The central government has managed to fulfil the expectations of a lot of sectors through the futuristic budget presented by the union finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman. There was special focus on smaller businesses in the budget presented this year. The government has tried to provide greater access to credit to the MSME sector. By extending the ECLGS scheme, the government would provide a breather to hundreds of small and micro enterprises. The extension of the Production Linked Incentive Scheme (PLI) and allocating additional budget would also give a further boost to the MSME sector.
The budget has also announced additional credit and fiscal support which would encourage the start-up ecosystem in the country. Start-ups in India would further benefit through the extension of the tax concession period by one more year. Also, a 15 per cent tax that has been decided for the newly incorporated manufacturing unit, with an increased period of a year to 31st March 2024, will likely increase the activities. The government aims to increase credit facilitation and enhance entrepreneurial opportunities by interlinking several government portals like Udyam, e-shram, NCS & ASEEM. This would help in creating additional employment opportunities. The extension of the PMAY scheme with an allocation of Rs 48,000 crores outlay will further enhance affordable housing benefits to 80 lakh new beneficiaries under middle-class and economically weaker sections in urban areas.
There are around 270 allied industries directly and indirectly dependent on the real estate sector, the move would also have a trickle-down effect on these other sectors. The government also intends to encourage honest taxpayers and has announced the updated income tax return filing provision. This would increase tax collections in the country and encourage further tax compliance as the taxpayer can file updated returns within the two-year window. We welcome the central government’s move to grant infrastructure status to data centres in lieu of impetus to data localization and protect data sovereignty.
This would provide the data centres industry access to cheaper credit financing which in turn would foster competitiveness. The PM Gati Shakti Master Plan for Expressways to be formulated in 2022-23, to facilitate faster movement of people and goods and expansion of the national highway by adding 25,000 km in 2022-23 are some of the positive steps that would have a cascading impact. By increasing the infrastructure facilities, the government aims to make the logistics costs cheaper and make the manufacturing sector a lot more competitive in the future. The multi modal corridors will boost last mile connectivity and facilitate ease of living.
The Effective Capital Expenditure which is around 4.1 percent of the gross domestic product at around Rs 10.68 lakh crore, factoring in Grants-in-Aid to States for creating capital assets has managed to bridge the gap significantly and intends to provide a big boost to the country’s growth engine. In this year’s budget, the government has also provided a lot of emphasis on the sectors like education, and telecommunications which are key to the country’s development. The announcement on the digital rupee using blockchain technology by the Reserve Bank of India would provide a further boost to the digital economy in the country.
Thrust to the digital ecosystem while focussing on building and upgrading the digital infrastructure for quality education is the need of an hour. Setting up of digital universities will enhance the availability of education to the rural students following the hub and spoke model. With easy access to education in multilingual script, it enables an opportunity to empower and equip future learners in all spheres.
Moreover, measures for quality e-content appear promising that can educate teachers effectively for better teaching outcomes. Besides, there is a surge in the scope of personalized learning, especially in the digital ecosystem. The budget also puts required emphasis on skilling which makes an individual employable and sustainable. The skilling courses will not just encourage learners to apply critical thinking and creative minds but also make them industry ready, which is evidence of shaping the youth of India for a global future. The Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has touched upon several aspects like inclusive development, productivity enhancement, energy transition, and climate action. Through these measures, the honourable minister has set the ball rolling for a double-digit growth for the country.
