बजट 2021: ‘स्वस्थ भारत’ और ‘मजबूत बुनियाद’ पर रफ्तार पकड़ेगी अर्थव्यवस्था, कुल 34,83,236 करोड़ रु का बजट -Budget 2021-22

 

 वित्त मंत्री निर्मला सीतारमण (Nirmala Sitharaman) ने वित्त वर्ष 2021-22 का बजट पेश कर दिया. कोविड19 महामारी के बीच आया बजट 2021 इस बात के साफ संकेत दे गया कि ‘स्वस्थ भारत’ और ‘मजबूत बुनियाद’ पर ही देश आगे बढ़ेगा. अर्थव्यवस्था को रफ्तार देने के लिए खर्च करना ही है, सरकार ने जिस तरह राजकोषीय घाटे का लक्ष्य निर्धारित किया है, उससे यह बात साफ है. वित्त मंत्री के बजट में ऐसा कोई नया टैक्स नहीं लगाया जिसका निवेशकों, कारोबारियों या करदाताओं पर नकारात्मक असर हो. यही वजह रही कि शेयर बाजार भी बम-बम करता नजर आया और निवेशकों की दौलत एक ही दिन में 6.8 लाख करोड़ रुपये बढ़ गई. वित्त मंत्री ने फॉर्म क्रेडिट लिमिट को 16.5 लाख करोड़ रुपये करके किसानों को एक अहम संदेश देने की पहल की. हालांकि, वेतनभोगी करदाताओं का इंतजार एक साल और बढ़ गया. यानी, करदाताओं की जेब पर किसी भी तरह की राहत नहीं दी गई.

वित्त मंत्री निर्मला सीतारमण ने 2021-22 के लिए कुल 34,83,236 करोड़ रुपये के व्यय का बजट पेश किया है. यह चालू वित्त वर्ष के संशोधित अनुमान 34,50,305 करोड़ रुपये से थोड़ा ही अधिक है. इसमें पूंजी व्यय 5,54,236 करोड़ रुपये है, जो 2020-21 के संशोधित अनुमान 4,39,163 करोड़ रुपये से कहीं अधिक है. बजट दस्तावेज के मुताबिक, राजस्व खाते पर व्यय 29,29,000 करोड़ रुपये अनुमानित है जबकि 2020-21 के संशोधित अनुमान के अनुसार खर्च 30,111,42 करोड़ रुपये दिखाया गया है.

वित्त मंत्री ने बजट में 6 पिलर्स के नाम, स्वास्थ्य और कल्याण, भौतिक और वित्तीय पूंजी, और अवसंरचना, आकांक्षी भारत के लिए समावेशी विकास, मानव पूंजी में नवजीवन का संचार करना, नवप्रवर्तन और अनुसंधान एवं विकास और न्यूनतम सरकार और अधिकतम शासन, गिनाए. बजट में आयकर दाताओं को बजट में किसी भी तरह अहम राहत का एलान नहीं किया गया है. इनकम टैक्स स्लैब में किसी भी तरह का बदलाव नहीं किया गया है. हालांकि, वरिष्ठ नागरिक जो 75 साल से अधिक हैं और उनकी पेंशन व जमा से आय है तो उनकी इनकम टैक्स रिटर्न से छूट देने का एलान किया.

Union Budget 2021-22: Key Highlights

 

Focus is on strengthening the ‘Sankalp of Aatmanirbhar Bharat’

• Health & well-being

• Physical & financial capital and infrastructure

• Inclusive development for aspirational India • Reinvigorating human capital

• Innovation and R&D

• Minimum Government & Maximum Governance 

Continues to lay a focus on supporting the farmers and rural sector, with several micro-level initiatives. 

Emphasis on privatization, digitization and infrastructure sector spends.

 

Fiscal Policy Outlook

The revised fiscal spend is pegged at Rs.34.50 lakh crores (RE) for FY21 against of Rs.30.42 lakh crores (BE)  Fiscal deficit estimated at 9.5% of GDP for 2020-21 and at 6.8% for 2021-22  BE estimates for expenditure in 2021- 22, are Rs.34.83 lakh crores, which includes Rs.54 lakh crores as capital expenditure, an increase of 34.5% over the BE figure of 2020-21. 

Set the disinvestment target Rs.1.75 lakh crore for 2021-22

 

Specific Proposals

·        An outlay for health and well-being at Rs.2,23,846 crore in the 2021-22, a 137% increase from previous year. 

·        PLI launched across 13 sectors with amount committed Rs.1.97 lakh crore in next 5 years.

·        Increased permissible FDI limit from 49% to 74% in Insurance Companies .

