A TEASPOONFUL OF AMRIT FOR ALL

Outlay on PM Awas Yojana housing scheme for poor enhanced by 66% to Rs 79,000 cr Total capital expenditure (Capex) to be increased by a third States allowed fiscal deficit as a proportion of GSDP of 3.5%, of which 0.5% linked to power sector reforms

- PARANJOY GUHA THAKURTA

The very first paragraph of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's relatively short speech, presenting the Budget for 2023-24, made it amply clear that this was her last full-fledged Budget before the next general elections. She talked of envisioning a "prosperous and inclusive India, in which the fruits of development reach all regions and citizens, especially the youth, women, farmers and those belonging to the other backward classes (OBCs), Scheduled Castes (SCS) and Scheduled Tribes (SCS). Clearly, the attempt was to counter the criticism of the government's opponents that these were the very sections of the population that had suffered the most over the last 8.5 years of the Narendra Modi government.

The finance minister received the loudest applause when she announced her proposal to change the personal income tax regime - by increasing the rebate limit on annual taxable income from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 7 lakh and reducing the number of income slabs from six to five-thereby incurring a revenue loss of around Rs 37,000 crore. The least that a middle-class taxpayer would gain is Rs 10,000 but with tax planning, the gain would be higher.

It should be recalled that five years ago, in the Budget for 2017-'18, before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the government had modified the personal income tax regime.

Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Sitharaman has increased the outlay on the Prime Minister Awas Yojana housing scheme for the poor by 66 per cent, to more than Rs 79,000 crore and, as is typical of this government, announced new schemes with catchy acronyms like PM-PRANAM (PM Programme for Restoration, Awareness, Nourishment and Amelioration of Mother Earth), PM VIKAS (PM Vishwakarma Kaushal Samman) and MISHTI (Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats and Tangible In comes). Millets like bajra, jowar and ragi have been renamed 'Shree Anna'.