Amrit Kaal Budget ahead of polls

New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday raised the personal income-tax rebate limit, doled out sops on small savings and announced one of the biggest hikes in capital spending in the past decade as she did a tight rope walk in the Budget between staying fiscally prudent and meeting public expectations in the year before general elections.

The personal income tax rebate limit has been increased to Rs 7 lakh from the fiscal year starting April 1 under the new tax regime from the previous Rs 5 lakh. Tax slabs have been cut to five from seven earlier. Also, the maximum income-tax rate has been reduced to about 39 per cent from 42.7 per cent after a reduction in the highest surcharge to 25 per cent from 37 per cent. Besides, the deposit limit for senior citizen savings schemes has been doubled to Rs 30 lakh and for Monthly Income Account Scheme to Rs 9 lakh. A new small savings scheme for women, offering 7.5 per cent interest rate on deposits of up to Rs 2 lakh for a tenor of 2 years, has been announced.

Sitharaman's fifth straight budget comes at a time when the economy is slowing due to global headwinds and there is a need for increased spending on social sectors as well as ramping up incentives for local manufacturing. She also announced customs duty relief on mobile phone components, as well as on capital goods for lithium batteries and other such items to boost green energy and exports. This is the final full budget before the general elections in April/ May next year. An interim budget, called vote on account, is to be presented in February next year and the new government will present the full budget sometime in July 2024.

For 2023-24, capital investment outlay has been increased steeply for the third year in a row by 33 per cent to Rs 10 lakh crore, which would be 3.3 per cent of the GDP. "This Budget hopes to build on the foundation laid in the previous Budget, and the blueprint drawn for India@100," Sitharaman said in her budget speech in Lok Sabha. Indian economy, she said, is a "bright star" with the current 7 per cent GDP growth being the highest among all the major economies.

Sitharaman said that despite a global slowdown because of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, the Indian economy was "on the right track". Total expenditure is seen rising 7.4 per cent to Rs 45 lakh crore. The government would target a budget deficit of 5.9 per cent of GDP in 2023-24, down from 6.4 per cent for the current year. That would entail a gross borrowing of Rs 15.43 lakh crore. Sitharaman said the Budget for 2023-24 (April 2023 to March 2024), adopts seven priorities -- inclusive development, reaching the last mile, infrastructure and investment, unleashing the potential, green growth, youth power and financial sector.