·        Stressed asset resolution by setting by ARC and AMC 

·        Recapitalization of PSBs Rs. 20,000 crores

Overview

The first budget of this new decade and also a digital one in the backdrop of unprecedented COVID-19 crisis was presented by Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, Honorable Finance Minister, Government of India  The budget seems to have targeted growth with a strong fiscal stimulus and several micro-level initiatives with a mix of welfare and infrastructure investment measures  Some of the key reforms included where: • A new centrally sponsored scheme, PM AatmaNirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana, is proposed to be launched with an outlay of about Rs. 64,180 crore over 6 years to develop capacities of primary, secondary, and tertiary care Health Systems, strengthen existing national institutions (in addition to the National Health Mission) • Rs. 2.87 lakh crore over 5 years for Jal Jeevan Mission (Urban) - to be launched with an aim to provide: 2.86 crore household tap connections, Universal water supply in all 4,378 Urban Local Bodies and Liquid waste management in 500 AMRUT cities • Rs. 1.42 lakh crore over 5 years for Urban Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0 • Rs. 1.97 lakh crore in next 5 years for PLI schemes in 13 Sectors; to create and nurture manufacturing global champions for an AatmaNirbhar Bharat

 

Health and Well-being

 

Rs. 2,23,846 crore outlay for Health and Wellbeing in BE 2021-22 as against Rs.94,452 crore in BE 2020-21 – an increase of 137%  Focus on strengthening three areas: Preventive, Curative, and Wellbeing  Rs. 35,000 crore for COVID-19 vaccine in BE 2021-22  Expansion of the Integrated Health Information Portal to all States/UTs to connect all public health labs  Mission Poshan 2.0 to be launched; To strengthen nutritional content, delivery, outreach, and outcome

 

Railway Infrastructure

 

Rs. 1,10,055 crore for Railways of which Rs.1,07,100 crore is for capital expenditure  National Rail Plan for India (2030): to create a ‘future ready’ Railway system by 2030  100% electrification of Broad-Gauge routes to be completed by December, 2023  Broad Gauge Route Kilometers (RKM) electrification to reach 46,000 RKM, i.e. 72% by end of 2021  Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) and Eastern DFC to be commissioned by June 2022, to bring down the logistic costs – enabling Make in India strategy

Urban Infrastructure

 

Raising the share of public transport in urban areas by expansion of metro rail network and augmentation of city bus service  Rs. 18,000 crore for a new scheme, to augment public bus transport; Innovative PPP models to run more than 20,000 buses  A total of 702 km of conventional metro is operational and another 1,016 km of metro and RRTS is under construction in 27 cities

Power Infrastructure

Rs.3,05,984 crore over 5 years for a revamped, reforms-based and result-linked new power distribution sector scheme  A comprehensive National Hydrogen Energy Mission 2021-22 to be launched

Petroleum & Natural Gas

Extention of Ujjwala Scheme to cover 1 crore more beneficiaries.  To add 100 more districts to the City Gas Distribution network in next 3 years.  A new gas pipeline project in J&K  An independent Gas Transport System Operator to be set up for facilitation and coordination of booking of common carrier capacity in all-natural gas pipelines on a non-discriminatory open access basis

Financial Capital

 

A single Securities Markets Code to be evolved  Support for development of a world class Fin-Tech hub at the GIFT-IFSC  Capital infusion of Rs.1,000 crore to Solar Energy Corporation of India and Rs.1,500 crore to Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency  Setting up a system of Regulated Gold Exchanges: SEBI to be notified as a regulator and Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority to be strengthened  To increase the permissible FDI limit from 49% to 74% and allow foreign ownership and control with safeguards

Roads and Highways Infrastructure

Rs. 1,18,101 lakh crore, highest ever outlay, for Ministry of Road Transport and Highways – of which Rs.1,08,230 crore is for capital  Under the Rs.5.35 lakh crore Bharatmala Pariyojana, more than 13,000 km length of roads worth Rs.3.3 lakh crore awarded for construction: • 3,800 km have already been constructed • Another 8,500 km to be awarded for construction by March 2022 • Additional 11,000 km of national highway corridors to be completed by March 2022  Economic corridors being planned across states vis., Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, Assam etc.,

 

Tax Proposals

Direct Taxes

• Exemption from filing tax returns for senior citizens over 75 years of age and having only pension and interest income; tax to be deducted by paying bank

• Time limit for re-opening cases reduced to 3 years from 6 years

• Limit of turnover for tax audit increased to Rs.10 crore from Rs.5 crore for entities carrying out 95% transactions digitally

• Additional deduction of interest, up to Rs.1.5 lakh, for loan taken to buy an affordable house extended for loans taken till March 2022

• Exemption limit of annual receipt revised from Rs. 1 crore to Rs. 5 crore for small charitable trusts running schools and hospitals  Indirect Taxes

• GST: - Electronic invoice system; Pre-filled editable GST return - Use of deep analytics and AI to identify tax evaders

 

• Custom Duty Rationalization: - Proposal to review more than 400 old exemptions this year - Customs duty reduced uniformly to 7.5% on semis, flat, and long products of non-alloy, alloy, and stainless steels - Basic Customs Duty (BCD) on caprolactam, nylon chips and nylon fiber & yarn reduced to 5% - Custom duty on gold and silver to be rationalized - Duty on some parts of mobiles revised to 2.5% from ‘nil’ rate - Customs duty on cotton increased from nil to 10% and on raw silk and silk yarn from 10% to 15%. NRI – Non-Resident Indian, NBFC- Non-banking Finance Company 1

