 Honourable Speaker, I present the budget for the year 2022-23. At the outset, I want to take a moment to express my empathy for those who had to bear adverse health and economic effects of the pandemic. The overall sharp rebound and recovery of the economy is reflective of our country's strong resilience. India's economic growth in the current year is estimated to be 9.2% highest among all large economies. I recognise we are in the midst of an omicron wave with high incidence but milder symptoms. Further, the speed and coverage of our vaccination campaign has helped greatly. With an accelerated improvement of health infrastructure in the past two years, we are in a strong position to withstand challenges. I am confident that with Sabka Prayas we will continue our journey with strong growth. Honourable Speaker, we are marking Azadika Amrit Mahotsabh and have entered into Amritkal, the 25-year-long lead up to India at 100. Honourable Prime Minister, in his Independence Day address, had set out the vision for India at 100. By achieving certain goals during Amritkal, our government aims to attain this vision. They are complementing the macroeconomic level growth focus with a microeconomic level all-inclusive welfare focus. Promoting digital economy and fintech technology enables development, energy transition and climate action and relying on virtuous cycles starting from private investment with public capital investment helping to crowd in private investment. Since 2014, our government's focus has been on empowerment of citizens, especially the poor and the marginalised. Measures have included programs that have provided housing, electricity, cooking gas and access to water. We also have programs for ensuring financial inclusion and direct benefit transfers. We are committed to strengthening the abilities of the poor to tap all opportunities. Our government constantly strives to provide the necessary ecosystem for the middle classes, a vast and wide section which is populated across various middle income brackets to make use of the opportunities they so desire. This budget seeks to lay the foundation and give a blueprint to steer the economy over Amritkal of the next 25 years, from India at 75 to India at 100. It continues to build on the vision drawn in the budget of 21-22. Its fundamental tenets, which included transparency of financial statement and fiscal position reflect the government's intent, strengths and challenges. This continues to guide us. The initiatives of the last year's budget have seen significant progress and have been provided with adequate allocations in this budget as well. The strengthening of health infrastructure, speedy implementation of the vaccination program and the nationwide resilient response to the current wave of the pandemic are evident for all. The productivity linked incentive in 14 sectors for achieving the vision of Atma Nirbhar Bharat has received excellent response with potential to create 60 lakh new jobs and an additional production of 30 lakh growth during the next five years. Towards implementation of the new public sector enterprise policy, the strategic transfer of ownership of Air India has been completed. The strategic partner for Nilanjal Ispat Nigam Limited has been selected. The public issue of the LIC is expected shortly. Others too are in the process for 2022-23. The National Bank for Infrastructure Development and National Asset Reconstruction Company have commenced their activities. Honourable Speaker, budget 2021-22 had provided a sharp increase in provision for public investment or capital expenditure. Throughout the year, with the Honourable Prime Minister guiding the implementation, our economic recovery is continuing to benefit from the multiplier effect. This budget continues to provide impetus for growth. It lays a parallel track of, one, a blueprint for the Amritkal which is futuristic and inclusive. This will directly benefit our youth, women, farmers, the schedule cast and the schedule tribes. And number two, big private public investment. Number two, big public investment for modern infrastructure, readying for India at 100. This shall be guided by PM Gati Shakti and be benefited by the synergy of multimodal approach. Moving forward on this parallel track, we lay the following four priorities. PM Gati Shakti, inclusive development, productivity enhancement and investment, sunrise opportunities, energy transition, and climate action. And four, financing of investments. PM Gati Shakti. PM Gati Shakti is a transformative approach for economic growth and sustainable development. The approach is driven by seven engines, namely roads, railways, airports, ports, mass transport, waterways, and logistics infrastructure. All seven engines will pull forward the economy in unison. These engines are supported by the complementary roles of energy transmission, IT communication, bulk water and sewage, and social infrastructure. Finally, the approach is powered by clean energy and sub caprayas. The efforts of the central government, the state governments, and the private sector together leading to a huge job and entrepreneurial opportunities, opportunities for all, especially the youth. PM Gati Shakti master plan, national master plan, the scope of PM Gati Shakti national master plan will encompass the seven engines for economic transformation, seamless multimodal connectivity, and logistics efficiency. It will also include the infrastructure development by the state governments as per Gati Shakti master plan. The focus will be on planning, financing, including through innovative ways, use of technology, and speedier implementation. The projects pertaining to these seven engines in the national infrastructure pipeline will be aligned and aligned with PM Gati Shakti framework. The touchstone of the master plan will be world-class modern infrastructure and logistics energy among different modes of movement, both of people and goods, and location of projects. This will help raise the productivity and accelerate economic growth and development. Growth transport. PM Gati Shakti master plan for express ways will be formulated in 2223 to facilitate faster movement of people and goods. The national highways network will be expanded by 25,000 kilometers in 2022-23. 20,000 crores of rupees will be mobilized through innovative ways of financing to complement the public resources. The data exchange among all mode operators will be brought on unified logistics interface platform designed for application programming interface. This will provide for efficient movement of goods through different modes, reducing logistics cost and time, assisting just-in-time inventory management, and in eliminating tedious documentation. Most importantly, this will provide real-time information to all stakeholders and improve international competitiveness. Open source mobility stacks for organizing seamless travel of passengers will also be facilitated. Contracts for implementation of multimodal logistics parks at four locations through PPP mode will be awarded in 2223. Railways will develop new products and efficient logistics services for small farmers and small and medium enterprises, besides taking the lead in integration of postal and railways network to provide seamless solutions for movement of passengers. One station, one product, concept will be popularized to help local businesses and supply chains. As a part of Aatmanir Bar Bharat, 2,000 kilometer of network will be brought under Kavach, the indigenous world-class technology for safety and capacity augmentation in 2022-23. 