Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharam tabled Budget 2022. This is the fourth budget of the Sitharaman at a crucial time when the nation is reeling under pandemic. The public is expecting a big relief and generation of employment opportunities from the government.
Take a look at the key highlights from Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Speech:
1. Agriculture
· Focus on agricultural productivity and farmers, direct payment of MSP of Rs 2.37 lakh crore.
· Chemical-free natural farming will be promoted throughout the country with a focus on farmers' land in 5 km wide corridors along the river Ganga, in the first stage.
2. Digital Currency
· Digital rupee to be issued using blockchain and other technologies by RBI starting 2022-23.
· This will give a big boost to the economy.
3. Education
· Finance Minister Nirmala Sidharaman announced the formation of a digital university to provide access to world-class education to Indian students.
· “1 class 1 TV channel’ initiative will be started to counter the loss of learning due to the pandemic.
· PM e-vidya scheme from 12 channels to 200 to be made available in all regional languages.
· 5 academic institutions on urban planning to be made centres of excellence.
· Agricultural universities will revise syllabi to meet the needs of modern-day farming.
4. Taxation
· Income from transfer of digital assets to be charged 30% tax, plus 1% tax on the transaction.
· Income from Long Term Capital Gains will be taxed at 15%.
· Corporate surcharge to be reduced from 12% to 7%.
· To provide an opportunity to correct an error, taxpayers can now file an updated return within 2 years from the relevant assessment year.
· No change in income tax rate and slab.
5. Transportation
· PM Gati Shakti project will be launched by the government. The project will expand the national highway network by "25,000 km in 2022-23.
· 400 new-generation Vande Bharat trains with better efficiency will be brought in during the next 3 years.
· 100 PM Gati Shakti Cargo terminals to be developed during next 3 years and implementation of innovative ways for building metro systems.