2022 Union Budget At A Glance

While presenting the Union Budget on Tuesday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that the country is expected achieve a growth rate of 9.27 per cent, highest among all large economies.

“India is marking the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ and we have entered into Amrit Kaal, the 25-year-long lead-up to India@100. In his Independence Day address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had set-out the vision for India@100,” said Sitharaman.

This Budget seeks to lay the foundation and give a blueprint to steer the economy over the Amrit Kaal of the next 25 years – from India at 75 to India at 100, Sitharaman said in her Budget address.

Budget 2022 At A Glance

Digital Rupee:

Digital Rupee, using blockchain and other technologies, is to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India starting 2022-23. The 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.

New ‘Updated Return’

A new provision permitting tax payers to file an Updated Return on payment of additional tax. This updated return can be filed within two years from the end of the relevant assessment year.

Tax Relief To Persons With Disability

The parent or guardian of a differently abled person can take an insurance scheme for such persons. The present law provides for deduction to the parent or guardian only if the lump sum payment or annuity is available to the differently abled person on the death of the subscriber i.e. parent or guardian.

The Finance Minister has proposed to allow the payment of annuity and lump sum amount to the differently abled dependent during the lifetime of parents/guardians, i.e., on parents/ guardians attaining the age of sixty years.

Parity Between Employees of State and Central government

The tax deduction limit increased 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.

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.

Telecom Sector:

Required spectrum auctions will be conducted in 2022 to facilitate rollout of 5G mobile services within 2022-23 by private telecom providers. A scheme for design-led manufacturing will be launched to build a strong ecosystem for 5G as part of the Production Linked Incentive Scheme.

The contracts for laying optical fibre in all villages, including remote areas, will be awarded under the Bharatnet project through PPP in 2022-23. Completion is expected in 2025.

GIFT-IFSC:

World-class foreign universities and institutions to be allowed in the GIFT City to offer courses in Financial Management, FinTech, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics free from domestic regulations, except those by IFSCA to facilitate availability of high-end human resources for financial services and technology.

An International Arbitration Centre will be set up in the GIFT City for timely settlement of disputes under international jurisprudence.

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.

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. Rs 20,000 crore will be mobilized through innovative ways of financing to complement the public resources. The data exchange among all mode operators will be brought on Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP), designed for Application Programming Interface (API).

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.

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

Railways:

Railways to develop new products and efficient logistics services for small farmers and Small and Medium Enterprises, besides taking the lead in integration of Postal and Railways networks to provide seamless solutions for movement of parcels.

One Station-One Product’ concept will be popularized to help local businesses & supply chains.

Under the 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 facilities for passengers 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

National Ropeways Development Programme will be taken up on PPP mode to improve connectivity and convenience for commuters, besides promoting tourism. Initiative 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.

MSME

Udyam, e-Shram, NCS and ASEEM portals to be interlinked for widening of their scope. These will now perform as portals with live, organic databases, providing G2C, B2C and B2B services.

Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) has provided much-needed additional credit to more than 130 lakh MSMEs. This has helped them mitigate the adverse impact of the pandemic. Considering these aspects, the ECLGS will be extended up to March 2023 and its guarantee cover will be expanded by ` Rs 50,000 crore to total cover of `Rs 5 lakh crore, with the additional amount being earmarked exclusively for the hospitality and related enterprises.

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

Skill Development

The National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF) will be aligned with dynamic industry needs. Digital Ecosystem for Skilling and Livelihood – the DESH-Stack e-portal – will be launched to empower citizens to skill, re-skill or up-skill 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.

Universalization of Quality Education

‘One class-one TV channel’ programme of PM eVIDYA will be expanded from 12 to 200 TV channels. This will enable all states to provide supplementary education in regional languages for classes 1-12.

750 virtual labs in science and mathematics, and 75 skilling e-labs for simulated learning environment, will be set-up in 2022-23.

High-quality e-content in all spoken languages will be developed for delivery via internet, mobile phones, TV and radio through Digital Teachers.

A competitive mechanism for development of quality e-content by the teachers will be set-up to empower and equip them with digital tools of teaching and facilitate better learning outcomes.

Digital University

A Digital University will be established to provide access to students across the country for world-class quality universal education. The University will be built on a networked hub-spoke model, with the hub building cutting edge ICT expertise. The best public universities and institutions in the country will collaborate as a network of hub-spokes.

National Tele Mental Health Programme

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.

Housing for All

In 2022-23, 80 lakh houses will be completed for the identified eligible beneficiaries of PM AwasYojana, both rural and urban. The central government will work with the state governments for reduction of time required for all land and construction related approvals, for promoting affordable housing for middle class and Economically Weaker Sections in urban areas.

Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for North East Region (PM-DevINE)

A new scheme, Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for North-East, PM-DevINE, will be implemented through the North-Eastern Council. It will fund infrastructure, in the spirit of PM GatiShakti, and social development projects based on felt needs of the North-East.

Digital Banking

To mark 75 years of our independence, it has been proposed to set up 75 Digital Banking Units (DBUs) in 75 districts of the country by Scheduled Commercial Banks.

Digital Payments

The financial support for digital payment ecosystem announced in the previous Budget will continue in 2022-23. This will encourage further adoption of digital payments.

Green Clearances

A single window portal, PARIVESH, for all green clearances was launched in 2018 and the scope of this portal will now be expanded, to provide information to the applicants.

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.

Urban Development

A high-level committee of reputed urban planners, urban economists and institutions will be formed to make recommendations on urban sector policies, capacity building, planning, implementation and governance.

Clean & Sustainable Mobility

Use of public transport in urban areas to be promoted. It will also be complemented by clean tech and governance solutions, special mobility zones with zero fossil-fuel policy, and EV vehicles.

Battery Swapping Policy

A battery swapping policy will be brought out and inter-operability standards will be formulated. The private sector will be encouraged to develop sustainable and innovative business models for ‘Battery or Energy as a Service’. This will improve efficiency in the EV eco-system.

Land Records Management

States will be encouraged to adopt Unique Land Parcel Identification Number to facilitate IT-based management of records. The facility for transliteration of land records across any of the Schedule VIII languages will also be rolled out. 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.