Government proposes an increase of about 30% in budget allocation to highway sector; doubles MSME allocation

Government has proposed an increase of about 30 per cent in the Union Budget allocation to the highways sector for the next financial year (FY2021-22). Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced several measures to augment road infrastructure in the Union Budget 2021-22 presented in the Parliament on this Monday.

An enhanced outlay of more than Rs 1,118,000 crore has been provided for the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. She said that more than the 13,000-kilometre length of roads have already been awarded under the Bharatmala Pariyojana of which 3,800 kilometres have been constructed.

Work on the Delhi-Dehradun Economic Corridor will be initiated in the current financial year (FY2020-21), while the Kanpur-Lucknow Expressway project will commence in 2021-22. The construction for Amritsar-Jamnagar and Delhi-Katra projects will also commence in 2021-22.

Besides, the government has also proposed to more than double the allocation for the Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the Union Budget 2021-22. It has made provision of Rs 15,700 crore for the sector. Government has taken a number of steps to support the MSME sector. These include reduction of customs duties on certain products to protect MSMEs from the sharp rise in iron and steel prices and providing an incentive to exporters of garments, leather and handicraft items among others.

MSMEs and other user industries which were severely hit by a recent sharp rise in iron and steel prices are bound to get the much-needed boost in the Budget. The government has proposed to reduce Customs duty uniformly to 7.5 per cent on semis, flat and long products of non-alloy, alloy, and stainless steels.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed to revoke anti-dumping duties and countervailing duties on certain steel products, to provide relief to metal recyclers. Also, the proposal provides for exempting duty on steel scrap for a period up to March 31, 2022.

The duty on copper scrap is being reduced from 5 per cent to 2.5 per cent to provide relief to copper recyclers.

As an incentive to exporters of garments, leather, and handicraft items, the government is rationalising exemption on import of duty-free items. It is also withdrawing exemption on imports of certain kinds of leathers as they are domestically produced in good quantity and quality, mostly by MSMEs.

The government is also raising customs duty on finished synthetic gemstones to encourage their domestic processing.

The government is uniformly reducing the basic customs duty rates on caprolactam, nylon chips and nylon fibre to 5 per cent. This will help the textile industry, MSMEs and exports. The Budget also provides for the introduction of a special framework for debt resolution in respect of MSMEs. Through these steps and a higher allocation for the MSME sector, the government aims at achieving inclusive development and the vision of AtmaNirbhar Bharat.