The Budget is when the Government of India shares how it plans to spend money in the coming year.
Please read this explainer to understand what a budget is, in general, and what the Union Budget is.
Why should we pay attention to the Union Budget?
Let’s say that in 2023, the government decides to open over 3,000 schools for tribal areas. (it does).
This means that the schools will need teachers, school buildings, and of course, students.
If you are:
A. A student considering teaching as a career, OR
B. A building materials supplier or contractor, OR
C. A student in a tribal area
this will mean a lot to you.
The budget provides direction to investment and growth in the country for the following year.
Important Announcements Today
India’s fiscal deficit is at just 9.5%. The Finance Minister has shared that the plan is to reduce it to <5% by 2025-26.
The government announced 7 priority areas.
Capital investment of Rs. 10 lakh crores – up 33% from last year.
Indian Railways gets a capital budget of 2.4 lakh crores.
Focus on skill development
Ministry Wise Allocation
This is an important graph.
As we can see – transportation – Railways and Roadways – has got the highest allocation – a total of 5.11 lakh crores.
Rural Development and Agriculture have got a total of 2.85 lakh crores.
Defence has the highest outlay.
Important Schemes for this year
The important schemes this year are:
A. Growth of Pharma Industry
B. Growth of lab grown diamonds
C. Agritech
D. Skill development and Capacity building in the areas of AI, ML, and other emerging technologies
E. India to become global hub for millets. India is largest producer and second largest exporter of all kinds of millets.
F. 157 new nursing colleges to be set up. Special focus on education in Eklavya Schools for tribal children.
G. National Data Governance Policy to be brought out.
H. E Courts to be expanded.
I. Clean energy will be a focus area.
Where is the money for the Budget coming from?
This graphic, released by the Government of India, explains how the government gets its money, and where it is spent.
Note: This report does not cover the Income Tax change because details of that are being worked out by qualified CAs. This process typically takes a few days.
Also, the featured image is generated using Dalle-2.