400 new generation Vande Bharat trains will better energy efficiency and passenger riding experience will be developed and manufactured during the next three years. 100 PM Gati Shakti cargo terminals for multimodal logistics facilities will be developed during the next three years. Innovative ways of financing and faster implementation will be encouraged for building metro systems of appropriate type at scale. Multimodal connectivity between mass urban transport and railway stations will be facilitated on priority. Design of metro systems including civil structures will be reoriented and standardized for Indian conditions and needs. Parvath Mala, as a preferred ecologically sustainable alternative to conventional roads in difficult hilly areas, national ropeways development program will be taken up on PPP mode. The aim is to improve connectivity and convenience for commuters besides promoting tourism. This may also cover congested urban areas where conventional mass transit system is not feasible. Contracts for eight such ropeway projects for a length of 60 kilometers will be awarded in 2022-23. With technical support from the Capacity Building Commission, central ministries, state governments and their infra agencies will have their skills upgraded. This will ramp up capacity in planning, design, financing including innovative ways and implementation management of the PM Gati Shakti infrastructure projects. Inclusive development are second priority. Agriculture, the procurement of wheat and ruby 21-22 and the estimated procurement of paddy in curry 21-22 will cover 1,208 lakh metric tons of wheat and paddy from 163 lakh farmers. 2.37 lakh crores will be the direct payment of MSP value to their accounts. Chemical free natural farming will be promoted throughout the country. With a focus on farmers' land in five kilometer wide corridors along the river Ganga at the first stage, 2023 has been announced as the international year of millets. Support will be provided for post harvest value addition, enhancing domestic consumption and for branding millet products nationally and internationally. To reduce our dependence on import of oil seeds, a rationalized and comprehensive scheme to increase domestic production of oil seeds will be implemented. For delivery of digital and high-tech services to farmers with involvement of public sector research and extension institutions along with private agri tech players and stakeholders of agri value chains, a scheme in PPP mode will be launched. Use of Kisan drones will be promoted for crop assessment, digitization of land records, spraying of insecticides and nutrients. States will be encouraged to revise telebi of agricultural universities to meet the needs of natural zero budget and organic farming, modern-day agriculture, value addition and management. A fund with blended capital raised under the co-investment model will be facilitated through the NABARD. This is to finance startups for agriculture and rural enterprise relevant for farm produce value chain. The activities of these startups will include inter alia, support for FPO's, machinery for farmers on rental basis at farm level and technology including IT based support. The implementation of the Cain-Bethwa link project at an estimated cost of 44,605 crores will be taken up. This is aimed at providing irrigation benefits to 9.0 lakh hectare of farmers' lands. Drinking water supply to 62 lakh people, 103 megawatt of hydro, 27 megawatt of solar power, allocations of 4,300 crores of rupees in the RE-21-22 and 1,400 crores of rupees in 22-23 have been made for this project. Honourable speaker sir, draft DPRs for five river links namely Damanganga of Pinchal, Parthapi Narmada, Godavari Krishna, Krishna Pennar and Pennar Kaveri have been finalised. Once a consensus is reached among the beneficiary states, the centre will provide support for their implementation. For farmers to adopt suitable varieties of fruits and vegetables and to use appropriate production and harvesting techniques, our government will provide a comprehensive package with participation of state governments. MSMEs, Wudhyam, Eshram, NCS and Asim portals will be interlinked. Their scope will be widened. They will now perform as portals with live organic databases providing G to C, B to C and B to B services. These services will relate to credit facilitation, skilling and recruitment with an aim to further formalise the economy and enhance entrepreneurial opportunities for all. Emergency credit line guarantee scheme has provided the much needed additional credit to more than 130 lakh MSMEs. This has helped them mitigate the adverse impact of the pandemic. The hospitality and related services especially those by micro and small enterprises are yet to regain their pre-pandemic level of business. Considering these aspects, the ECLGS will be extended up to March 2023 and its guarantee cover will be expanded by 50,000 crores of rupees to total cover of 5 lakh crores. With the additional amount being earmarked exclusively for the hospitality and related sectors. Credit guarantee trust for micro and small enterprises CGT-MSC scheme will be revamped with required infusion of funds. This will facilitate additional credit of 2 lakh crores for micro and small enterprises and expand employment opportunities. Racing and accelerating MSME performance ramp program will outlay with outlay of 6000 crores over 5 years will be rolled out. This will help MSME sector become more resilient, competitive and efficient. Skilling programs and partnership with the industry will be reoriented to promote continuous skilling avenues, sustainability and employability. The national skill qualification framework will be aligned with dynamic industry needs. Digital ecosystem for skilling and livelihood, the Desh Stacks ePortal will be launched. This aims to empower citizens to skill, reskill or upskill through online training. It will also provide API based trusted skill credentials, payment and discovery layers to find relevant jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities. Startups will be promoted to facilitate drone Shakti through varied applications and for drone as a service. In select ITIs in all states, the required courses for skilling will be started. Due to the pandemic induced closure of schools, our children, particularly in the rural areas and those from scheduled camps and scheduled tribes and other weaker sections have lost almost two years of formal education. Mostly these are children in government schools. We recognize the need to impart supplementary teaching and to build a resilient mechanism for education delivery. For this purpose, one class, one TV channel program of PME Vidya will be expanded from 12 to 200 TV channels. This will enable all states to provide supplementary education in regional languages for classes 1 to 12. High quality e-content in all spoken languages will be developed for delivery via internet, mobile phones, TV and through radio and digital through digital teachers. A competitive mechanism for development of