Key Highlights:

These measures are aimed to meet the aspirations of the nation as we move towards India@100, being currently in the Amrit Kaal.

• E-passports with embedded chips will be rolled out in 2022-23 for convenience in overseas travel.

• Climate Action and the Net Zero emissions goal: Sovereign green bonds will be part of the government's borrowing programme in FY23. INR 19,500 cr additional allocation for PLI for manufacturing high efficiency solar modules has been made.

• Defence: 68% of capital for defence sector to be earmarked for local industry, in a major push for Atmanirbhar Bharat. Private industry will be encouraged to take up the design and development of military platforms and equipment in collaboration with DRDO and other organisations through the SPV model.

• Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission: An open platform for the national digital health ecosystem will be rolled out. It will consist of digital registries of health providers and health facilities, unique health identity and universal access to health facilities. For mental health counselling, a National Tele Mental Health Program will be launched.

• Proposal to introduce Digital Rupee by RBI using blockchain technology or the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), starting 2022-23.

• All the 1.5 lakh post offices will move to the core banking system, enabling financial inclusion and access to accounts through net banking, mobile banking, ATMs, and also provide online transfer of funds between post office accounts and bank accounts, enhancing interoperability with other banks.

• Education: One class, one TV channel' program of PM eVIDYA will be expanded from 12 to 200 TV channels - this is with an aim to compensate for the loss of education due to Covid. This will enable all states to provide supplementary education in regional languages for classes 1 to 12.

• EV push: Battery swapping policy to allow EV charging stations for automobiles will be framed. Private sector will be encouraged to create sustainable and innovative business models for battery and energy as a service, improving the efficiency in the EV ecosystem and interoperability.

• Kisan Drones will be used for crop assessment, land records, spraying of insecticides expected to drive a wave of technology in the agriculture sector. Further, startups will be promoted for Drone Shakti.

• 400 new generation Vande Bharat trains to be manufactured in the next 3 years.

• Draft DPRs for interlinking 5 rivers are finalised.

• Government will promote the use of public transport in urban areas.

• Spectrum auction will be conducted in 2022 for the rollout of 5G within FY 2022-23.

• Desh stack e-portal to be launched to promote digital infra. Data centre and energy storage system to be given infrastructure status.

• States will be encouraged to adopt Unique Land Parcel Identification Number to facilitate IT-based management of records. The adoption or linkage with National Generic Document Registration System (NGDRS) with the ‘One-Nation One-Registration Software’ will be promoted as an option for uniform process for registration and ‘anywhere registration’ of deeds & documents.

• A completely paperless, e-bill system will be launched by ministries for procurement - this is expected to speed up the payments to suppliers of goods and services to the government.

• A high-level committee for urban planners and economists to be formed for recommendations on urban capacity building, planning implementation, and governance - since the urbanisation is expected to increase as we move towards India @ 100. Modern building by-laws will also be introduced.

• Strategic transfer of ownership of Air India completed now. LIC IPO is expected to be completed within FY 2021-22.

• Jobs: Digital ecosystem for skilling and livelihood to be pushed. This aims to skill, reskill and upskill citizens through online training. API based skill credentials, payment layers to find relevant jobs and opportunities.

• Virtual Digital Assets: Yes, in common parlance, we are used to hearing ‘crypto’, however, this term will have a wider meaning attached. The government will tax gains from digital asset transfers at 30%. No deduction allowed while computing income except cost of acquisition. Loss cannot be set off from any other income. Gift of cryptocurrencies to be taxed at receiver's end. A TDS of 1% will also be applicable on all transfers of Virtual Digital Assets.

• A new provision is introduced to allow taxpayers to file an updated return - this is because there are genuine chances of filing incorrect returns in view of the amount of data sharing by Financial Information Providers. Updated returns can be filed within 2 years from the end of the relevant assessment year.

• Alternate minimum tax for cooperative societies down from 18.5% to 15%.

• Tax exemption to start-ups extended to March 2023.

Economic performance:

• Capex target expanded by 35.4 per cent - from Rs 5.54 lakh crore to Rs 7.50 lakh crore. This is an increase to more than 2.2x the expenditure of 2019-20.

• India's GDP growth of 9.2% in FY22 is the highest among all major economies; we are now in a strong position to withstand challenges.

• The revised Fiscal Deficit in the current year is estimated at 6.9% of GDP as against 6.8% projected in the Budget Estimates. The Fiscal Deficit in 2022-23 is estimated at 6.4 per cent of GDP, which is consistent with the broad path of fiscal consolidation announced last year to reach a fiscal deficit level below 4.5 per cent by 2025-26.

Conclusion:

Thank you for reading this article - and as we had called out in the starting notes - execution of many of these measures will be the key. The people leading the country are very well acknowledging the need for interconnectedness, interoperability and going as much digital as possible. They are also taking the right steps to ensure that the youth of the country has the right knowledge and skills to meet these aspirations.

So a boring sounding budget for a taxpayer, but as it is said - Boring is the right path towards achieving goals sustainably.

Footnotes:

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