NEWDELHI: With a special focus on capital expenditure, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented a bigger Rs 39.45 lakh crore Budget 2022-23 in Lok Sabha. Eyeing 8% growth in the upcoming fiscal, the government has planned to extend Rs 1 lakh crore interest-free loans to states. The personal
income tax rates have been left untouched. The growth projection is based on oil price projection of $70-75 per barrel next fiscal and against the current price of $90.
The CapEx head saw a rise by 35.4%, around Rs 2 lakh crore, as the economic blueprint pegged it at Rs 7.50 lakh crore against the last year allocation of Rs 5.54 lakh crore.
In the current financial year, the growth rate is expected to be 9.2%. The draft also indicates that economic activity has recovered to pre-pandemic level and it is well placed to take on challenges in 2022-23.
The Finance Ministry has increased tax deductions for investments in pension schemes for government employees besides proposing 30% tax on cryptocurrencies.
The fiscal deficit has plunged to 6.9%. This is estimated to be at 6.4% in the next financial year.
National Highways will be extended by 25,000 km with a hike of Rs 1 lakh crore. The scope of PM GatiShakti National Master Plan will encompass the seven engines — Roads, Railways, Airports, Ports, Mass Transport, Waterways and Logistics Infrastructure — for economic transformation, seamless multimodal connectivity and logistics efficiency.
The MGNREGA’s allocation is Rs 73,000 crore. The fund for Rural Development Department has been hiked to Rs 1,35,944 crore. In agriculture sector, the govenment will boost the use of Kisan Drones for crop assessment, pesticide spray and land record digitisation. Natural farming along Ganga will also be the government’s focus.
With mental healthcare in mind, the government will set up a National Digital Health Ecosystem and National Tele Mental Health Programme. The defence sector drew significant attention of the Centre as it saw a hike of 9.82% rise at an overall allocatoin of Rs 5,25,166 crore for the Ministry of Defence. The capital for new acquisitions has been hiked by over 12%. The capital budget for the Border Roads Organisation has been increased to Rs 3,500 crore.