quality e-content by the teachers will be set up to empower and equip them with digital tools of teaching and facilitate better learning outcomes. A digital university will be established to provide access to students across the country for world-class quality universal education with personalized learning experience at their doorsteps. This will be made available in different Indian languages and ICT formats. The university will be built on a networked hub and spoke model with the hub building cutting edge ICT expertise. The best public universities and institutions in the country will collaborate as a network of hub and spoke. An open platform for the national digital health ecosystem will be rolled out. It will consist of digital registries of health providers and health facilities, unique health identity, consent framework with and universal access to health facilities. The pandemic has accentuated mental health problems in people of all ages. To better the access to quality mental health counseling and care services, a national tele mental health program will be launched. This will include a network of 23 tele mental health centers of excellence with Nimhans being the nodal center and international institute of information technology Bangalore, triple IT Bangalore providing technology support. Recognizing the importance of Nari Shakti as the harbinger of our bright future and for women led development during the Amritkali, our government has comprehensively revamped the schemes of the ministry of women and child development. Accordingly, three schemes namely Mission Shakti, Mission Vatsalya, Saksham Anganwadi and Portion 2.0 were launched recently to provide integrated benefits to women and children. Saksham Anganwadis are a new generation Anganwadis that have better infrastructure and audio visual aids powered by clean energy and providing improved environment for early childhood development. Two lakh Anganwadis will be upgraded under the scheme. Current coverage of Hargar Nalsajal is 8.7 crores. Of this 5.5 crore households, they provided tap water in last two years itself. A location of 60,000 crores of rupees has been made with an aim to cover 3.8 crore households in 2022 and 2023. In 2022-23, 18 lakh houses will be completed for the identified eligible beneficiaries of the PM Awaz Yojana, both rural and urban. 48,000 crores is allotted for this purpose. The central government will work with the state governments for reduction of time required for all land and construction-related approvals, for promoting affordable housing for middle class and for the economically weaker sections in urban areas. We shall also work with the financial sector regulators to expand access to capital along with reduction in cost of intermediaries. A new scheme, Prime Minister's Development Initiative for the Northeast, will be implemented through the Northeastern Council. It will fund infrastructure in the spirit of PM Gatishakti and social development projects based on felt needs of the Northeast. This will enable livelihood activities for youth and women filling the gaps in various sectors. It will not be a substitute for existing central or state schemes. While the central ministries may also post a candidate project, priority will be given to those posed by the states. An initial allocation of 1,500 crores of rupees will be made and the initial list of projects is given in annexure 1 of my speech. Our vision to improve the quality of life of citizens in the most backward districts of the country through aspirational districts program has been translated into reality in a very short span of time. Ninety-five percent of those 112 districts have made significant progress in key sectors such as health, nutrition, financial inclusion and basic infrastructure. They have surpassed even some of the state average values. However, in those districts, some blocks continue to lad. In twenty-two, twenty-three, the program will focus on such blocks in those districts. Border villages with sparse population, limited connectivity and infrastructure often get left out from the development gains. Such villages on the northern border will be covered under a new vibrant villages program. The activities will include construction of village infrastructure, housing, tourist centers, road connectivity, provisioning of decentralized renewable energy, direct to home access for Durdarshan and educational channels and support for their livelihood generation. Additional funding for these activities will be provided. Existing schemes will be converged. We will define their outcomes and monitor them on a constant basis. In twenty-twenty-two, hundred percent of 1.5 lakh post offices will come on the core banking system, enabling financial inclusion and access to accounts through net banking, mobile banking, ATMs and also provide online transfer of funds between post office accounts and bank accounts. This will be helpful especially for farmers and senior citizens in rural areas enabling interoperability and financial inclusion. Honourable Speaker Sir, in recent years, digital banking, digital payments and fintech innovations have grown at a rapid pace in the country. Government is continuously encouraging these sectors to ensure that the benefits of digital banking reach every new nook and corner of the country in a consumer friendly manner. Taking forward this agenda and to mark 75 years of our independence, it is proposed to set up 75 digital banking units in 75 districts of the country by scheduled commercial banks. The financial support for digital payment ecosystem announced in the previous budget will continue in twenty-two, twenty-three as well. This will encourage further adoption of digital payments. There will also be a focus to promote use of payment platforms that are economical and user friendly. Sir, I move to the next priority. In recent years, over 25,000 compliances were reduced and nearly 1,500 union laws were repealed. This is the result of our government's strong commitment for minimum government and maximum governance. 1,486 union laws were repealed. Our trust in the public and ease of doing business is what is highlighted here, sir. For the Amritkhaal, the next phase of ease of doing business, ease of doing business 2.0 and ease of living will be launched. In our endeavor to improve productive efficiency of capital and human resources, we will follow the idea of trust based governance. The new phase will be guided by an active involvement of the states, digitization of manual processes and interventions, integration of the central and state level systems through IT bridges, a single point access for all citizen-centric services, and standardization and removal of overlapping compliances. Crowd sourcing of suggestions and ground level assessment of the impact with active involvement of citizens and businesses will be encouraged. A single window portal, Paribesh, for all green clearances was launched in 2018. It has been instrumental in reducing the time required for approvals significantly. The scope of this portal will be expanded to provide information to the applicants based on location of units. Information about specific approvals will be provided. It will enable application for all four approvals through a single form and tracking of the process through centralized