Budget 2022 focused on ‘digital and technology,’ as well as infrastructure, health, education, and the general public’s access to e-services. This Union Budget laid the foundation and set the economic course for the next 25 years, from India’s 75th to its 100th birthday.
At 9.2 per cent, India had the highest GDP growth rate of any country. We’re in the midst of the
Omicron wave, and the speed with which we developed vaccines has made a big difference.
According to the FM, ‘Sabka Prayaas’ will continue to grow. A significant increase in public
investment and capital spending is included in Budget 2022. The anticipated ownership transfer of
Air India has been completed.
Direct Taxes – Income Tax
 A new provision allows taxpayers to amend a past return and incorporate previously omitted
income by making an additional tax payment. The updated return must be filed within two
years of the end of the relevant assessment year.
 For startups, the tax incentive period has been extended by one year. Tax incentives will
now be available to eligible companies formed under Section 80-IAC until March 31, 2023.
 The corporate surcharge will be cut from 12 per cent to 7%.
 For co-operative societies, the Alternate Minimum Tax (AMT) will be decreased to 15%.
 Digital asset transfers, such as bitcoin, will be taxed at 30%. There would be no deductions
allowed to save for the cost of purchasing digital assets. Losses on the sale of digital assets
cannot be mitigated by income from other sources. If the threshold is surpassed, a 1% TDS
will be levied. Gifts of digital assets will be taxed in the recipient’s hands.
 The Finance Ministry recommended raising the employer contribution to the National
Pension Scheme (NPS) Tier-I account from 10% to 14% to achieve parity between central
and state government employees.
 Once the parent or guardian of the disabled has become 60 years of age, the amount of the
annuity or lump sum can be subtracted from the parent’s or guardian’s taxes.
 Surcharges and cessations on income are not deductible as business expenses.
 Unreported income discovered during any survey or search cannot be used to offset the
brought-forward loss. 
Education
 To improve child health, 2 lakh Anganwadis would be updated.
 After two years of education regression for school-aged youngsters, we must quadruple our
efforts and investment to close education gaps. The National Education Policy has proposed
allocating 6% of GDP to education. While we are still far short, the announcement of tech-
based platforms, such as PM eVIDYA’s “One class, one TV channel” programme for
schoolchildren and the formation of a digital university, was timely.
 A digital university will be established using a hub and spoke paradigm for online education
focusing on ICT.
 In all states, some ITIs will offer skilling courses.
 PM eVIDYA’s ‘one class, one TV channel’ programme will be expanded from 12 to 200 TV
channels. As a result, all states will provide extra education in regional languages to students
in grades 1 through 12.

Indirect Taxes – GST & Customs
 Sections 16, 34, 37, 39, and 52 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act have been
amended. The deadline for making modifications, corrections, uploading missing sales
invoices or notes, or claiming any lost Input Tax Credit or ITC for one financial year is no
longer September 30 but November 30 of the following year.
 The cancellation of a GSTIN by a government authority is now permitted under Section 29 of
the CGST Act. If a composition taxable person fails to file an annual return for three months
after the due date of April 30 of the following year, his registration may be cancelled.
Similarly, the six-month consecutive default in return filing is replaced with a fixed number
of consecutive tax periods default for all other taxpayers.
 Section 38, formerly known as “furnishing of inward supplies,” has been revised to remove
all references to the previous GSTR-2 and replace them with GSTR-2A and GSTR-2B, with a
new title of “Communication of details of inward supplies and input tax credit.”
 The deadline for non-resident taxable people to file GSTR-5 has been moved from the 20th
to the 13th of the following month.
 Sections 42, 43, and 43A, which dealt with matching and reversing tax credits, were
repealed.
 The most extensive gross GST revenue collection since the start of GST was Rs 1 40,986
crores in January 2022.
 Concessional customs duty on capital goods imports will be phased away, with a starting
rate of 7.5 per cent.
 Over 350 import exemptions for agricultural goods, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and other
products will be phased out.
 Import duty exemptions for phone chargers, transformers, and other electronic components
enable domestic production.
 Import taxes on fake jewellery have been raised to discourage their use.
 The duty on some leather and packaging boxes has been cut to encourage exports.
 The tariff on cut and polished diamonds and stones will be decreased to 5%.
 The tariff exemption on steel scrap has been extended for another year to assist MSMEs.
 Methanol’s customs duty will be decreased.
 An additional excise fee of Rs.2 per litre will be imposed on unblended fuel to encourage
gasoline blending.
Agriculture
 The government will push funds for blended finance (with the government’s contribution
limited to 20%) for sunrise prospects, including climate action, agri-tech, and so on.
 NABARD will support a fund to finance agriculture and rural enterprise startups important to
the farm produce value chain. FPOs will be backed by startups, which will give technology to
farmers.
 Kisan Drones will be promoted for crop evaluation, land record digitisation, and insecticide
and nutrient spraying.
 Wheat procurement in Rabi season 2021-22 and anticipated paddy procurement in Kharif
season 2021-22 will include 1208 lakh metric tonnes of wheat and paddy from 163 lakh
farmers, with Rs 2.37 lakh crore in direct MSP payments to their accounts.
 Farmers will be able to access high-tech services for the first time.
 Farmers’ MSP will be deposited straight into their bank accounts.

