Finance Minister Nirmala presented the Union Budget 2023-24 to Parliament on Wednesday in the Lok Sabha. The FM stated that the Budget is primarily concerned with four major issues: empowering women, tourism, assisting “vishwakarma” (artisans), and green growth. There is middle-class tax relief, a significant boost in capital expenditure (capex), and an emphasis on fiscal prudence.
Sitharaman announced a massive Rs 10 lakh crore capex plan for FY 2023-24, which is 33% more than the budget projection of Rs 7.5 lakh crore for 2022-23. The fiscal deficit objective has been decreased from 6.4% in FY 2022-23 to 5.9% in FY 2023-24, which the Finance Minister considers to be an optimistic target.
The Union Budget 2023-24 includes a capital spending of Rs 2.4 lakh crore for Indian Railways. This is the largest allocation ever made to the national transporter, and it maintains the trend set last year, with a gross budgetary assistance of Rs 1.37 lakh crore in fiscal 2022-23.
According to the Union Budget 2023-24, the government has reduced customs duty on a wide range of regularly used commodities while increasing the price of others.
Here’s a list of items that will become cheaper and costlier:
What’s costlier
· Fully imported cars, including electric vehicles (EV)
· Kitchen chimney
· Imported bicycles and toys
· Articles made of gold, platinum
· Imitation jewelry
· Silver dores, bars, articles
· Copper scrap
· Compounded rubber
· Cigarettes
What’s cheaper
· Parts for mobile phones
· Parts for TV panels
· Shrimp feed
· Lab-grown diamonds
· Fish lipid oil used in manufacturing aquatic feed
· Machinery for manufacturing lithium ion cell to be used in electric vehicles
· Raw materials for manufacture of CRGO Steel, ferrous scrap and nickel cathode
MGNREGA funding slashed from 89,000 crore to 60,000 crore
Despite MGNREGA demand approaching pre-pandemic levels, the provision in the Union Budget 2023 has been reduced to Rs 60,000 crore, the lowest in four years. According to an economic assessment, the number of MGNREGS works completed has gradually climbed over the years, with 85 lakh finished works in FY22 and 70.6 lakh completed works in FY23 as of January 9, 2023.
Every rural household with an adult member who works in manual labor receives a guaranteed 100 days of pay employment per fiscal year. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act of 2005 established the scheme.
Wage payments under MGNREGA must be made within 15 days following the muster roll’s closing. Payment delays are assessed beginning on the 16th day.
Union Budget 2023 try to woo Gen Z and millennials
Here’s a breakdown of what the Budget 2023 has in store for millennials and Generation Z:
Financial Literacy: Under the PM Kaushal Vikas Yojna, the government plans to train lakhs of youth over the next three years. The Finance Minister stated that a digital skill ecosystem will be established under the name Skill India Digital Platform to deliver on-the-job training to youth and link higher education courses with industry 4.0 requirements for greater employability.
Centres of excellence for Artificial Intelligence: Over the next three years, the government plans to establish three centres of excellence for artificial intelligence (AI) across the country, training thousands of youngsters in coding, drones, AI, robotics, and the internet of things, to mention a few.
National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme: A pan-India National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme would be implemented to give stipend support to 47 lakh youth over a three-year period.
Jobs in the startup and SME sectors: The government has allocated Rs 283.5 crore for the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme and has extended the startup tax vacation until March 2024. In the midst of major layoffs in the startup industry, MSMEs received a Rs 9000 crore corpus for a redesigned loan guarantee scheme to boost financial inclusion and employability growth.
Education Ministry receives an increase of 8.3%, the biggest allocation ever
The Education Ministry’s budget allocation climbed by 8% this year to Rs 1.12 lakh crore, the highest allocation ever awarded to the ministry. The Department of School Education is scheduled to receive Rs 68,804 crore, while the Department of Higher Education is expected to receive Rs 44,094 crore.
During her Budget address, the Finance Minister also made an announcement for children and adolescents. Nirmala Sitharaman announced the creation of a national digital library for children and adolescents to improve access to quality books across the country.
Budget outlay of Ministry of Tribal Affairs increased by 70.69%
The budget allocation of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs has been substantially increased from Rs.4295.94 crore in 2013-14 to Rs.12461.88 crore in 2023-24 i.e. an increase of around 190.01 %.
Development Action Plan for Scheduled Tribes has increased about five and half times since 2013-14 (from Rs.21,525.36 crore (Actual Expenditure) in 2013-14 to Rs.1,17,943.73 crore in BE 2023-24).