processing center green, CPC green, ePassports. The issuance of ePassports using embedded chip and futuristic technology will be rolled out in 22-23 to enhance the convenience for the citizens in their overseas travel. By the time of India at 100, nearly half of population is likely to be living in urban areas. To prepare for this, orderly urban development is of critical importance. This will help realize the country's economic potential, including livelihood opportunities for the demographic dividend. For this, on the one hand, we need to nurture the mega cities and their hinterlands to become current centres of economic growth. On the other, we need to facilitate tier two and tier three cities to take on the mantle in the future. This would require us to reimagine our cities into centres of sustainable living with opportunities for all, including women and our youth. For this to happen, urban planning cannot continue with a business as usual approach. We plan to steer a paradigm change. A high-level committee of reputed urban planners, urban economists and institutions will be formed to make recommendations on urban sector policies, capacity building, planning, implementation and governance. For urban capacity building, support will be provided to the states. Modernization of building by laws, town planning schemes, transit-oriented development will be implemented. This will facilitate reforms for people to live and work closer to the mass transit systems. The central government's financial support for mass transit projects and AMRAQ scheme will be leveraged for formulation of action plans and their implementation for facilitating the TOD and TPS by the states. For developing India, India specific knowledge in urban planning and design and to deliver certified training in these areas, up to five existing academic institutions in different regions will be designated as centres of excellence. These centres will be provided, endowment fund of 250 crore each. In addition, the AICTE will take the lead to improve syllabi, quality and access of urban planning courses in other institutions. We will promote a shift to use of public transport in urban areas. This will be complemented by clean tech and governance solutions, special mobility zones with zero fossil fuel policy and EV vehicles. Battery swapping policy. Considering the constraint of space in urban areas for setting up charging stations at scale, a battery swapping policy will be brought out and interoperability standards will be formulated. The private sector will be encouraged to develop sustainable and innovative business models for battery or energy as a service. This will improve efficiency in the EV ecosystem. Efficient use of land resources is a strong imperative. States will be encouraged to adopt unique land parcel identification number to facilitate IT based management of records. The facility for transliteration of land records across any of the schedule 8 languages will also be rolled out. The adoption of linkage with National Generic Document Registration System NGDRS with the One Nation One Registration software will be promoted as an option for uniform process of registration and anywhere registration of beads and documents. Necessary amendments in the code IBC will be carried out to enhance the efficiency of the resolution process and facilitate cross-border insolvency resolution. Accelerated corporate exit. Several IT based systems have been established for accelerated registration of new companies. Now the Center for Processing Accelerated Corporate Exit C-PACE will process reengineering will be established to facilitate and speed up the voluntary winding up of these companies from the currently required two years to less than six months. Government procurement government rules have recently been modernized for the needs of Amrit Khan. The new rules have benefited from the inputs from various stakeholders. The modernized rules allow use of transparent quality criteria besides cost and evaluation of complex tenders. Provisions have been made for payment of 75% of running bills mandatorily within 10 days and for encouraging settlement of disputes through conciliation. As a further step to enhance transparency and to reduce delays in payments a completely paperless end-to-end online e-bills system will be launched for use by all central ministries for their procurement. The system will enable the suppliers and contractors to submit online their digitally signed bills and claims and track the status from anywhere to reduce indirect cost for suppliers and work contractors. The use of surety bonds as a substitute for bank guarantee will be made acceptable in government procurement. Business such as gold imports may also find this useful. IRDAI Insurance Regulator has given the framework for issue of surety bonds by insurance companies. AVGC Promotion Task Force. The animation, visual effects, gaming and comic the AVGC sector offers immense potential to employ youth. The AVGC Promotion Task Force with all stakeholders will be set up to recommend ways to realize this and build domestic capacity for serving our markets and the global demand. Telecom sector, telecommunications in general and 5G technology in particular can enable growth and offer job opportunities. Required spectrum auctions will be conducted in 2022 to facilitate roll out of 5G mobile services within 2022-23 by private telecom providers. A scheme for design led manufacturing will be launched to build a strong ecosystem for 5G as part of the production linked incentive scheme. To enable affordable broadband and mobile service proliferation in rural and remote areas, 5% of annual collections under the Universal Service Obligation Fund will be allocated. This will provide and this will promote R&D and commercialization of technologies and solutions. Our vision is that all villages and their residents should have the same access to e-services, communication facilities and digital resources as urban areas and their residents. The contracts for laying optical fiber in all villages, including remote areas, will be awarded under the Bharat Net project through PPP in 2022-23. Completion is expected in 2025. Measures will be taken to enable better and more efficient use of the optical fiber. Export promotion. The Special Economic Zones Act will be replaced with a new legislation that will enable the states to become partners in development of enterprise and service hubs. This will cover all large existing and new industrial enclaves to optimally utilize available infrastructure and enhance competitiveness of exports. Atma Nirbharta in Defence. Our government is committed to reducing imports and promoting Atma Nirbharta in equipment for the armed forces. 