve value chain efficiencies, and expand the market.
• Digital public infrastructure for agriculture to be built as an open source, open standard and inter operable public good to enable inclusive farmer centric solutions and support for growth of agri-tech industry and start-ups.
• Computerisation of 63,000 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) with an investment of ₹2,516 crore initiated.
• Sickle Cell Anaemia elimination mission to be launched.
• Rs.10 lakh crore capital investment, a steep increase of 33% for third year in a row, to enhance growth potential and job creation, crowd-in private investments, and provide a cushion against global headwinds.
• Aspirational Blocks Programme covering 500 blocks launched for saturation of essential government services across multiple domains such as health, nutrition, education, agriculture, water resources, financial inclusion, skill development, and basic infrastructure.
• 15,000 crore for implementation of Pradhan Mantri PVTG Development Mission over the next three years under the Development Action Plan for the Scheduled Tribes.
• New Infrastructure Finance Secretariat established to enhance opportunities for private investment in infrastructure.
• District Institutes of Education and Training to be developed as vibrant institutes of excellence for Teachers’ Training.
• A National Digital Library for Children and Adolescents to be set-up for facilitating availability of quality books across geographies, languages, genres and levels, and device agnostic accessibility.
• 5,300 crore to be given as central assistance to Upper Bhadra Project to provide sustainable micro irrigation and filling up of surface tanks for drinking water.
• ‘Bharat Shared Repository of Inscriptions’ to be set up in a digital epigraphy museum, with digitization of one lakh ancient inscriptions in the first stage.
• ‘Effective Capital Expenditure’ of Centre to be Rs. 13.7 lakh crore.
• Continuation of 50-year interest free loan to state governments for one more year to spur investment in infrastructure and to incentivize them for complementary policy actions.
• iGOT Karmayogi, an integrated online training platform, launched to provide continuous learning opportunities for lakhs ofgovernment employees to upgrade their skills and facilitate people-centric 
• Jan Vishwas Bill to amend 42 Central Acts have been introduced to further trust-based governance.
• Three centres of excellence for Artificial Intelligence to be set-up in top educational institutions to realise the vision of “Make AI in India and Make AI work for India”.
• One stop solution for reconciliation and updation of identity and address of individuals to be established using DigiLocker service and Aadhaar as foundational identity.
• Phase-3 of the E-Courtsproject to be launched with an outlay of Rs. 7,000 crore for efficient administration of justice.
• R & D grant for Lab Grown Diamonds (LGD) sector to encourage indigenous production of LGD seeds and machines and to reduce import dependency.
• Annual production of 5 MMT under Green Hydrogen Mission to be targeted by 2030 to facilitate transition of the economy to low carbon intensity and to reduce dependence on fossil fuel imports.
• ₹35000 crore outlay for energy security, energy transition and net zero objectives.
• 20,700 crore outlay provided for renewable energy grid integration and evacuation from Ladakh.
• “PM Programme for Restoration, Awareness, Nourishment and Amelioration of Mother Earth” (PM-PRANAM) to be launched to incentivize States and Union Territories to promote alternative fertilizers and balanced use of chemical fertilizers.
• ‘Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats & Tangible Incomes’, MISHTI, to be taken up for mangrove plantation along the coastline and on salt pan lands, through convergence between MGNREGS, CAMPA Fund and other sources.
• Green Credit Programme to be notified under the Environment (Protection) Act to incentivize and mobilize additional resources for environmentally sustainable and responsive actions.
• Amrit Dharohar scheme to be implemented over the next three years to encourage optimal use of wetlands, enhance bio-diversity, carbon stock, eco-tourism opportunities and income generation for local communities.
• Direct Benefit Transfer under a pan-India National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme to be rolled out to provide stipend support to 47 lakh youth in three years.
• Sector specific skilling and entrepreneurship development to be dovetailed to achieve the objectives of the ‘Dekho Apna Desh’ initiative.
• A one-time new small savings scheme, Mahila Samman Savings Certificate to be launched. It will offer deposit facility upto Rs 2 lakh in the name of women or girls for tenure of 2 years (up to March 2025) at fixed interest rate of 7.5 per cent with partial withdrawal option.
• The maximum deposit limit for Monthly Income Account Scheme to be enhanced from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 9 lakh for single account and from Rs 9 lakh to Rs 15 lakh for joint account.

Revised Estimates 2022-23:

• The total receipts other than borrowings is Rs 24.3 lakh crore, of which the net tax receipts are Rs 20.9 lakh crore.
• The total expenditure is Rs 41.9 lakh crore, of which the capital expenditure is about Rs 7.3 lakh crore.
• The fiscal deficit is 6.4 per cent of GDP, adhering to the Budget Estimate.

