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Union Budget 2022 Highlights: The Union Budget is the annual report of India as a country. It contains the government of India's revenue and expenditure for the end of a particular fiscal year, which runs from April 1 to March 31. The Union Budget is the most extensive account of the government's finances, in which revenues from all sources and expenses of all activities undertaken are aggregated. It comprises the revenue budget and the capital budget. It also contains estimates for the next fiscal year. Keeping with recent tradition, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is expected to announce Union Budget 2022 on February 1 this year. This will be preceded by a virtual meeting of the Rajya Sabha floor leaders, ahead of the budget session of the Parliament, will be held on January 31. The meeting will be chaired by Chairman of the House and Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu. This year will be Sitharaman's fourth Budget after 2019, 2020 and 2021. She had read out the Budget from a tablet last year in parliament.
We can also await the "halwa ceremony", which is generally organised at the Finance Ministry headquarters in the Secretariat building’s North Block basement in the national capital. The Finance Minister kicks off the celebrations by stirring the dessert in a traditional kadhai (cauldron) and then serves it to her colleagues. The ministers of state (MoS Finance) and other top officials of the ministry are present during the ceremony. This ritual also sets the stage for a significant event soon after. The North Block becomes Fort Knox for 10-odd days up to the presentation of the Budget, where all officials and staff involved in the Budget-making process isolate themselves to maintain rigid secrecy about the document. The tradition has been carried out for decades in the basement of the North Block that also houses the special printing press, which printed the Budget documents from 1980 until 2020.
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Health insurance is no longer an option but a necessity, the importance of which was reinforced during the pandemic. However, India still remains largely underinsured due to household budget constraints, which can be corrected to a large extent if the government were to consider the following suggestions:
(A) Reduction in GST: Imposing 18% GST on health insurance premiums is a deterrent for the uninsured consumer to seek health insurance which is indispensable, now more than ever. Given that healthcare services carry nil to low GST in our country, nullifying the health insurance tax rate or reducing it to make it commensurate with medical services taxation will be a huge incentive for buyers, and will make health insurance more affordable for the middle- and lower-income groups.
(B) Higher tax benefits on health insurance premiums:The present tax deduction rate on health insurance premiums as per Section 80D of the Income Tax Act should be increased. It is recommended to double the 80D limitsfrom the current levels of Rs. 25,000 for individuals and Rs. 50,000 for senior citizens. These limits have not been revised for a few years now. Furthermore, the pandemic has led to increase in medical inflation as well as health insurance premiums. Increasing the tax benefits would motivate personal financial planning while boosting the disposable income of the working-class populace. This could in turn be utilized to opt for more comprehensive health insurance plans with enhanced sum insured and coverage. It would also help to improve health insurance penetration by encouraging people to purchase medical insurance, thereby allowing access to much needed high-quality medicare and treatment.
"During Covid-19, it became pretty evident that the entire premise of depending on the global supply chain won't work in the Covid era and to avoid disruptions India would need its own manufacturing base. Subsequently, the government has taken crucial steps in this direction by introducing the PLI Schemes, these PLI Schemes must also be extended to the Robotics sector as this will encourage global players to Make-In-India and also give a boost to Indian robotics companies. At present many Indian companies are importing the robots from outside, especially China and Robotics as a sector is poised for growth globally."
“We expect the government to bring the long-awaited National Logistics Policy (NLP) into action. The logistics industry is the backbone of the economy and the policy will help ease bottlenecks, and reduce costs. India’s logistics cost is approximately 14% of its GDP. The government must decrease the logistics cost to 8-10% of the GDP and bring it at par with other developing countries. The wide-ranging reforms in the NLP will act as a catalyst in making India a $5-trillion economy.
We want policy reforms that accelerate the pace of digitalisation to ensure sustainable growth in the future. We hope that the Union Budget will focus on increasing investments in modern technologies like AI, ML and Blockchain for greater transparency and cost management in the logistic industry.
We are expecting the government to fast track the new warehousing policy which focuses on the development of exclusive warehousing zones. 2022 also needs to expedite the creation of an online logistics marketplace that brings various stakeholders like LSPs, government agencies, rail, road and air cargo on a single platform."
"Union Budget 2022-23 is highly crucial to align Indian economy’s growth trajectory. It is essential that the Hon'ble Finance Minister announces effective measures to enable speedy recovery and growth of the MSMEs, considering the sector’s significant contribution to the economy. It is encouraging to see Government’s support for the MSME sector in last 12-15 months and we believe the efforts will only become more prominent in the time to come.
In past few years, operationally nimble and technologically oriented NBFCs and Fintechs have deepened the credit penetration to the underserved regions of the country. Hence, in the upcoming budget, policymakers should provide due consideration to boost liquidity support to the NBFCs as well as encourage frameworks like co-lending, which will greatly boost the reach of financial institutions and progress in the financial inclusion imperative. EASE 4.0 talks about Co – Lending between Banks and NBFC as a means to increase the credit penetration, however the treatment of Tax Deduction at Source (TDS) treatment for NBFC and Banks are different and that is proving to be a major operational challenge to accelerate credit. It is expected that TDS rules would be harmonised between Banks and NBFCs."