68% of the capital procurement budget will be earmarked for domestic industry in 2022-23 up from 58% in 2021-22. Defence R&D will be opened up for industry, startups and academia with 25% of Defence R&D budget earmarked. Private industry will be encouraged to take up design and development of military platforms and equipment in collaboration with DRDO and other organizations through SPV model. An independent nodal umbrella body will be set up for meeting wide-ranging testing and certification requirements. Artificial intelligence, geospatial systems and drones, semiconductor and ecosystem, space economy, genomics and pharmaceuticals. Green energy and clean mobility systems have immense potential to assist sustainable development at scale and modernize the country. They provide employment opportunities for our youth and make Indian industry more efficient and competitive. Supportive policies, light touch regulations, facilitative actions to build domestic capacities and promotion of research and development will guide the government's approach for R&D in the sunrise opportunities. In addition to efforts of collaboration among academia, industry and public institutions, government contribution will be provided. Energy transition and climate change. The risks of climate change are the strongest negative externalities that affect India and other countries. As Honourable Prime Minister said at the COP26 summit in Glasgow last November and I quote, what is needed today is mindful and deliberate utilization instead of mindless destructive consumption. The low carbon development strategy as enunciated in the Panchamrat that he announced is an important reflection of our government's strong commitment towards sustainable development. The strategy opens up huge employment opportunities and will take the country on a sustainable development path. This budget proposes several near-term and long-term actions accordingly. Solar power. To facilitate domestic manufacturing for the ambitious goal of 280 gigawatts of installed solar capacity by 2030. An additional allocation of 19,500 crores for PLI production incentives for manufacturing of high-efficiency modules with priority to fully integrate manufacturing units from polysilicon to solar PV modules will be made. Honourable speaker sir, the circular economy transition is expected to help in productivity enhancement as well as creating large opportunities for new businesses and jobs. The action plans for 10 sectors such as electronic waste, end of life vehicles, used oil waste, toxic and hazardous industrial waste are already ready. The focus will now be on addressing important cross-cutting issues of infrastructure, reverse logistics, technology upgradation and integration with informal sector. This will be supported by active public policies covering regulations, extended producers, responsibilities, framework and innovation facilities. Five to seven percent biomass pellets will be co-fired in thermal power plants resulting in carbon dioxide savings of 38 MMT annually. This will also provide extra income to farmers and job opportunities to locals and help avoid stubble burning in agricultural fields. Saving energy is an important aspect of the energy management. Hence, energy efficiency and savings measures will be promoted. This will be done in large commercial buildings through the energy service company business model. It will facilitate capacity building and awareness for energy audits, performance contracts and common measurement of and verification protocol. Four pilot projects for coal gasification and conversion of coal into chemicals required for the industry will be set up to evolve technical and financial viability. The policies and required legislative changes to promote agroforestry and private forestry will be brought in. In addition, financial support will be provided to farmers belonging to schedule camps and schedule tribes who want to take up agroforestry. Honourable Speaker, I now move to the fourth priority, financing of investments. Capital investment holds the key to speedy and sustainable economic revival and consolidation through its multiplier effect. Capital investment also helps in creating employment opportunities, induced enhanced demand for manufactured input from large industries and MSMEs, services from professionals and help farmers through better agri-infrastructure. The economy has shown strong resilience to come out of the effects of the pandemic with high growth. However, we need to sustain that level to make up for the setback of 2020-2021. As outlined in Para 5 earlier, the virtuous cycle of investment requires public investment to crowd in private investment. At this stage, private investments seem to require that support to rise to their potential and to the needs of the economy. Public investment must continue to take the lead and pump, prime the private investment and demand in 2022-23. Considering the above imperative, the outlay for capital expenditure in the union budget is once again being stepped up sharply by 35.4 percent from 5.54 lakh crore in the current year to 7.50 lakh crores in 2022-23. This has increased to more more than 2.2 times the expenditure of 2019-20. This outlay in 2022-23 will be 2.9 percent of the GDP. Effective capital expenditure with this investment taken together with the provision made for creation of capital assets through grants and aid, through grants and aid to states, the effective capital expenditure of the central government is estimated at 10.68 lakh crores in 2022-23 which will be about 4.1 percent of the GDP, green bonds. As a part of the government's overall market borrowings in 2022-23, sovereign green bonds will be issued for mobilizing resources for green infrastructure. The proceeds will be deployed in public sector projects which help in reducing the carbon intensity of the economy. Gift IFSE, world class foreign universities and institutions will be allowed in the gift city to offer courses in the financial management, fintech, science, technology, engineering and mathematics free from domestic regulations except those by the IFSEA to facilitate availability of high-end human resources for financial services and technology and international arbitration center will be set up in the gift city for timely settlement of disputes under international jurisprudence. Services for global capital for sustainable and climate finance in the country will be facilitated in the gift city. Infrastructure status, data centers and energy storage systems including dense charging infrastructure and grid scale battery systems will be included in the harmonized list of infrastructure. This will facilitate credit availability for digital infrastructure and clean energy storage. Venture capital and private equity invested more than 5.5 lakh crores last year facilitating one of the largest startup growth system. Scaling up this investment requires a holistic examination of regulatory and other frictions. An expert committee will be set up to examine and suggest appropriate measures. Government-backed funds NIIF and SIDB, fund of funds, have provided scale capital creating a multiplier effect. For encouraging important sunrise sectors such as climate action, deep tech, digital economy, farmer and agri-tech, the government will promote these thematic funds for blended finance with the government share being limited to 20% and the funds being managed by private fund managers. For financing the infrastructure needs, the stepping up of public investment will need to be complimented by private capital at a significant scale. Measures will be taken to enhance financial viability of projects including PPP with technical and knowledge assistance from multilateral agencies. Enhancing financial viability shall also be obtained by adopting global best practices in a way to ways of financing and balanced risk allocation. Digital