The Union budget ticks all the right boxes for India Inc

Source: The post is based on the following articles

“The Union budget ticks all the right boxes for India Inc” published in the Livemint on 3rd February 2023.

“Express View on Budget 2023: Adding it up” published in the Indian Express on 3rd February 2023.

Syllabus: GS 3 – Government Budgeting.

Relevance: Budget 2023-24 is for various sectors.

News: The government has recently presented the Union Budget 2023-24 in Parliament.

What are the major highlights of the Union Budget 2023-24?

What are the domestic economic concerns and how does the budget address those?

Why budget 2023-24 is for various sectors?

The budget 2023-24 is a growth-oriented one. For instance, It increases consumption demand by reducing taxes.

Infrastructure is a long-term growth engine. This year’s budget increases infrastructure development by a) Increasing CapEx, b) Continuing the 50-year interest-free loan facility for states, c) Introducing dispute resolution under ‘Vivad se Vishwas’ to settle contractual disputes of government and public sector undertakings, d) Creating an urban infrastructure development fund.

All this will have a multiplier effect on demand and provide an impetus to the private-sector capital expenditure cycle.

For the MSME segment: a) Announced a revamped credit guarantee scheme, b) corporates are incentivized to make timely payments to MSMEs, c) For MSMEs that came up short in executing government contracts during the pandemic, the government has announced a one-time refund of 95% of their forfeited security amounts.

For greener ecosystem: Major thrust planned for green energy

What are some concerns highlighted in budget 2023-24?

-The budget continued scaling down the government’s disinvestment target. For instance, in 2021-22, the budget had pegged proceeds from disinvestment at Rs 1.75 lakh crore. Actual proceeds stood at a mere Rs 13,627 crore. For the coming year, the budget has lowered disinvestment to Rs 51,000 crore.

–Not provided a detailed roadmap: The government has chosen not to provide a medium term fiscal roadmap. According to the government, “medium term projections amidst unprecedented global turbulence and headwinds may not be reliable”. But a detailed roadmap would have helped the government to align short-term measures with the goal of achieving medium-term targets.

To sum up, the budget 2023-24 is pro-growth, pro-infrastructure, pro-energy transition and pro-MSMEs as well.