Union Budget 2023-24, Vision, Highlights, Summary, Tax Slabs

Union Budget 2023

The Finance Minister, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman will be presenting the Union Budget for the fiscal year 2023-24 in Parliament on 1st February 2023 and here we are with the Union Budget 2023 key highlights and ebook. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has used a ‘Made in India’ tablet computer to deliver a paperless Budget address. She will be presenting her fifth budget, the previous being, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022.

The Union Budget is a yearly statement of finance of the Indian Republic. It is presented every year in the month of February generally as Annual Finance Statement. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2023-24 in Parliament on 1st Feb 2023. She emphasized that the Indian economy is on the right track, and despite a time of challenges, heading towards a bright future. Nirmala Sitharaman is the sixth minister in independent India to present five consecutive budgets and she also presented the paperless budget three consecutive times in a row. Ministers who also have presented five straight annual financial statements in past include Arun Jaitley, P Chidambaram, Yashwant Sinha, Manmohan Singh and Morarji Desai.

Union Budget 2023-24 Objective

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

In the 75th year of Independence, the world recognised the Indian economy as a bright star, she says. India has shown growth in spite of a slowdown globally owing to Covid-19. India’s GDP growth is estimated at 7% in FY-23.

Union Budget 2023 India’s Rising Global Profile

India’s rising global profile is because of several accomplishments, such as Aadhaar, Cowin and UPI, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says in her budget speech.

• Finance Minister claims that throughout the pandemic, the Narendra Modi administration made sure that nobody went to bed hungry.
• The centre will be responsible for paying the full Rs 2 lakh crore cost of the PM Gareeb Kalyan Anna Yojana.
• In relation to numerous sustainable development objectives, the administration has achieved tremendous progress.
• The fact that the membership of EPFO has doubled indicates how much more formalised the economy has become.

Union Budget 2023 Seven Priorities

There are seven priorities of Union Budget 2023-24, of which the Finance Minister talked about in her budget speech are,

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

The union government also aims to empower women by way of self-help groups (SHGs) focused on raw material supply, branding, and marketing of products, as stated by the finance minister.

Union Budget 2023 Key Proposals

During the Budget 2023 speech, the honourable finance minister proposed some key initiatives:

• Set up a PM Primitive Vulnerable Tribal Groups Mission for improving the socio-economic conditions of vulnerable tribal groups.
• Set up a national digital library for children and adolescents to make up for their loss of learning during the pandemic of Covid-19.
• The Government will launch the Atmanirbhar Clean Plant Programme for improving the availability of disease-free quality planting material for high-value horticultural crops at an outlay of Rs 2,200 crore.
• The government had planned to set up an agriculture accelerator fund to encourage startups in rural areas.
• The government will be setting up 30 Skill India international centres in multiple states.
• The government will be setting up a National Financial Information Registry to serve as a central repository of financial and ancillary information.
• PM PRANAM Yojna is to be launched for incentivising the States and Union Territories to promote alternative fertilisers and balanced use of chemical fertilisers.
• The government will be launching Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 4.0. The objective is to skill the youth for international opportunities, 30 Skill India International Centres will be set up across different States.

Union Budget 2023 Key Targets

There are some major Key Targets mentioned in the Union Budget 2023-24 such as:

• The gross borrowing target for Financial Year-24 is ₹15.43 lakh crore.
• The target for Fiscal deficit for the Financial Year-24 is 5.9%.
• Fiscal deficit for Financial Year-23 estimated at 6.4% of GDP.
• The fiscal deficit glide path for Financial Year-26 is 4.5%.
• Duties will be increased on silver doors, and bars at par with gold.
• Big push to ‘Make in India’. LI battery, mobile, tv, and chimney manufacturing get custom rebates.

Union Budget 2023 Tax Slabs

• Income of Rs 3 lakh: Non-Taxable
• Income between Rs 3 lakh- Rs 6 lakh: 5% tax
• Income between Rs 6 lakh-Rs 9 lahks: 10% tax
• Income between Rs 9 lakh-Rs 12 lakh: 15% tax
• Income between Rs 12 lakh- Rs 15 lakh: 20% tax
• Income of Rs 15 lakh or above: 30% tax
• To reduce the surcharge rate for those earning more than Rs 50 lakh from 37% to 25% in the new tax regime.

The union government has increased the income rebate limit to Rs 7 lakh from Rs 5 lakh under the new tax regime. The new tax regime will now be a default tax regime, but citizens can still avail of benefits under the old tax regime on an opt-out basis, said the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget speech.

Union Budget 2023 Key Highlights

• Senior Citizen Savings Scheme: FM announces an increase in the maximum investment limit from Rs. 15 lahks to Rs. 30 lahks.
• The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana budget is being increased by 66% to more than 79,000 cr.
• To serve 3.5 lakh indigenous students in 740 Eklavya Model residential schools, the Center will hire 38,800 teachers and other staff.
• The Green Hydrogen Mission will make it easier for the economy to change so that it imports fewer fossil fuels.
• ITR processing time decreased from 93 days to 16 days on average.
• The updated credit guarantee for the MSME plan will go into effect on April 1, 2023, with a corpus injection of 9,000 crores. To cut the cost of credit by 1%.
• According to Budget 2023, DigiLocker will now serve as a one-stop KYC maintenance solution for people, allowing you to make changes to one document that will be reflected in all of your documents linked to DigiLocker.

Union Budget 2023 Constitutional Provision

Our Constitution of India makes no mention of the word “budget.” According to Article 112 of the constitution, the annual financial statement is referred to as the union budget. It is a statement of the government’s estimated receipts and outlays for a given fiscal year. includes the following in the budget:

• It provides the estimations of revenue and capital receipts,
• Provides the Ways and means to raise revenue,
• Estimation of expenditure,
• Details of the actual receipts and expenditure of the closing financial year and the reasons for any deficit or surplus in that year, and
• The economic and financial policy of the upcoming year, i.e., taxation proposals, prospects of revenue, spending programme and introduction of new schemes/projects.

Union Budget 2023 Objective and Significance

• Allocating resources in such a way that benefits society as a whole and is in the best interests of the general welfare.
• It uplifts and motivates the underprivileged sections in society by lowering poverty rates and generating employment.
• Establishes policies for ensuring that all the people have access to necessities including food, shelter, healthcare, and education.
• It ensures that money is distributed fairly through taxes and other financial aid.
• To control inflation, deflation, and economic swings will guarantee the nation’s economic stability and growth.

In 2017, the year-old tradition of presenting the Railway and General budgets separately (started in 1924) was broken when the railway budget was merged with the Union Budget and presented together, it was merged on the recommendations of the Vibek Debroy Committee.

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