rupee, introduction of a central bank digital currency will give a boost, a big boost to digital economy. Digital currency will also lead to a more efficient and cheaper currency management system. It is therefore proposed to introduce digital rupee using blockchain and other technologies to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India starting 2022 and 2023. Financial assistance to states for capital investment. Reflecting the true spirit of cooperative federalism, the central government is committed to bolstering the hands of the states in enhancing their capital investment towards creating productive assets and generating remunerative employment. The scheme for financial assistance to states for capital investment has been extremely well received by the states. In deference to the requests received during my meeting with the chief ministers and state finance ministers, the outlay for this scheme is being enhanced from 10,000 crores in the budget estimates to 15,000 crores in the revised estimates for the current year. For 2022-23, I will repeat that sentence for the benefit of many of honourable members. In deference to the requests received during my meeting with chief ministers and state finance ministers, the outlay for this scheme is being enhanced from 10,000 crores in the BE to 15,000 crores in the RE of the current year. For 2022-23, the allocation is 1 lakh crores to assist the states in catalyzing the overall investments in the economy. These 50-year interest-free loans are over and above the normal borrowings allowed to the states, are over and above the normal borrowings to the states. This allocation will be used for PM Gatishakti related and other productive capital investments of the states. It will also include components for supplemental funding for priority segments of PM Graham Sadak Yojana, including support for the state's share, digitisation of the economy, including digital payments and completion of OFC network, and reforms related to building bylaws, town planning schemes, transit-oriented development and transferable development rights. In 2022-23, in accordance with the recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission, the states will be allowed a fiscal deficit of 4 percent of the GSDP of which 0.5 percent will be tied to power sector reforms, for which the conditions have already been communicated in 2021-22. Fiscal management, as against a total expenditure of 34.83 lakh crores of rupees projected in the BE 2021-22, the revised estimate is 37.70 lakh crores. The revised estimate of capital expenditure is 6.3 lakh crores of rupees. This includes an amount of 51,971 crores towards settlement of outstanding guaranteed liabilities of Air India and its other sundry commitments. Coming to the budget estimates, Honourable Speaker Sir, the total expenditure in 2022-23 is estimated at 39.45 lakh crores, while the total receipts other than borrowings are estimated at 22.84 lakh crores of rupees. The revised fiscal deficit, Honourable Speaker, in the current year is estimated at 6.9 percent of the GDP, as against 6.8 percent projected in the budget estimates. The fiscal deficit in 2022-23 is estimated at 6.4 percent of the GDP, which is consistent with the broad path of the fiscal consolidation announced by me last year to reach a fiscal deficit level below 4.5 percent by 25-26. While setting the fiscal deficit level in 2022-23, I am conscious of the need to nurture growth through public investment to become stronger and sustainable. I will now move to Part B of my speech, Direct Tax. Honourable Speaker Sir, I take this opportunity to thank all the taxpayers of our country who have contributed immensely and strengthened the hands of the government in helping their fellow citizens in this hour of need. So I have brought in a little verse from the Mahabharata. I wouldn't spend more time reading because I would like the speech to get enough time. However, the substance of it is the king must make arrangements for Yogakshema, which is the welfare of the populace, by way of abandoning any laxity and by governing the state in line with Dharma along with collecting taxes which are in consonance with Dharma. This is Mahabharata Shanti Parvadhyaya, Shloka 11 from 72. Drawing wisdom from our ancient texts, we continue on the path to progress. The proposals in this budget while continuing with our declared policy of stable and predictable tax regime intend to bring more reforms that will take ahead our vision to establish a trustworthy tax regime. This will further simplify the tax system, promote voluntary compliance by taxpayers and reduce litigation. Introducing new updated return. India is growing at an accelerated pace and people are undertaking multiple financial transactions. The income tax department has established a robust framework of reporting of taxpayers' transactions. In this context, some taxpayers may realize that they have committed omissions or mistakes in correctly estimating their income for tax payment. To provide an opportunity to correct such errors, I am proposing a new provision permitting taxpayers to file an updated return on payment of additional tax. This updated return can be filed within two years from the end of the relevant assessment year. Honourable Speaker sir, presently, if the department finds out that some income has been missed out by an assessing, it goes through a lengthy process of adjudication. Instead, with this proposal now, there will be a trust repost in the taxpayers that will enable the assessing herself to declare the income that she may have missed out earlier while filing her return, while filing her return. Full details of the proposal are given in the finance bill. It is an affirmative step in the direction of voluntary compliance. Reduced alternative minimum tax rate and surcharge for cooperatives. Currently, cooperative societies are required to pay alternative, alternate minimum tax at the rate of 18.5%. However, companies pay the same rate, the same, which is the alternate minimum tax, at the rate of 15%. To provide a level playing field between cooperative societies and companies, I propose to reduce this rate for the cooperative societies also to 15%. Honourable Speaker sir, I also propose to reduce the surcharge on cooperative societies from the present 12% to 7% for those having total income of more than 1 crore and up to 10 crores. This would help in enhancing income of cooperative societies and its members who are mostly from the rural and from farming communities. Tax relief to persons with disability. The parent or guardian of a differently abled person can take an insurance scheme for such a person. The present law provides for deduction to the parent or guardian only if the lump sum payment or annuity is available to the differently abled person on the depth of the subscriber that is the parent or the guardian. There could be situations where the differently abled dependent may need payment of annuity or lump sum amount even during the lifetime of their parent or guardian. I propose thus to allow the payment of annuity or and lump sum amount to the differently abled dependent during the lifetime of the parent and guardians that is parent or guardians attaining the age of 60 years between employees of the state and central governments. At