Union Budget 2023-24, Vision, Highlights, and Summary

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Every year in February, the Union Budget is presented as the Annual Finance Statement. Check out all of the information on the Union Budget 2023-24. Budget Vision, Key Highlights, Tax Slabs, and Priorities.

Union Budget 2023-24

The Union Budget is the Indian Republic’s annual financial statement. Every year in February, it is normally given as the Annual Finance Statement. On February 1, 2023, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2023-24 in Parliament. She stressed that the Indian economy is on the right track and, despite recent setbacks, is on pace for a bright future. Nirmala Sitharaman is the sixth minister in independent India to present five budgets in a run, and she also presented the paperless budget three times in a row. Arun Jaitley, P Chidambaram, Yashwant Sinha, Manmohan Singh, and Morarji Desai are among the ministers who have delivered five consecutive annual financial statements in the past.

Objective

The Union Budget 2023 seeks to Build on the Foundation of a Prosperous, Inclusive India in which the rewards of development reach all sections, as it is the first budget in the ‘Amrut Kal’ or Amrit Kaal, said the finance minister.

According to her, the world recognized the Indian economy as a brilliant light in its 75th year of independence. Despite a worldwide downturn caused by Covid-19, India has shown growth. In FY23, India’s GDP growth is expected to be 7% 

India’s Global Profile

According to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s budget address, India’s expanding worldwide reputation is due to various achievements, including Aadhaar, Cowin, and UPI.

  • Finance Minister asserts that the Narendra Modi administration ensured that no one went to bed   hungry throughout the epidemic.
  • The Centre would bear the whole Rs 2 lakh crore cost of the PM Gareeb Kalyan Anna Yojana.
  • The government has made remarkable success in achieving various sustainable development goals, and the fact that the membership of EPFO has increased demonstrates how much more structured the economy has become.

7 Priorities

Union Budget 2023-24 has seven goals, which the finance minister mentioned in her budget speech:  

  • Inclusive Development  
  • Reaching The Last Mile  
  • Infrastructure and Investment  
  • Unleashing Potential
  • Green Growth
  • Youth Power
  • Financial Sector 

According to the finance minister, the union government also intends to empower women through self-help groups (SHGs) focusing on raw material sourcing, branding, and product marketing.

Key Proposals

The honorable finance minister recommended the following proposals during his Budget 2023 speech:

  • Establish a Prime Ministerial Primitive Vulnerable Tribal Communities Mission to improve the socioeconomic situation of vulnerable tribal groups.
  • Establish a nationwide digital library for children and adolescents to compensate for lost learning during the Covid-19 epidemic.
  • At a cost of Rs 2,200 crore, the government would begin the Atmanirbhar Clean Plant Programme to increase the availability of disease-free quality planting material for high-value horticulture crops.
  • The government intended to establish an agribusiness accelerator fund to boost rural companies.
  • The government would establish 30 Skill India international centres across several states.
  • The government will establish a National Financial Information Registry as a central repository for financial and related data.
  • The PM PRANAM Yojna will be established to encourage states and union territories to promote alternative fertilisers and balanced chemical fertiliser use.
  • The Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 4.0 will be launched by the government. To prepare youngsters for worldwide chances, 30 Skill India International Centres would be established across several states.

Key Targets

The Union Budget 2023-24 mentions several important Key Targets, including:

  • The overall borrowing goal for Fiscal Year-24 is 15.43 lakh crore.
  • The fiscal deficit objective for Fiscal Year 24 is 5.9%.
  • The fiscal deficit for Fiscal Year 23 is expected to be 6.4% of GDP.
  • For Budget Year 26, the fiscal deficit glide path is 4.5%.
  • Silver doors and bars will be subject to the same duties as gold.
  • Significant emphasis on ‘Make in India’. Custom rebates are available for the manufacture of LI batteries, mobile phones, televisions, and chimneys.

Tax Slabs

  • Earnings of Rs 3 lakh: Non-taxable
  • Income of Rs 3 lakh to Rs 6 lakh: 5% tax
  • Income of Rs 6 lakh to Rs 9 lakh: 10% tax
  • Income between Rs 9 lakh and Rs 12 lakh is taxed at 15%; income between Rs 12 lakh and Rs 15 lakh is taxed at 20%
  • Income of Rs 15 lakh or more is subject to a 30% tax.

In the new tax system, the surcharge rate for persons income more than Rs 50 lakh would be reduced from 37% to 25%.

Under the new tax system, the federal government has enhanced the income refund ceiling from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 7 lakh. According to finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s budget address, the new tax system will now be the default tax regime, but taxpayers can still benefit from the previous tax regime on an opt-out basis.

Key Highlights

  • Senior Citizen Savings Scheme: The FM announces that the maximum investment limit has been raised from Rs. 15 lakhs to Rs. 30 lakhs.
  • The budget for the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana has been boosted by 66% to more than 79,000 crore.
  • The Center will employ 38,800 teachers and other professionals to serve 3.5 lakh indigenous pupils in 740 Eklavya Model residential schools.
  • The Green Hydrogen Mission will facilitate the economy’s transition to importing fewer fossil fuels.
  • The average processing time for ITRs was reduced from 93 days to 16 days.
  • The new credit guarantee for the MSME plan, with a corpus injection of 9,000 crores, will go into effect on April 1, 2023. To reduce credit costs by 1%.
  • According to Budget 2023, DigiLocker will now function as a one-stop KYC maintenance solution for people, allowing you to make changes to one document and have them reflected in all of your DigiLocker-linked papers. 

Constitutional Provision

The term “budget” is not used in our Indian Constitution. The yearly financial statement is referred to as the union budget in Article 112 of the constitution. It is a forecast of the government’s expected receipts and expenditures for a specific fiscal year. The budget comprises the following items:  Estimates of income and capital receipts,  Ways and methods to produce revenue, Estimation of expenditure,  Details of the closing fiscal year’s actual receipts and expenditure, as well as the reasons for any deficit or surplus in that year, and  The upcoming year’s economic and financial policy, including taxation proposals, revenue projections, spending plans, and the introduction of new schemes/projects.

 Significance and Objective

  • Allocating resources in a way that benefits society as a whole and promotes the general welfare.
  • It uplifts and stimulates the impoverished sectors of society by reducing poverty and creating jobs.
  • Develops policies to ensure that all people have access to basic essentials such as food, housing, healthcare, and education.
  • It guarantees that money is distributed equitably through taxes and other forms of financial assistance.
  • Controlling inflation, deflation, and economic fluctuations would assure the nation’s economic stability and prosperity.
  • The year-old practise of presenting the Railway and General budgets separately (which began in 1924) was abandoned in 2017 when the Railway Budget was integrated with the Union Budget and presented concurrently, on the suggestions of the Vibek Debroy Committee.

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