BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS

No changes have been introduced in personal income tax.

Employers who are late in depositing employee contribution to pension, gratuity will not get deduction for this. The aim is to deter companies that do not deposit on time.

FM Nirmala Sitharaman says that income tax return forms have been further simplified.

FY21 fiscal deficit pegged at 9.5% of GDP. Further, the FY22 fiscal deficit has been pegged at 6.8% of GDP. Gross market borrowing target is at Rs 12 lakh crore for FY22. We will approach the market for additional Rs 80,000 crore to fund FY21 fiscal deficit. We hope to get back on the fiscal consolidation path by FY26: FM

Timeline for reopening of tax returns has been reduced from 6 years to 3 years.

Sitharaman announced that the much awaited LIC IPO will be launched within the next financial year. She added that legislative amendments to this effect will be launched in the Parliament in the Budget session.

Senior citizens above the age of 75 years will not be required to file income tax returns, says FM Nirmala Sitharaman.

A provision of Rs 1,500 crore has been made in the Budget for further promoting digital payments.

The forthcoming census will be the first ever digital census in the history of India, says FM Nirmala Sitharaman.

Paddy MSP to be doubled this year. 1.5 crore farmers will benefit from increased MSP. Cotton farmers saw a stupendous increase in the amount that was paid to them in 2013-14, that was 90 crore and it has increased to over 25,000 crore in 2020-21.

Scheme of Mega Investment Textile Parks to be launched, in addition to PLI scheme, to create world-class infra in textile sector, with plug-and-play facilities, to create global export champions. 7 textile parks to be set up over 3 years.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the government is providing a record sum of Rs 1,10,055 crores for Railways of which Rs 1,07,100 crores is for capital expenditure only.

The government has announced an allocation of Rs 2,217 crore for 42 urban centres with million-plus population, to tackle burgeoning problem of air pollution.

The FDI in insurance has been raised from 49 percent to 74 percent. The key management will be resident Indians.

Ujjwala scheme will be extended to Cover 1 crore more beneficiaries, the Finance Minister said.

A New Scheme will be launched at a cost of Rs 18,000 crores to support augmentation of Public Bus Transport Services.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced Rs 25,000 crore allocation for roads in West Bengal, with emphasis on the upgradation of the road from Kolkata to Siliguri.

A new Centrally sponsored scheme PM Aatmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana to be launched with an outlay of ₹ 64,180 crore over 6 years. This will be done to develop capacities of health care systems, develop institutions for detection and cure of new and emerging diseases.

The government will allocate Rs 35,400 crore towards Covid-19 vaccines for FY22 and is committed to more if required.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the total outlay for health and well-being is Rs 2,23,246 crore. This is an increase of 137 percent as compared to last budget's allocation which was close to Rs 94,000 crore.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present and read out the Union Budget at the Parliament through a tab, instead of the traditional 'bahi khata'.

"Budget will be in accordance with people's expectations. The government, which functions on mantra of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas', gave new direction to India by announcing Aatmanirbhar package, protecting it from pandemic & bringing economy back on track swiftly," MoS Finance Anurag Thakur said.