Here are key highlights of Budget 2023 for PGDM students.

The budget 2023 is a major step towards a more technologically advanced and innovative India. With a focus on digitalization, deep tech, and entrepreneurship, it has the potential to drive the country forward and help achieve the vision of Naya Bharat. This budget is truly futuristic and has the necessary components to give the push India needs to achieve its goals. One of the key initiatives in the budget 2023 is the setting up of Centres of Excellence for artificial intelligence. This will help to create a strong foundation for AI in India, and ensure that it is used to drive progress and development. In addition, the budget’s push towards research and development will help India to stay at the forefront of technological advancements. By investing in R&D, the country will be well-positioned to make AI work for India, and to capitalize on the many opportunities it presents. All in all, the budget 2023 is a major step forward for India, and is set to drive progress, innovation, and economic growth for years to come. So let’s all get behind it and work towards making Naya Bharat a reality!

Major announcements for Income Tax payers:
New tax regime to become the default tax regime
No tax on income up to Rs 7 lakh a year in new tax regime
Govt proposes to increase income tax rebate limit from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 7 lakh in new tax regime
Four new slabs in new tax regime
No income tax till Rs 3 lakh income

New slabs under new tax regimes
Rs 0 -3 lakh Nil
Rs 3-6 lakh 5%
Rs 6-9 lakh 10%
Rs 9-12 lakh 15%
Rs 12-15 lakh 20%

Indirect Taxes:
16% increase in NCCD on certain cigarettes
45% of tax refunds were processed within 24 hours. The taxpayer portal received maximum of 72 lakh returns a day.

New cooperatives that commence manufacturing till March, 2024 to get lower tax rate of 15%
Basic customs duty on crude, glycerine is proposed to be reduced to 2.5%.
Propose to increase import duty on silver bars to align it with gold, platinum
Extend customs duty cut on imports of parts of mobile phones by 1 year
To promote value addition in the manufacturing of TVs, customs duty on open cells of TV panels reduced to 2.5%

Fiscal position:
FM reiterated her intention to bring the fiscal deficit below 4.5% of GDP by 2025-26
FM retains fiscal deficit target of 6.4 pc in the Revised Estimate for FY23; cuts it to 5.9% for FY24
Gross market borrowing seen at Rs 15.43 lakh cr in FY24
Net market borrowing in FY24 seen at Rs 11.8 lakh crore
FY23 net tax receipts revised estimate stands at Rs 20.9 lakh crore
FY23 total expenditure revised estimate stands at Rs 41.9 lakh crore
FY23 revised estimate of total receipts other than borrowing at Rs 24.3 lakh crore
FY24 net tax receipts seen at Rs 23.3 lakh crore

Saving schemes
Maximum deposit limit for Senior Citizen Savings Scheme to be enhanced to Rs 30 lakh from Rs 15 lakh
Monthly Income Scheme limit doubled to Rs 9 lakh and Rs 15 lakh for joint accounts
One-time new saving scheme Mahila Samman Saving Certificate for women to be made available for 2 years up to 2025.

MSME
Revamped credit guarantee for MSMEs to take effect from Apr 1, 2023 with infusion of Rs 9,000 crore in corpus
New credit guarantee scheme for MSMEs to reduce cost of credit by 1 percentage point

Banking:
Govt moots amendments to Banking Regulation Act to improve governance in banks

Skill training:
Government will launch Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 4.0
To skill the youth for international opportunities, 30 Skill India International Centres will be set up across different States.

Clean Energy:
Rs 35,000 crores priority capital for the energy transition
Green credit programme will be notified under the Environment Protection Act
Battery storage to get viability gap funding.
Govt to support setting up of battery energy storage of 4,000 MwH
National Green Hydrogen mission with an outlay of Rs 19,700 crore will facilitate the transition of the economy to low carbon intensity, reduce dependence on fossil fuel imports and make the country assume technology and market leadership

Gems and Jewellery:
To encourage the indigenous production of lab-grown diamonds, a research and development grant is to be provided to one of the IITs for five years
Proposal to review customs duty of lab-grown diamonds to be included in Part-B of Budget document

Aviation:
50 additional airports, helipods, water aero drones, advanced landing grounds will be revived to improve regional air connectivity:

Railways gets massive boost:
An outlay of Rs 2.4 lakh crore provided for railways in FY24. It’s the highest ever highest ever allocation for Railways and is nearly nine times over FY14 allocations.

Author: Prof. (Dr.) Vandana Sharma, Professor, MABS