Union Budget 2023 : The good, bad and ugly

The Union Budget 2023 was announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman earlier this month. The Union Budget of 2023 has been described as the first budget of a new Era - “Amritkaal”. An era of hope, starting from 2023 all the way to 2047, when India will complete a 100 years of her

Independence.

The main change in the budget was the tax rebate limit changing from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 7 lakh , which was welcomed by middle class families, giving them a relaxation on tax payments. Notably, 31 % of India’s population are from the middle class (2021 data).

One sector that has surely benefitted from this budget is the tourism industry, as the overall number of tourist spots (50 tourist spots) have been increased in India, along with funding for the same.

Eknath Shinde (Shiv Sena party), the Chief minister of Maharash

tra was in full support of the new budget that was rolled out. The allocation of Rs 10 lakh crore in the infrastructure industry is a boon for Maharashtra and the undergoing infrastructure projects in Mumbai. Maharashtra which is also home to many small scale industries will be benefited by the increase in allocation to the Credit Guarantee Scheme for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise. Maharashtra which has a 720 km long coastline, will get a boost in tourism and fishery due to the investment of rs 6000 core for tourism and fishermen.

“Fancy names and throwing around words like hope of a new era are not really enough”, says Amit Tak, a banker at HDFC who follows the budget every year.

On the other hand, the opposition party, namely the Congress Party had criticism to share about the budgetary allocations. Ajit Pawar, Congress leader has said that the “Union Budget disappointed the country including Maharashtra and did not offer anything special for Mumbai”. Other Congress party leaders have also claimed that the financial capital of the country has been ignored, which is adding insult to injury considering how Mumbai is the highest tax contributor to the Central government’s revenue.

“The employment creation scheme MNREGA has been the lowest in the last 5 years, by getting a budget cut from Rs 89,400 crore to Rs 60,000 crore '' says Navratan Bohra, a Chartered Accountant based out of Mumbai.

“Look personally speaking, I think the Budget could have been better specially for Mumbai.We are the economic centre of the country, why not make provisions which will benefit it?” , he adds

While Maharashtra will benefit from some aspects, issues like unemployment and agriculture have been ignored. Maharashtra has an agricultural industry of 16 percent of its total sector (2021).

Whether the central government will be able to hold up the budget to the promises it makes is something that we will only understand in the course of the year. While the public is still deciding where the tax rebates will benefit them in any way, they have expressed clear disdain for the lack of importance given to creating employment opportunities and decreasing the overall inflation rates.

Sources of data :

Union Budget 2023

Economic Times

Times of India