Budget Estimates 2023-24:

• The total receipts other than borrowings is estimated at Rs 27.2 lakh crore and the total expenditure is estimated at Rs 45 lakh crore.
• The net tax receipts are estimated at Rs 23.3 lakh crore.
• The fiscal deficit is estimated to be 5.9 per cent of GDP.
• To finance the fiscal deficit in 2023-24, the net market borrowings from dated securities are estimated at Rs 11.8 lakh crore.
• The gross market borrowings are estimated at Rs 15.4 lakh crore.

 PART – B

DIRECT TAXES

• Rebate limitof Personal Income Tax to be increased to Rs. 7 lakh from the current Rs. 5 lakh in the new tax regime. Thus, persons in the new tax regime, with income up to Rs. 7 lakh to not pay any tax.
• Tax structure in new personal income tax regime, introduced in 2020 with six income slabs, to change by reducing the number of slabs to five and increasing the tax exemption limit to Rs. 3 lakh.
• New Tax Rate:
  

  Total Income (Rs)	Rate (per cent)
  Up to 3,00,000	Nil
  From 3,00,001 to 6,00,000	5
  From 6,00,001 to 9,00,000	10
  From 9,00,001 to 12,00,000	15
  From 12,00,001 to 15,00,000	20
  Above 15,00,000	30

  
  

• Proposal to extend the benefit of standard deductionof Rs. 50,000 to salaried individual, and deduction from family pension up to Rs. 15,000, in the new tax regime.
• Highest surcharge rate to reduce from 37% to 25% in the new tax regime. This to further result in reduction of the maximum personal income tax rate to 39%.
• The limit for tax exemption on leave encashment on retirement of non-government salaried employees to increase to Rs. 25 lakh.
• The new income tax regime to be made the default tax regime. However, citizens will continue to have the option to avail the benefit of the old tax regime.
• New co-operatives that commence manufacturing activities till 31.3.2024 to get the benefit of a lower tax rate of 15 per cent, as presently available to new manufacturing companies.
• Provision of a higher limit of Rs. 2 lakh per member for cash deposits to and loans in cash by Primary Agricultural Co-operative Societies (PACS) and Primary Co-operative Agriculture and Rural Development Banks (PCARDBs).
• A higher limit of Rs. 3 crore for TDS on cash withdrawal to be provided to co-operative societies.
• Date of incorporation for income tax benefits to start-ups to be extended from 31.03.23 to 31.3.24.
• Proposal to limit income tax exemption from proceeds of insurance policies with very high value. Where aggregate of premium for life insurance policies (other than ULIP) issued on or after 1st April, 2023 is above Rs. 5 lakh, income from only those policies with aggregate premium up to Rs. 5 lakh shall be exempt.
• Income of authorities, boards and commissions set up by statutes of the Union or State for the purpose of housing, development of cities, towns and villages, and regulating, or regulating and developing an activity or matter, proposed to be exempted from income tax.
• Minimum threshold of Rs. 10,000/- for TDS to be removed and taxability relating to online gaming to be clarified. Proposal to provide for TDS and taxability on net winnings at the time of withdrawal or at the end of the financial year.
• Conversion of gold into electronic gold receipt and vice versa not to be treated as capital gain.
• TDS rate to be reduced from 30% to 20% on taxable portion of EPF withdrawal in non-PAN cases.
• Income from Market Linked Debentures to be taxed.
• Period of tax benefits to funds relocating to IFSC, GIFT City extended till 31.03.2025.
• Certain acts of omission of liquidators under section 276A of the Income Tax Act to be decriminalized with effect from 1st April, 2023.
• Agniveer Fund to be provided EEE status. The payment received from the Agniveer Corpus Fund by the Agniveers enrolled in Agnipath Scheme, 2022 proposed to be exempt from taxes. Deduction in the computation of total income is proposed to be allowed to the Agniveer on the contribution made by him or the Central Government to his Seva Nidhi account.

INDIRECT TAXES

• Number of basic customs duty rates on goods, other than textiles and agriculture, reduced to 13 from 21.
• Minor changes in the basic custom duties, cesses and surcharges on some items including toys, bicycles, automobiles and naphtha.
• Excise duty exempted on GST-paid compressed bio gas contained in blended compressed natural gas.
• Customs Duty on specified capital goods/machinery for manufacture of lithium-ion cell for use in battery of electrically operated vehicle (EVs) extended to 31.03.2024.
• Customs duty increased/reduced/exempted: