Budget 2023: Finance Minister presents union budget; major updates

The second day of Budget Session 2023 began on Wednesday with the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presenting her fifth Union Budget which she described as "the first budget in Amrit Kaal."

Here are some major updates:

. The agricultural credit target will be increased to Rs 20 lakh crores with a focus on animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries, says FM Sitharaman.

. PM Vishwa Karma Kaushal Samman-package of assistance for traditional artisans and craftspeople has been conceptualised, will enable them to improve quality, scale & reach of their products, integrating with MSME value chain: FM Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament.

. 157 new nursing colleges will be established in colocation with the existing 157 medical colleges established since 2014: FM Nirmala Sitharaman.

. To improve social-economic condition of the Particularly Tribal Groups, PMPBTG Development mission will be launched, to saturate PBTG habitations with basic facilities. Rs 15,000 cr to be made available to implement scheme in next 3 years: FM Nirmala Sitharaman.

. Eklavaya Model Residential Schools -in the next 3 years the Centre will recruit 38,800 teachers and support staff for 740 schools serving 3.5 lakh tribal students: FM Nirmala Sitharaman.

. The outlay for PM Awaas Yojana being enhanced by 66% to over Rs 79,000 crores: FM Nirmala Sitharaman.

. States will be encouraged to set up physical libraries for them at panchayat and ward levels and provide infrastructure for accessing the National Digital Library resources: FM Nirmala Sitharaman.

. Over the next 3 years, one crore farmers will get assistance to adopt natural farming. 10,000 bio input resource centres will be set up: FM Nirmala Sitharaman.

. To unleash Innovation and research by Startups and Academia, a National Data Governance Policy will be brought out. This will enable access to anonymized data: FM Nirmala Sitharaman.

. To provide support to 47 lakh youths in 3 years, a Direct Benefit Transfer under a pan India national apprenticeship scheme will be rolled out: FM Sitharaman.

. Credit guarantee for MSMEs - Rs 9000 crores infused in the corpus which will allow additional collateral-free credit of Rs 2 lakh crores; to be effective from 1st April 2023: FM Sitharaman.

. For efficient administration of justice, Phase 3 of the eCourt's project will be launched with an outlay of Rs 7000 Crores: FM Nirmala Sitharaman.

. 100 labs for developing apps using 5G services will be set up in engg institutions. To realise new range of opportunities, business models&employment potential, labs will cover among others, apps like Smart Classrooms,Precision Farming,Intelligent Transports Systems and Healthcare: FM.

. FY-2024 fiscal deficit target at 5.9% of GDP: FM Sitharaman.

. I reiterate my intention to bring the fiscal deficit below 4.5% of GDP by 2025-26: FM Nirmala Sitharaman.

. I propose to reduce the number of basic custom duty rates on goods other than textiles and agriculture, from 21% to 13%. As a result, there are minor changes in the basic custom duties, cesses & surcharges on some items including toys, bicycles, automobiles: FM Nirmala Sitharaman.

. I propose to provide relief on Customs Duty on import of certain parts & inputs like camera lens & continue the concessional duty on lithium-ion cells for batteries for another year: FM Nirmala Sitharaman.

. To promote value addition in the manufacturing of TVs, I propose to reduce the Basic Customs Duty on parts of open cells of TV panels to 2.5%: FM Nirmala Sitharaman.

. Personal income-tax | Income tax- rebate extended on income up to Rs 7 lakhs in new tax regime: FM Sitharaman.

. I introduced in 2020, the new personal income tax regime with 6 income slabs, starting from Rs 2.5 Lakhs. I propose to change the tax structure in this regime by reducing the number of slabs to 5 and increasing the tax exemption limit to Rs 3 Lakhs: FM Nirmala Sitharaman.

. Personal Income Tax: "The new tax rates are 0 to Rs 3 lakhs - nil, Rs 3 to 6 lakhs - 5%, Rs 6 to 9 Lakhs - 10%, Rs 9 to 12 Lakhs - 15%, Rs 12 to 15 Lakhs - 20% and above 15 Lakhs - 30%, " says Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Also Read: Nirmala Sitharaman dons traditional temple border red saree to present Union Budget 2023