New Delhi, Feb.1: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday presented the Union Budget 2023, the last full year Budget of Modi 2.0. She said that budget 2023 hopes to build on the foundation of the previous budget and blueprint for India at 100. The growth of the country at 7 per cent in FY23 will be the highest among all the major economies in the world.
Here are the key points FM Sitharaman has announced:
- Under PM Kisan Yojana, the Centre has made cash transfers of Rs 2.2 trillion so far. “The country is far more formalised now”, FM said.
- There have been 96 million new LPG connections, 2.2 billion Covid-19 vaccinations for 1.02 billion people and 478 million of new Jan Dhan accounts.
- In line with its commitment to ensuring food security, the Centre has implemented PM Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana from January 1, 2023, a scheme to supply free food grain to all Antyodaya and priority households for one year.
- Sitharaman said that a large potential must be tapped in tourism and the promotion of the tourism sector should be taken up in “mission mode”.
- FM Sitharaman also listed seven priorities of the Budget. These are inclusive development, reaching the last mile, infra and investment, unleashing the potential, green growth, youth power, and the financial sector.
- The Centre will set up an agriculture accelerator fund to encourage agri startups in rural areas. Also, digital public infrastructure for agriculture will be built as open source, open standard and the interoperable public good.
- The Finance Minister said that the Mahila Samman Bachat Patra, a saving certificate, is an initiative to commemorate the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. The move was welcomed with taps by the women MPs.
- During the delivery of the Union Budget 2023 speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that the government will establish 157 new nursing colleges, while talking about budget allocation in the sector of health and education.
- In her Budget 2023-24 speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the allocation to PM Awas Yojana has increased by 66 percent to Rs 79,000 crore.
- The Centre has also made a provision of Rs 5.56 crore for 5G testbed, according to the Budget 2023-24 documents. In the fiscal 2022-23, the same figure stood at Rs 7.74 crore.
- Speaking about the ‘Bhartiya Prakritik Kheti Bio-Input Resource Centres’ project, Finance Minister in her Budget 2023 speech said, “Over the next 3 years, we will facilitate 1 crore farmers to adopt natural farming. For this, 10,000 Bio-Input Resource Centres will be set-up, creating a national-level distributed micro-fertilizer and pesticide manufacturing network.”
*The 2023 Budget announced by Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, had several announcements regarding the automotive sector and the focus on cleaner and greener mobility. First, the government has decided to exempt capital goods and machinery required to manufacture lithium-ion cells for batteries used in EVs. An outlay of Rs 19,700 crores has further been prescribed to promote the National Green Hydrogen Mission, with an aim to reach 5MMT annual production of green hydrogen by 2030. There was a focus on biogas production and more as well. However, the FM also declared the replacement and scrapping of old government vehicles.
*While presenting the Union Budget 2023, FM Sitharaman proposed the launch of a unified Skill India digital platform. This platform will focus on formal skilling as per demands, will provide access to entrepreneurship schemes, and also link job-seekers with employers, including MSMEs.
*The government will continue the 50-year interest-free loan to state governments for one more year to spur investment in infrastructur…
