FM Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2023 on 1st February 2023. This shall be the last full-fledged budget before the general elections in 2024. According to the FM, the Indian economy is on the right path, with the current economic growth being 7% this year despite the global Covid-19 pandemic and the war.
To achieve the target of India@100, the Government is now focusing on 7 major objectives.
These Seven “Saptarishi” priorities of the budget are:
1. Inclusive Development
2. Reaching the last mile
3. Infrastructure and Investment
4. Unleashing the potential
5. Green Growth
6. Youth Power
7. Financial Sector
The Government has now allocated substantial funds for the R&D of various technologies for the upliftment and development of the Health, Education, and Software Industries as well as MSMEs and Small Enterprises.
The following is the list of measures taken:
IT Sector
1. The Indian budget for 2023-24 has provided a major boost to the IT sector, with the government setting aside Rs. 10,000 crores for Start-ups and MSMEs, as well as Rs. 4,000 crores specifically for the IT, tech and software development sectors. The government has also proposed several tax reforms, which will bring down the tax burden on Start-ups and MSMEs and the IT, tech, and software development sectors. Additionally, the government has promised to introduce measures to facilitate access to credit for Start-ups and MSMEs, as well as a unified GST system.
2. The government setting aside Rs. 1,000 crores to promote the adoption of AI technologies.
3. The budget has provided a major boost to Fintech, with the government setting aside Rs. 5,000 crores for the sector.
MSMEs
1. Revamped credit guarantee with an infusion of Rs. 9,000 crores in the corpus.
2. Additional Collateral-free guaranteed credit of Rs. 2 Laksh Crore and also reduced cost of the credit by about 1%
3. New cooperatives that commence manufacturing till March 2024 get a lower tax rate of 15%.
4. The budget has provided a major boost to research and development, with the government setting aside Rs. 2,000 crores for the National Research and Development Centre, which will provide support to startups and entrepreneurs.
Clean Energy
1. Rs. 35,000 crores capital allocated for the energy transition.
2. National Green Hydrogen mission with an outlay of Rs 19700 crore will facilitate the transition of the economy to low carbon intensity, and reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
Digital Services
1. DigiLocker Services to be expanded.
2. The budget has provided a major boost to 5G, with the government setting aside Rs. 3,400 crores to promote the rollout of 5G services in India. 100 labs are being allocated to the development of applications to use 5G services to be set up in engineering institutions. Smart classrooms, precision farming, and healthcare applications are among the devices that are going to be covered.
3. Developing scalable solutions for health, agri and other sectors with the help of industry leaders is a priority.
4. The concept of Data Embassies has received a huge boost, with the government proposing to set up a Centre for Data Sovereignty to promote the development of Data Embassies.
5. The budget has provided a major boost to Digital Infrastructure, with the government setting aside Rs. 6,000 crores to promote the expansion of digital infrastructure.
Health
1. The allocation for the National Digital Health Mission – NHM has been increased from Rs. 140 crore to Rs. 341.02 Crore.
Education
1. The budget has provided a major boost to education, with the government setting aside Rs. 1.13 trillion for the sector for 2023-24.
2. National Digital Library to be set up for children and adolescents. National Book Trust, Children’s Book Trust to replenish non-curricular titles in regional dialects and English to digital libraries.
3. Three Centres of excellence for AI to be set up in top educational institutions.
4. To unleash innovation and research by start-ups and academia, National Data Governance Policy has been brought out.