Reinvigorating Human Capital

 

15,000 schools to be strengthened by implementing all NEP components. Shall act as exemplar schools in their regions for mentoring others  Legislation to be introduced to setup Higher Education Commission of India as an umbrella body with 4 separate vehicles for standard-setting, accreditation, regulation, and funding  Central University to come up in Leh for accessibility of higher education in Ladakh  750 Eklavya model residential schools in tribal areas; Unit cost of each school to be increased to Rs. 38 crore  Rs.35,219 crore enhanced Central Assistance for 6 years till 2025-2026; 4 crore SC students to benefit

 

Agriculture

 SWAMITVA Scheme to be extended to all States/UTs, 1.80 lakh property-owners in 1,241 villages have already been provided cards  Rural Infrastructure Development Fund to be enhanced to Rs.40,000 crore from Rs.30,000 crore  To double the Micro Irrigation Fund to Rs.10,000 crore  ‘Operation Green Scheme’ to be extended to 22 perishable products, to boost value addition in agriculture and allied products  APMCs to get access to the Agriculture Infrastructure Funds for augmenting infrastructure facilities

  

Sector level actions

Sector	Impact	Outlook
Banking	Positive	Additional deduction on Interest on affordable home loans; for loan sanctioned up to March 2022.  ARC and AMC will be set up to consolidate and takeover existing stressed assets  Rs. 20,000 crore recapitalization for public sector banks (PSBs) and 2 PSBs to be privatized in FY22  Development financial institution (DFI) will be set up with Rs.20,000 crore capital to fund infrastructure  With push on the growth, this space is likely to get incremental opportunity to lend
NBFCs	Neutral to Marginally Positive	Decrease in Debt recovery limit : NBFCs with minimum asset size of Rs1bn (v/s 5 bn), the minimum loan size eligible for debt recovery under SARFAESI reduced from Rs.50 lakhs to Rs.20 lakhs  Extension of affordable housing and rental housing is expected to benefit the sector  Proposal to increase safe harbour limit from 10% to 20% for primary sale of residential units  Increase in opportunity to resolve credit issue as well as grow the balance sheet through lending
Insurance	Neutral to Marginally Positive	FDI limit in insurance increased from 49% to 74%: neutral impact on large & listed players, positive for smaller, unlisted players looking to raise capital or divestment  A general insurance company to be privatized in FY22  Proposed to allow tax exemption for maturity proceed of only those ULIPs having annual premium of up to ₹ 2.5 lakh; marginally negative for life insurance companies
Engineering	Positive	Increased customs duties for products vis., solar inverters and promoting national hydrogen energy mission would help impetus for make in India initiate
Auto & Auto components	Neutral to Marginally Positive	Intend to introduce voluntary scrappage policy but details are not available  Custom duty changes are proposed in select components  Increased spend on infrastructure would support demand in commercial vehicles and tractors
Healthcare	Neutral	Healthcare expenditure budget increased by ~10% YoY (from FY21RE) to Rs.713bn. Additionally, Rs.350bn allocated for Covid-19 vaccination.  Budgetary allocation for Jan Aushadhi increased to Rs.0.65bn from Rs.0.50 bn in FY21  Significant thrust on improving healthcare infrastructure
Fertilizer	Positive	Fertilizer subsidy allocation for 2020-21 revised at Rs.1,340bn (with additional allocation of Rs.650bn) is likely to benefit the industry as fertilizer subsidy arrears are expected to be cleared.
Cement	Positive	Boost to affordable housing as additional deduction of interest amounting to INR1.5lakhs for loans taken extended upto March 2022. Also, affordable housing projects can avail tax holiday for one more yeartill March 2022.  Allocation towards Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) stands at INR275bn, reduction of 32% over FY21RE.  Awarding of 8500kms and completion of 11000kms of national highways by March 2022.  Allocation towards metro projects increased to INR190bn, ~3x over FY21RE. FY21 spend was much lower  than originally budgeted.  Overall, demand outlook remain positive
Building Materials	Positive	Jal Jeevan outlay of Rs 2,87,000Cr for next 5 years; beneficial for plastic pipe players  Focus on affordable housing, Swachchha Bharat resulting in higher demand for the sector
Metals	Marginally Negative	Reduction in customs duty on various steel products; marginally negative for steel players, lower impact due to most imports happen from FTA countries  Duty exemption on steel scrap & no CVD on few steel products; marginally negative for long steel players  Higher allocation towards infrastructure and Jal Jeevan scheme should benefit from overall demand
Real Estate	Marginally positive	Deadline for Rs.1.5 lakh extra deduction for housing loans taken for affordable housing extended by  another year  Deadline for tax holiday for developers of affordable housing extended by another year  Safe harbour limit for primary sales increased from 10% to 20%; marginally beneficial for residential real estate developers  Proposals from the budget is likely to benefit the real estate developers at large
Power Utilities	Neutral	Renewables: Equity infusion of Rs 10bn to SECI and Rs 15bn to IREDA; positive for renewable developers  Proposed allocation and changes in distribution sector should provide for capital expenditure and growth opportunities for players in this sector