On February 1, 2023, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget virtually. The budget included a number of new schemes and extensions, as well as modifications to the tax regime, credit guarantees for MSMEs, and increased investments in a number of sectors.
The introduction of several new programmes was one of the highlights of the budget. The Mahilla Samman Savings Scheme was established to promote the social advancement of women and girls. The scheme permits investments of up to Rs 2 lakh in the name of women or girls for a period of two years with a 7.5% interest rate and partial withdrawal options. In addition, the deposit for the monthly income scheme has been increased to 9 lakhs and 15 lakhs for joint accounts. The investment limit for the Senior Citizen Savings Scheme was also increased from Rs. 15 lakh to Rs. 30 lakh.
For the promotion of tourism, the government also launched the Dekho Apna Desh Initiative, which aims to establish 50 new destination malls in the state. The PM Awas Yojana budget was increased by 66% to more than Rs 79000 crore. The Vivad se Vishwas 2 Scheme was introduced to simplify the resolution of commercial disputes.
A new tax bracket was also added to the updated tax system. Up to 7 lakhs of annual income are exempt from taxation, and there are new tax slabs based on income levels. The surcharge rate was decreased from 37% to 25%, and there is no exemption for insurance policy proceeds with premiums exceeding Rs. 5 lakhs. The PAN Card will now serve as a universal identifier for all government agencies’ digital systems.
In addition, the budget included provisions for SMBs. With a corpus of 9000 crores, a revamped credit guarantee for all micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) was introduced. A total of Rs 2 lakh crore in collateral-free credit was extended to MSME-registered businesses, and the cost of credit for these businesses was reduced by approximately 1 percent.
In addition, the Pradhan Mantri Kausal Vikas Yojana 4.0 and the establishment of 30 Skill India International Centres in various states were launched as employment generation initiatives. The budget also allocated 19700 crores for the National Green Hydrogen Mission, which aims to reach a production capacity of 5 million metric tonnes of hydrogen by 2030.
Additionally, the budget increased funding for the defence department from $5.25 million to $5.94 million. 1.62 trillion rupees were allocated for capital expenditures for the acquisition of weapons and other necessities. The budget for the border road organisation was increased by 5,000 crores, while the Indian Air Force received 57,137.09 crores, the Indian Navy received 52,804 crores, the Indian Army received 37,241 crores, and the Defence Research and Development Organisation received 23,264 crores.
Other sectors that received investments included the railways, which received a total of 2,400,000,000,000 rupees to improve affordable regional connectivity and cargo logistics. In addition, 157 new nursing colleges must be established in the core areas; a national digital library for children and teenagers will be established; and three centres of excellence for artificial intelligence will be established. One hundred labs will be established for app development using 5G services, and a budget of 7,000 crores will be allocated for Phase 3 e-courts. A central processing facility will be established in order to expedite company filings. Finally, 10 crore will be allocated to capital expenditures for job creation and to attract private investment.