present the central government contributes 14% of the salary of its employee to the national pension system NPS Tier 1. This is allowed as a deduction in computing the income of the employee. However, such deduction is allowed only to the extent of 10% of the salary in case of employees of the state governments. To provide equal treatment to both central and state government employees I propose to increase the tax deduction limit from 10% to 14% on employer's contribution to the MPS account of state government employees as well. This would help in enhancing the social security benefits of the state government employees and bring them at par with central government employees. Incentives for startups. Startups have emerged as drivers of growth for our economy. Over the past few years the country has seen a manifold increase in successful startups. Eligible startups established before 313 2022 had been provided a tax incentive for three consecutive years out of the 10 years from incorporation. In view of the COVID pandemic I propose to extend the period of incorporation of the eligible startup by one more year that is up to 313 2023 for providing such tax incentives. Incentives for newly incorporated manufacturing entities under concessional tax regime. In an effort to establish a global competitive business environment for certain domestic companies a concessional tax regime of 15% was introduced by our government for newly incorporated domestic manufacturing companies. I propose to extend the last date for commencement of manufacturing or production under section 115B AB by one more year that is from 31st March 2023 to 31st March 2024. Team for taxation of virtual digital assets. There has been a phenomenal increase in transaction in virtual digital assets. The magnitude and frequency of these transactions have made it imperative to provide for a specific tax regime. Accordingly for the taxation of virtual digital assets I propose to provide that any income from transfer of any virtual digital asset shall be taxed at the rate of 30%, no deduction in respect of any expenditure or allowance shall be allowed while computing such income except cost of acquisition. Further loss from transfer of virtual digital asset cannot be set off against any other income. Further in order to capture the transaction details I also propose to provide for TDS on payment made in relation to transfer of virtual digital asset at the rate of 1% of such consideration above a monetary threshold. Gift of virtual digital asset is also proposed to be taxed in the hands of the recipient. Litigation management to avoid repetitive appeals by the department. It has been observed that a lot of time and resources are consumed in fighting of appeals which involve identical issues. Taking forward our policy of sound litigation management I propose to provide that if a question of law in the case of an SSC is identical to a question of law which is pending in the appeal before a jurisdictional high court or supreme court in any case the filing of further appeal in the case of this SSC by the department shall be deferred till such a question of law is decided by the jurisdictional high court or the supreme court. This will greatly help in reducing the repeated litigation between taxpayer and the department. Taking forward our efforts to further promote the IFSC I hereby propose to provide that income of a non resident from offshore derivative instruments or over the counter derivatives issued by an offshore banking unit income from royalty and interest on account of lease of ship and income received from portfolio management services in IFSC shall be exempt from tax subject to specified conditions. Racialization of surcharge in the globalized business world there are several works work contracts whose terms and conditions mandatorily require formation of a consortium. The members in the consortium are generally companies in such cases the income of these AOPs has to suffer a graded surcharge up to 37 percent which is a lot more than surcharge on the individual companies. Accordingly I propose to cap the surcharge of these AOPs at 15 percent one five percent. Further the long-term capital gains on listed equity shares units etc are liable to maximum surcharge of 15 percent while other long-term capital gains are subjected to a graded surcharge which goes up to 37 percent. I propose to cap the surcharge on long-term capital gains arising on transfer of any type of assets at 15 or one five percent. This step will give a boost to startup community and along with my proposal on the extended tax benefits to manufacturing companies and startups reaffirms our commitment to Atman Nibhar Bharat. Clarification in relation to health and education sets as business expenditure. The income tax is not an allowable expenditure for computation of business income. This includes tax as well as surcharges. The health and education sets is imposed as an additional surcharge on the taxpayer for funding specific government welfare programs. However some courts have allowed health and education sets as business expenditure which is against the legislative intent. To reiterate the legislative intent I propose to clarify that any surcharge or set on income and profits is not allowable as business expenditure. Deterrence against tax evasion. Honourable speakers are presently there is ambiguity regarding set off of brought forward loss against undisclosed income detected in search operations. It has been observed that in many cases where undisclosed income or suppression of sales etc is detected. Payment of tax is avoided by setting off of losses. In order to bring certainty and to increase deterrence among tax evaders I propose to provide that no set off of any loss shall be allowed against undisclosed income detected during search and survey operations. It has been noticed that as a business promotion strategy there is a tendency on businesses to pass on benefits to their agents. Such benefits are taxable in the hands of the agents. In order to track such transactions I propose to provide for tax deduction by the person giving benefits if the aggregate value of such benefits exceeds 20,000 rupees during the financial year. A few other changes are being made the details of which are there in the finance bill. Indirect taxes. So remarkable progress are in GST. GST has been a landmark reform of independent India showcasing the spirit of cooperative federalism. While aspirations were high there were huge challenges too. These challenges were overcome deftly and painstakingly under the guidance and oversight of the GST council. We can now take pride in a fully IT driven and progressive GST regime that has fulfilled the cherished dream of India as one market, one tax. There are still some challenges remaining and we aspire to meet them in the coming year. The right balance between facilitation and enforcement has engendered significantly better compliance and enforcement has engendered better compliance. GST revenues are buoyant despite the pandemic. I would bring in something which I've got to know this morning not part of my speech but worth putting in here for the knowledge of the honourable house. I would like to bring to the notice of this house. I would like to bring to the notice of the house that the gross GST