Budget 2023: Top quotes from Nirmala Sitharaman's Amrit Kaal Budget

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget in Parliament Wednesday. This was Sitharaman's fifth consecutive Budget. The Amrit Kaal Budget came with several major announcements, including providing relief to a large section of taxpayers. Sitharaman further said India's growth rate is the fastest among all the major economies of the world. 

Here are the top quotes from Nirmala Sitharaman's budget speech: 

‘Indian economy a bright star’

The World has recognised the Indian economy as a bright star. Our current year's economic growth is estimated to be at 7%. It is notable that this is the highest among all the major economies. 

Relief during pandemic and rise in per capita income

“During the COVID pandemic, we ensured that nobody goes to bed hungry with a scheme to supply free foodgrains to over 80 crore persons for 28 months. The per capita income has more than doubled to Rs 1.97 Lakh. In these 9 years the Indian economy has increased its size from being 10th to 5th largest in the world.”

Vision for Amritkaal

“Our vision for the Amrit Kaal includes a technology-driven and knowledge-based economy, with strong public finances and a robust financial sector. To achieve this 'janbhagidari' through 'sabka saath, sabka prayaas' is essential.”

Priorities of Budget

"They (the priorities) complement each other and act as Saptarishis for guiding us through the Amrit Kaal - Inclusive development, Reaching the last mile, infrastructure and investment, unleashing the potential, green growth, youth power and financial sector."

‘Promotion of tourism will be taken up on mission mode’

“The country offers immense attraction for domestic as well as foreign tourists. There is a large potential to be tapped in tourism. The sector holds huge opportunities for jobs and entrepreneurship for youth in particular. 50 tourist destinations will be selected through challenge mode to be developed as a whole package for domestic and international tourism.”

To improve Socio-Economic condition of Tribal groups

“Eklavaya Model Residential Schools -in the next 3 years the Centre will recruit 38,800 teachers and support staff for 740 schools serving 3.5 lakh tribal students. To improve social-economic condition of the Particularly Tribal Groups, PMPBTG Development mission will be launched, to saturate PBTG habitations with basic facilities. Rs 15,000 cr to be made available to implement." scheme in next 3 years.”

Package for artisans, craftspeople

"PM Vishwa Karma Kaushal Samman-package of assistance for traditional artisans and craftspeople has been conceptualised, will enable them to improve quality, scale & reach of their products, integrating with MSME value chain."

National Digital Library to encourage reading

“A National Digital Library for children and adolescents will be set up for facilitating the availability of quality books across geographies, languages, genres and levels and device-agnostic accessibility. States will be encouraged to set up physical libraries for them at panchayat and ward levels and provide infrastructure for accessing the National Digital Library resources.”

One-stop citizen identity related solution

"A one-stop solution for reconciliation & updating of identity and address of individuals maintained by various govt agencies, regulators and regulated entities will be established using DigiLocker service and Aadhaar as foundational identity."

Access to anonymised data

“To unleash Innovation and research by Startups and Academia, a National Data Governance Policy will be brought out. This will enable access to anonymized data.”

3 CoE for Artificial intelligence

“For realising the vision of Make AI in India and Make AI work for India, 3 Centres of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence will be set up in top educational institutions. Leading industry players will partner in conducting inter-disciplinary research, develop cutting-edge applications & scalable problem solutions in the areas of agriculture, health and sustainable cities.”

PAN as a common identifier

“For business establishments required to have Permanent Account Number, the PAN will be used as a common identifier for all Digital Systems of specified government agencies.”

Transition from Manhole to Machine-hole mode

“All cities and towns will be enabled for 100% mechanical de-sludging of septic tanks & sewers to transition from manhole to machine hole mode.”

Labs in Engineering institutions for developing 5G services

“100 labs for developing apps using 5G services will be set up in Engineering institutions. To realise new range of opportunities, business models & employment potential, labs will cover among others, apps like Smart Classrooms,Precision Farming,Intelligent Transports Systems & Healthcare.”

Announcements on personal Income Tax

"Currently those with income upto 5 Lakh do not pay any Income tax in both old and new tax regimes. I propose to increase the rebate limit to 7 lakh in the new tax regime. The second proposal relates to middle-class individuals. I had introduced in the year 2020, the new personal income tax regime with six income slabs starting form 2.5 Lakh. I propose to change the tax structure in this regime by reducing the number of slabs to five and increasing the tax examption limit to 3 lakh."

Steps to boost air connectivity

"50 additional airports, helipads, water aero drones, and advanced landing grounds will be revived to improve regional air connectivity."

IMAGE: ANI