 In India, chemical-free natural farming will be promoted.

Budget allocation
 In FY23, India is expected to have a 6.4 per cent fiscal deficit.
 The revised fiscal deficit is anticipated to be 6.9% of GDP.
 States will receive Rs 1 lakh crore in interest-free loans over 50 years to help support PM
Gati Shakti’s initiatives.
 In 2022-23, the government’s effective capital spending is expected to be Rs 10.68 lakh crore
or 4.1 per cent of GDP.
 In 2022-23, the capital expenditure budget would be increased by 35.4 per cent, from Rs
4.54 lakh crore to Rs 7.50 lakh crore.
MSME
 The next phase of making conducting business and living easier will begin.
 FM extends ECLGS till March 23 to help industries that have been disproportionately
affected by the pandemic. Since MSMEs account for roughly 95% of ECLGS borrowers, this
action will ensure that MSMEs and the services sector continue to be supported. The
services sector, which accounts for over 60% of India’s GDP, continues to be a key driver of
economic growth, job creation, income production, and livelihood assistance in the country.
 The extension of ECLG will boost lending to small and medium-sized businesses.
Simultaneously, Soumya Kanti Ghosh of SBI believes that the overhaul of CGTSME will
incentivise banks to issue credit.
 The extension of the ECLGS (emergency credit line guarantee system) until March 2023,
according to experts, is a vital move.
 The government has taken steps to help MSMEs become more resilient and competitive.
 The Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme has aided 130 lakh MSMEs in mitigating the
pandemic’s harshest effects.
Investment, Sectoral allocation
 An expert committee will be formed to assess the regulatory framework for venture capital.
 The North Eastern Council will implement PM development measures for the northeast.
Youth and women will be able to engage in livelihood activities. This programme is not
planned to substitute current federal or state programmes.
Defence
 In 2022-23, the domestic defence industry will receive 68 per cent of the capital
procurement budget.
E-Passport
 E-passports featuring futuristic technology will be issued in 2022-23.
 According to the finance minister, India will begin issuing e-passports in 2022-23. These
were some of the characteristics proposed when it was first unveiled in 2019:
 It will just take a few seconds to read these e-passports.
 The prototype was put to the test at a US government-approved lab.
 The front and back covers are likely to be thicker.

 A tiny silicon chip is expected on the back cover.
 The chip will have a memory capacity of 64 kilobytes.
 The chip will store the holder’s photo and fingerprints.
 The system will be able to store 30 visits.
 States will be aided in developing their urban capacity.
Virtual currency
 Starting in 2022-23, the Reserve Bank of India will issue a digital rupee based on blockchain
technology.
Digital banking
 To reduce payment delays, an online bill system will be developed. All central ministries will
use it.
 This year, credit surged by Rs 5.4 lakh crore, the highest level in many years.