collections for the month of January 22 are Rs 1,40,986 crore which is the highest since the inception of GST. This has been possible due to rapid economic growth recovery post COVID. This has been possible due to the rapid economic recovery post COVID as well as various policy and administration undertaken by central and state tax administrations. Taxpayers deserve applause for this growth. Not only did they adapt to the changes but enthusiastically contributed to the cost of paying taxes. Special economic zooms. In part day of my speech I have referred to the proposed reforms in SCZs. Alongside we will also undertake reforms in customs administration of SCZs and it shall henceforth be fully IT driven and function on the customs national portal with a focus on higher facilitation and with only risk based checks. This will ease doing business by SCZ units considerably. This reform shall be implemented by 30th September 2022. Customs reforms and duty rate changes. Customs administration has reinvented itself over the years through liberalized procedures and infusion of technology. Faceless customs has been fully established. During COVID-19 pandemic customs formation have done exceptional frontline work against all odds displaying agility and purpose. Customs reforms have played a very vital role in domestic capacity creation providing level playing field to our MSMEs, easing the raw material supply side constraints, enhancing ease of doing business and being an enabler to other policy initiatives such as PLI and faced manufacturing plans. My proposal on customs side are aligned to these objectives. Project imports and capital goods. National capital goods policy 2016 aims at doubling the production of capital goods by 2025. This would create an employment opportunities and result in increased economic activity. However several duty exemptions even extended extending to over three decades in some cases have been granted to capital goods for various sectors like power fertilizer, textiles, leather, leather footwear, food processing and fertilizers. These exemptions have hindered the growth of the domestic capital goods sector. Similarly project import duty concessions have also deprived the local producers of a level playing field in areas like coal mining projects, power generation, transmission or distribution projects, railway and metro projects. Our experience suggests that reasonable tariffs are conducive to the growth of domestic industry and make in India without significantly impacting the cost of essential imports. Accordingly Honourable Speaker Sir, it is proposed to face out the concessional rates in capital goods and project imports gradually and apply a moderate tariff of 7.5 percent. Certain exemptions for advanced missionaries that are not manufactured within the country shall continue. A few exemptions are being introduced on inputs like specialized castings, ball screw and the linear motion guide to encourage domestic manufacturing of capital goods. In the last two budgets we have rationalized several customs exemptions. We have once again carried out an extensive consultation including by crowd sourcing. As a result of these consultations more than 350 exemption entries are proposed to be gradually faced out. These include exemptions on certain agricultural produce, chemicals, fabrics, medical devices and drugs and medicines for which sufficient domestic capacity exists. Further as a simplification measure several concessional rates are being incorporated in the customs tariff schedule itself instead of prescribing them through various notifications. This comprehensive review will simplify the customs rate and tariff structure particularly for sectors like chemicals, textiles and metals and minimized disputes. Removal of exemption on items which are or can be manufactured in India and providing concessional duties on raw material that go into manufacturing of intermediate products will go many a step forward in achieving our objective of making India and Atmanir Bar Bharat. I shall now take up specific sector proposals, sector specific proposals, electronics. Electronic manufacturing has been growing rapidly customs duty rates have been calibrated to provide a greater rate structure to facilitate domestic manufacturing of wearable devices, hearable devices and electronic smart meters. Duty concessions are being given to parts of transformer of mobile phone chargers and camera lens of mobile camera module and certain other such items. This will enable domestic manufacturing of high growth electronic items. Gems and jewelry. To give a boost to the gems and jewelry sector customs duty on cut and polished diamonds and gemstones is being reduced to five percent. Simply sawn diamond would attract nil customs duty to facilitate export of jewelry through e-commerce a simplified regulatory framework shall be implemented by June this year to decent incentivize dis incentivize import of undervalued imitation jewelry. The customs duty on imitation jewelry is being prescribed in a manner that a duty of at least 400 rupees per kg is paid on its import chemicals customs duty on certain critical chemicals namely methanol, acetic acid and heavy feed stocks for petroleum refining are being reduced while duty is being raised on sodium cyanide for which adequate capacity in the domestic arena exists. These changes will help in enhancing domestic value addition. MSMEs duty on umbrellas is being raised to 20 percent. Exemption to parts of umbrellas is being withdrawn. Exemption is also being rationalized on implements and tools for agricultural sector which are manufactured in India customs duty exemption given to steel craft last year is being extended for another year to provide relief to MSME secondary steel producers. Certain anti-dumping and CVD on stainless steel and coated steel flat products bars of alloy steel and high-speed steel are being revoked in larger public interest considering prevailing high prices of metals. To incentivize exports exemptions are being provided on items such as embellishment, trimming, fastness, buttons, zipper, lining material, specified leather, furniture fittings and packaging boxes that may be needed by bona fide exporters of handicrafts, textiles, leather garments, leather footwear and other goods. Honorable speaker sir, duty is being reduced on certain inputs required for shrimp aqua culture so as to promote its exports. Tariff measure to encourage blending of fuel. Blending of fuel is a priority for this government. To encourage the efforts for blending of fuel, unblended fuel shall attract an additional differential exercise duty of rupees two per litre from first day of October 22. A few other changes are being made in duty rates, customs, tariff and customs law, the details of which are there in the finance bill. Mr. Speaker sir, with these words I commend the budget to this august house. Thank you. Sir with your permission, I rise to lay on the table the following statements under section three, one of the fiscal responsibility and budget management FRBM Act 2003, medium term fiscal policy, fiscal policy strategy statement and macroeconomic framework statement. Sir item number three, finance bill. Sir with your permission I rise to move for leave to introduce the finance bill 2022. Sir I introduce the bill.