Budget 2023 LIVE News Updates: FM Sitharaman to Present Her Last Full Budget Ahead of 2024 Polls
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday, February 1, will present the Union Budget 2023-24, which is her fifth and the current government’s last full Budget before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
BaluSingh Rajpurohit 
Union Budget 2023: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will today (1 February 2023) present the last full-fledged Union Budget of the Modi government before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The plan is expected to boost funds for infrastructure, defense and logistics, providing windfalls for related companies. The Budget Session of Parliament began on Tuesday and the first part will conclude on 13 February. The Parliament will re-convene on 12 March for the second part of the Budget Session that will conclude on 6 April.
Budget 2023 To Set Foundation For Growth Amid Global Gloom: 10 Facts
Economic survey: Key highlights
1) India’s economic growth is projected to slow to 6.5 per cent in the fiscal year starting April but will remain the fastest growing major economy in the world.
2) India is the world’s third largest economy in PPP (purchasing power parity) terms and fifth largest in terms of exchange rate.
3) RBI’s projection of retail inflation at 6.8 per cent in the current fiscal is neither too high to deter private consumption, nor so low as to weaken inducement to invest.
Budget 2023 LIVE: Expectations of salaried class
The expectations are rife that the finance minister may tweak income-tax slabs to provide middle class a much needed relief. Recently, Nirmala Sitharaman said she identifies herself as a middle class and understands the pressure faced by the section.
India’s Budget ray of hope in uncertain times: PM Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that the upcoming Union Budget will attempt to meet the hopes and aspirations of the people and strive to be a ray of hope for the world. “Amid the unstable global economic situation, India’s Budget will not only attempt to meet the hopes and aspirations of the common citizens, but the ray of hope being seen by the world will also glow brighter -- for this, I firmly believe that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will make all efforts to meet those aspirations."
Budget is categorised into three main types- balanced, surplus and deficit
Balanced budget: A balanced budget is when the estimated government expenditure is the same as the expected revenue in a certain financial year.
Surplus budget: A budget is considered surplus when the government revenue surpasses the expected expenses in a financial year.
Deficit budget: When the government’s expenses overshoot the revenue during a fiscal year, it is termed as a deficit budget.
Railway Budget 2023: All you need to know
The Railway budget is included in the Union Budget which will be tabled today. The expectations of general public include controlling train ticket fares, focus on cleanliness in trains, increase in number of trains among others.
Proactive measures by government brought inflation within RBI's tolerance limit: Economic Survey
The Economic Survey for 2022-23 notes that the measures taken by the government and Reserve Bank of India have managed to bring retail inflation below the Indian central bank's upper tolerance band of 6 per cent. India's retail inflation was above RBI's six per cent target for three consecutive quarters, and had managed to fall back to the RBI's comfort zone in November 2022.
Budget 2023 Live: Expectations of real estate sector
The Union Budget 2023 is a much-anticipated event for the real estate sector in India. Industry experts and stakeholders have high expectations from the government as they hope to see a number of reforms and initiatives that can help boost the real estate market and encourage investment in the sector.
The area of interest for the real estate sector is tax incentives. Real estate developers and investors are hoping for tax breaks and other financial incentives that can help lower the cost of developing new projects and make it more profitable for them.
Union Health Budget likely to focus on increasing number of medical colleges, PMJAY coverage
In the upcoming Union Budget 2023-24, the focus is expected to be on increasing the number of nursing and medical colleges, introducing HPV vaccine in the National Immunisation Program and enhancement of Pradhanmantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) coverage, news agency PTI reported citing sources.
India's GDP to slow down to 6-6.8%: Economic Survey
According to the Economic Survey released by the government a day ahead of the Union Budget presentation, India's economic growth is forecast to be 6.5 per cent in fiscal 2024 compared to 7 per cent in the current fiscal.
Cryptocurrencies do not pass test of being a financial asset: Economic Survey
The Economic Survey document for 2022-23 said cryptocurrencies have no intrinsic cashflows to them and the latest collapse of the crypto exchange FTX exposes the vulnerabilities in such investments.
"The recent collapse of the crypto exchange FTX and the ensuing sell-off in the crypto markets have placed a spotlight on the vulnerabilities in the crypto ecosystem," the survey said.
Budget 2023: Tight rope walk for Sitharaman
The Union Budget for 2023-24 (April 2023 to March 2024) would be the first normal budget after the COVID-19 shock and amid global geopolitical developments. The priority for the Budget is expected to be to maintain a reasonably high but stable growth in the medium term. It would have the daunting task of progressing towards consolidation after the Covid-related fiscal push, and on the other hand, keeping an eye on needs on the economic growth in an atmosphere of slowing global growth and tightening domestic financial conditions.
What to watch for in this year's budget
The budget will be parsed by investors for measures that will enable India to deliver world-beating growth against the backdrop of an uncertain global environment, higher prices and borrowing costs.
The government is spending nearly 20% of its budget this fiscal year on capital investment, the most in at least a decade. Whether or not taxes — on incomes, imports, capital gains — will be tweaked remains to be seen.
BJP to launch nationwide campaign to highlight benefits of Union Budget 2023
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will launch a 12-day-long nationwide campaign on Wednesday to reach out to the public and convey the benefits of the upcoming Union budget 2023-24. BJP-ruled state CMs, State Presidents, Ministers, MPs and MLAs will hold conferences and public meetings across the country for the next two weeks and discuss the Budget and its benefits with the common people.
Union Cabinet meet to be held before Parliament proceedings
A meeting of the Union Cabinet will take place in the morning to approve the Union Budget 2023-24. After getting the nod from the Cabinet, Sitharaman will present the Budget in Parliament.
Union Budget 2023: When and where to watch
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will be presenting the Union Budget 2023-24. The Union Budget for the year 2024 can be watched live on Sansad TV. The speech can also be watched live on the Ministry of Finance’s official Twitter and Facebook accounts.
