Author: Nikita Bhatia

Minister of Finance, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Budget 2022 on 1^st February 2022. At the very outset, she mentioned that India’s economic growth in the current year is estimated to be 9.2 per cent, highest among all large economies.

Here is a synopsis of the various announcements made in the Budget speech.

• Our country has entered “Amrit Kaal” – the 25-year-long leadup to India@100. During this period, the government aims to attain the vision of:  
  • Complementing the macro-economic level growth focus with a micro-economic level all-inclusive welfare focus,
  • Promoting digital economy & fintech, technology enabled development, energy transition, and climate action, and
  • Relying on virtuous cycle starting from private investment with public capital investment helping to crowd-in private investment.

• The Productivity Linked Incentive in 14 sectors for achieving the vision of AtmaNirbhar Bharat has received excellent response, with potential to create 60 lakh new jobs, and an additional production of ` 30 lakh crore during next 5 years.

• During this Amrit Kaal, the action plan of the Government will be focused on:
  • PM GatiShakti, a transformative approach for economic growth and sustainable development. The approach is driven by seven engines, namely, Roads, Railways, Airports, Ports, Mass Transport, Waterways, and Logistics Infrastructure.
  • Inclusive Development
  • Productivity Enhancement & Investment, Sunrise Opportunities, Energy Transition, and Climate Action
  • Financing of Investments

• PM GatiShakti Master Plan for Expressways will be formulated in 2022-23 to facilitate faster movement of people and goods. The National Highways network will be expanded by 25,000 km in 2022-23. 20,000 crore will be mobilized through innovative ways of financing to complement the public resources.

• Multimodal Logistics Parks: Contracts for implementation of Multimodal Logistics Parks at four locations through PPP mode will be awarded in 2022-23.

• Road Transport: As a part of Atmanirbhar Bharat, 2,000 km of network will be brought under Kavach, the indigenous world-class technology for safety and capacity augmentation in 2022-23.

• Four hundred new-generation Vande Bharat Trains with better energy efficiency and passenger riding experience will be developed and manufactured during the next three years. One hundred PM GatiShakti Cargo Terminals for multimodal logistics facilities will be developed during the next three years.

• National Ropeways Development Programme: As a preferred ecologically sustainable alternative to conventional roads in difficult hilly areas, National Ropeways Development Programme will be taken up on PPP mode. The aim is to improve connectivity and convenience for commuters, besides promoting tourism. This may also cover congested urban areas, where conventional mass transit system is not feasible. Contracts for 8 ropeway projects for a length of 60 km will be awarded in 2022-23.

Agriculture:

• Chemical-free Natural Farming will be promoted throughout the country, with a focus on farmers’ lands in 5-km wide corridors along river Ganga, at the first stage.

• 2023 has been announced as the International Year of Millets. Support will be provided for post-harvest value addition, enhancing domestic consumption, and for branding millet products nationally and internationally.

• To reduce our dependence on import of oilseeds, a rationalized and comprehensive scheme to increase domestic production of oilseeds will be implemented.

• Use of ‘Kisan Drones’ will be promoted for crop assessment, digitization of land records, spraying of insecticides, and nutrients.

• States will be encouraged to revise syllabi of agricultural universities to meet the needs of natural, zero-budget and organic farming, modern-day agriculture, value addition and management.

• A fund with blended capital, raised under the co-investment model, will be facilitated through NABARD. This is to finance startups for agriculture & rural enterprise, relevant for farm produce value chain. The activities for these startups will include, inter alia, support for FPOs, machinery for farmers on rental basis at farm level, and technology including IT-based support.

MSME:

• Udyam, e-Shram, NCS and ASEEM portals will be interlinked. Their scope will be widened. They will now perform as portals with live, organic databases, providing G2C, B2C and B2B services. These services will relate to credit facilitation, skilling, and recruitment with an aim to further formalize the economy and enhance entrepreneurial opportunities for all.

• Credit Guarantee Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) scheme will be revamped with required infusion of funds. This will facilitate additional credit of 2 lakh crore for Micro and Small Enterprises and expand employment opportunities.

• Raising and Accelerating MSME Performance (RAMP) programme with outlay of 6,000 crore over 5 years will be rolled out. This will help the MSME sector become more resilient, competitive and efficient.

• Digital Ecosystem for Skilling and Livelihood – the DESH-Stack eportal – will be launched. This aims to empower citizens to skill, reskill or upskill through on-line training. It will also provide API-based trusted skill credentials, payment and discovery layers to find relevant jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities.

• Startups will be promoted to facilitate ‘Drone Shakti’ through varied applications and for Drone-As-A-Service (DrAAS). In select ITIs, in all states, the required courses for skilling, will be started.

• National Tele Mental Health Programme: The pandemic has accentuated mental health problems in people of all ages. To better the access to quality mental health counselling and care services, a ‘National Tele Mental Health Programme’ will be launched. This will include a network of 23 tele-mental health centres of excellence, with NIMHANS being the nodal centre and International Institute of Information Technology-Bangalore (IIITB) providing technology support.

• Har Ghar, Nal Se Jal: Current coverage of Har Ghar, Nal Se Jal is 8.7 crores. Of this 5.5 crore households were provided tap water in last 2 years itself. Allocation of ` 60,000 crore has been made with an aim to cover 3.8 crore households in 2022-23.

