Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presents the Union Budget 2023-24 on the second day of Budget Session of Parliament, in New Delhi on Wednesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other MPs are seen.
| Photo Credit: ANI

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharman will brief BJP MPs on the important points of the Union Budget on Friday, February 3, 2023, morning, after which the party will undertake an all-India outreach programme.

Sources confirmed that the briefing will be held ahead of the Parliament sitting on Friday. BJP president J. P. Nadda had earlier set up an eight member committee for a “Budget par charcha” programme, to be headed by former Finance Minister of Bihar and Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Modi.

The outreach programme will be rolled out over the weekend (February 4 and 5) across India to bring to the fore what the budget means for each and every citizen. “During this programme, Union Ministers will hold a press conference on the Budget and at the same time interact with people across strata, including prominent citizens and intellectuals,” sources said.

As per the sources, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur will go to Jammu, Tourism Minister G. Kishan Reddy to Kochi, Minister of State for Entrepreneurship, Skill Development, Electronics & Technology Rajeev B. Chandrashekar will go to Coimbatore, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Culture Arjun Ram Meghwal will travel to Raipur, Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat will travel to Bhopal and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal will go to Bengaluru. The programmes for other Ministers are also being firmed up. Meetings and press conferences will be held in all State capitals and 50 other spots.

The Budget presented on Wednesday is the last by the BJP-led NDA government before the 2024 general elections next year, and thus has significant political and economic ramifications.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman speaks during a post-budget press conference, in New Delhi, Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023.
| Photo Credit: PTI

The government will focus on economic growth and job creation and cut down the fiscal deficit, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday, presenting its last full budget in Parliament before the 2024 election.

Here are the charts that show major aspects of Union Budget 2023:

Budget at a glance

The Narendra Modi government focused on a slew of measures that expanded Capital Expenditure spending and tied in various priorities including Green Growth, Youth Power, and Inclusive Development.

Fiscal deficit would be brought down to below 4.5% by 2025-26, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said. She also said that tax receipts for the next fiscal are budgeted at ₹23.3 lakh crore and States would be allowed 3.5% of GDP as fiscal deficit.

What funds the deficit

The government plans to borrow a record ₹15.4 lakh crore from dated securities in FY24 to meet its expenditure requirement to prop up the economy. This is higher than the total borrowing of ₹14.21 lakh crore for the current financial year ending March 31, 2023.

Rupee come from

Borrowings and other liabilities account for the largest avenue from where the Budget money comes.

Rupee goes to

With 20% of its budget going into interest payments, the State’s share of taxes and duties and the Central sector scheme assume two major areas of spending for the government.

State-wise allocation of central taxes and duties

Here is the state-wise distribution of net proceeds of Union Taxes and Duties for Budget Estimates 2023-24. The distribution was conducted according to the recommendation of the 15th Finance Commission which fixed the share of states at 41% of the net proceeds of sharable Central Taxes and Income Tax.

Transfer to states/UTs

Allocation to Ministries

The Union Budget allocated a massive ₹5.94 lakh crore for the Defence Ministry, a 13% increase year-on-year from last year’s budget estimates.

Outlay for Major Schemes

The Union Budget 2023-24 document listed the new allocations for core welfare schemes that drive socio-economic development.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a number of measures for the agriculture sector, including an increase in the credit target to ₹20 lakh crore, with focus on animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries.

% change for major schemes

Here’s a roundup of how the budgetary allocations for some of the key schemes have changed. While the MGNREGS budget saw a 32% decrease from the revised estimates of 2022-23, the outlay for PM-Kisan remained the same.

Railway Budget in a Glance

With an outlay of ₹2.40 lakh crore for the financial year 2023-24 compared to ₹1.40 lakh crore in the FY22-23, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the outlay for the railways is nine times the amount provided in 2013-2014.

Cheaper vs Dearer

With an eye on promoting exports, boosting domestic manufacturing and enhancing value addition, Union Budget 2023-24 has proposed number of changes to Customs Duty regime that is likely to make mobile phones and televisions cheaper and certain class of automobiles, including EVs, as well as toys and bicycles dearer.