Budget 2023 HIGHLIGHTS: Key takeaways on income tax changes, custom duty, LTCG, what becomes costlier & cheaper and much more

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Budget 2023 in Parliament on Wednesday, February 1. | File photo: Reuters

Budget 2023: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on announced the Union Budget for 2023-24 on Wednesday, February 1. The government's last full-year Budget before the Lok Sabha elections in 2024 focused on the country's infrastructure sector — including a record outlay for the railways — and tax benefits for the salaried middle class, sending waves of cheer on Dalal Street.

Here are some key highlights of the BJP-led NDA government's last full-year budget ahead of the 2024 general elections:

Infrastructure

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Record capital outlay of Rs 2.4 lakh crore for Railways
Enhanced capex of Rs 10 lakh crore for infra development, 3.3 per cent of GDP
PM Awas affordable housing scheme outlay hiked 66 per cent to Rs 79,000 crore
50 new airports and heliports to be made
Increased capital outlay for infra to crowd in private investment
Rs 10,000 crore for urban infra fund every year

Rs 75,000 crore for 100 transport infra projects

Agriculture

Agri accelerator fund will be set up to encourage agri startups in rural regions
Agriculture credit target raised to Rs 20 lakh crore
One crore farmers to be facilitated to adopt natural farming

Defence

Rs 5.94 lakh crore allocated to defence ministry vs previous year's Rs 5.25 lakh crore
Rs 1.62 lakh crore set aside for capex towards areas such as purchase of new weapons, aircraft, warships, other military hardware

What becomes cheaper & what gets costlier

Mobiles, camera lenses to become cheaper
Gold, silver, diamonds, cigarettes, imported rubber to get more expensive
Fully imported luxury cars and EVs to cost more; custom duty raised by 1,000 bps to 70 per cent
Mobiles, camera lenses to become cheaper
Gold, silver, diamonds, cigarettes, imported rubber to get more expensive
Concessional basic customs duty of 2.5 per cent to continue on copper scrap

Others

Three AI centres of excellence to be set up
KYC procedure to be simplified further; PAN to be made common business identifier
Revamped MSME credit guarantee scheme with infusion of Rs 9,000 crore, to be rolled out on April 1

Savings

Monthly Income Scheme limit doubled to Rs 9 lakh, Rs 15 lakh for joint accounts
Senior Citizen Savings Scheme limit doubled to Rs 30 lakh
One time new small saving scheme Mahila Samman Savings Certificate to be made available for two years up to 2025; scheme to allow maximum deposit of up to Rs 2 lakh, yield 7.5 per cent interest

Taxes

Tax exemption on capital goods and lithium batteries

Higher TDS limit of Rs 3 crore for cooperatives
Rebate limit increased to Rs 7 lakh in new income tax regime; No. of slabs reduced from seven to five
Only five per cent tax on individuals wiht annual income of Rs 9 lakh to only pay Rs 45,000 in tax
Salaried class and pensioner standard deduction increased to Rs 52,000
Highest tax rate 42.74 per cent brought down

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