• Housing: In 2022-23 80 lakh houses will be completed for the identified eligible beneficiaries of PM Awas Yojana, both rural and urban. 48,000 crore is allocated for this purpose.

• Anytime – Anywhere Post Office Savings: In 2022, 100 per cent of 1.5 lakh post offices will come on the core banking system enabling financial inclusion and access to accounts through 11 net banking, mobile banking, ATMs, and also provide online transfer of funds between post office accounts and bank accounts. This will be helpful, especially for farmers and senior citizens in rural areas, enabling interoperability and financial inclusion.

• e-Passport: The issuance of e-Passports using embedded chip and futuristic technology will be rolled out in 2022-23 to enhance convenience for the citizens in their overseas travel.

• Land Records Management: Efficient use of land resources is a strong imperative. 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.

• Accelerated Corporate Exit: Several IT-based systems have been established for accelerated registration of new companies. Now the Centre for Processing Accelerated Corporate Exit (C-PACE) with process re-engineering, will be established to facilitate and speed up the voluntary winding-up of these companies from the currently required 2 years to less than 6 months.

• Telecom: A scheme for design-led manufacturing will be launched to build a strong ecosystem for 5G as part of the Production Linked Incentive Scheme.

• Export Promotion: The Special Economic Zones Act will be replaced with a new legislation that will enable the states to become partners in ‘Development of Enterprise and Service Hubs’. This will cover all large existing and new industrial enclaves to optimally utilize available infrastructure and enhance competitiveness of exports.

• Solar Power: To facilitate domestic manufacturing for the ambitious goal of 280 GW of installed solar capacity by 2030, an additional allocation of 19,500 crore for Production Linked Incentive for manufacture of high efficiency modules, with priority to fully integrated manufacturing units from polysilicon to solar PV modules, will be made.

• Digital Rupee: Introduction of Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) will give a big boost to digital economy. Digital currency will also lead to a more efficient and cheaper currency management system. It is, therefore, proposed to introduce Digital Rupee, using blockchain and other technologies, to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India starting 2022-23.

Income Tax

• A new provision permitting taxpayers to file an Updated Return on payment of additional tax, within two years from the end of the relevant assessment year is introduced. Presently, if the department finds out that some income has been missed out by the assessee, it goes through a lengthy process of adjudication. Instead, with this proposal now, there will be a trust reposed in the taxpayers that will enable the assessee herself to declare the income that she may have missed out earlier while filing her return. Full details of the proposal are given in the Finance Bill. It is an affirmative step in the direction of voluntary tax compliance.

• Surcharge on certain AOP’s to be limited to15%. Surcharge on long term capital gains arising on transfer of any type of assets shall be capped at 15 per cent.

• The Alternate Minimum Tax on co-operative societies shall be reduced to 15%, to provide a level playing field between co-operative societies and companies, It is also proposed to reduce surcharge on co-operative societies from the present 12 per cent to 7 per cent for those having total income of more than 1 crore and up to 10 crores.

• At present, the Central Government contributes 14 per cent of the salary of its employee to the National Pension System (NPS) Tier-I. This is allowed as a deduction in computing the income of the employee. However, such deduction is allowed only to the extent of 10 per cent of the salary in case of employees of the State government. To provide equal treatment to both Central and State government employees, it is proposed to increase the tax deduction limit from 10 per cent to 14 per cent on employer’s contribution to the NPS account of State Government employees as well. This would help in enhancing the social security benefits of the state government employees and bring them at par with central government employees.

• Incentives for Start-ups: Eligible start-ups established before 31.3.2022 had been provided a tax incentive for three consecutive years out of ten years from incorporation. In view of the Covid pandemic, it is proposed to extend the period of incorporation of the eligible start-up by one more year, that is, up to 31.03.2023 for providing such tax incentive.

• In an effort to establish a globally competitive business environment for certain domestic companies, a concessional tax regime of 15 per cent tax was introduced by our government for newly incorporated domestic manufacturing companies. It is proposed to extend the last date for commencement of manufacturing or production under section 115BAB by one year i.e. from 31st March, 2023 to 31st March, 2024.

• Scheme for taxation of virtual digital assets: Any income from transfer of any virtual digital asset shall be taxed at the rate of 30 per cent. No deduction in respect of any expenditure or allowance shall be allowed while computing such income except cost of acquisition. Further, loss from transfer of virtual digital asset cannot be set off against any other income.

• Further, in order to capture the transaction details, it is also proposed to provide for TDS on payment made in relation to transfer of virtual digital asset at the rate of 1 per cent of such consideration above a monetary threshold. Gift of virtual digital asset is also proposed to be taxed in the hands of the recipient.

• Rationalizing TDS Provisions: It has been noticed that as a business promotion strategy, there is a tendency on businesses to pass on benefits to their agents. Such benefits are taxable in the hands of the agents. In order to track such transactions, it is proposed to provide for tax deduction by the person giving benefits, if the aggregate value of such benefits exceeds 20,000 during the financial year.

• Duty on umbrellas is being raised to 20 per cent. Exemption to parts of umbrellas is being withdrawn. Exemption is also being rationalised on implements and tools for agri-sector which are manufactured in India. Customs duty exemption given to steel scrap last year is being extended for another year to provide relief to MSME secondary steel producers. Certain Anti- dumping and CVD on stainless steel and coated steel flat products, bars of alloy steel and high-speed steel are being revoked in larger public interest considering prevailing high prices of metals.