Budget 2023 expectations: What space sector wants
The private space sector is expecting a space-based production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for space tech startups to help boost local manufacturing and encourage capability building within the country. The sector wants government to provide financial support through loans, grants and tax incentives to the companies and organisations in the space sector.
Most space-tech companies in India are startups and access to capital is an issue. India’s space economy was pegged at USD 9.6 billion in 2020 and was expected to touch USD 12.8 billion by 2025, according to a report released by EY last year.
Budget 2023 expectations live updates:
Market experts see Budget 2023-24 as a big event only if there is any tinkering with the tax rates or tenures with respect to LTCG (long term capital gains) or STCG (short term capital gains) across asset classes.
Since Budget comes in an election year, the government, they add, may announce some benefits and policies aimed at the rural sector to boost demand, while certain measures could be aimed at uplifting rural infrastructure, which indirectly boosts employment and relieves distress.
Budget 2023 live updates: More Vande Bharat trains expected
Last Budget saw finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman laying out the grand plan of introducing 400 semi-high-speed, next-generation Vande Bharat trains in the next three years. This may go up in Budget 2023. The Centre is likely to unveil plans for another 400 new Vande Bharat trains and gradually replace all existing high-speed trains, including the Rajdhanis and Shatabdis, to increase the speed on major routes to over 180 kmph.
Budget 2023 live updates: For the FM, keeping the present 19.5 per cent growth rate in income and corporate tax collections may be tough next fiscal given headwinds from a slowing world and high base effect.
Net direct taxes, made up of personal income tax and the tax levied on corporate earnings, have seen a record growth in current fiscal year, topping up the numbers projected in the Budget. The expected lower nominal GDP growth in 2023-24 on the back of threats of global recession could impact income tax collection. The net direct tax collection grew 19.55 per cent to Rs 12.31 lakh crore till January 10 — which is 86.68 per cent of the Budget estimates for current fiscal year.
The forthcoming Budget will have revised revenue estimates for current fiscal year as well as tax collection estimates for the next year.
Budget 2023 expectations live: Aviation demands
The allocation for Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) may come down by as much as about 17 percent in the upcoming budget. Funding for UDAN is likely to fall to Rs 500-550 crore from about Rs 600 crore in each of the past two years. UDAN, which started in October 2016, provides viability gap funding, or grants, to airlines selected via a bidding process to operate flights on under-served or unserved routes.
Budget 2023 expectations live updates: Budget may see incentives being extended for making toys, bicycles and leather and footwear as the Centre looks to expand production linked incentive (PLI) scheme to cover more high-employment potential sectors. India has already rolled out the scheme with an outlay of about Rs 2 lakh crore for as many as 14 sectors, including automobiles and auto components, white goods, pharma, textiles, food products, high efficiency solar PV modules, advance chemistry cell and speciality steel.
PLI aims to make domestic manufacturing globally competitive and create global champions in manufacturing, and it is yielding solid results. A proposal to extend PLI scheme benefits to different sectors such as toys and leather are at advanced stages of finalisation and there is a likelihood that it may figure in Budget, it is reported
Why are taxpayers wary of current CTR?
The current CTR may is not attractive for those who make contributions and investments, feel experts. Common benefits availed by the salaried such as HRA exemption, deduction for contribution to PF, health insurance premium, standard deduction on salary etc. are lost in lieu of reduced tax rates. Therefore, irrespective of the salary packages offered by organisations to individuals, they do not opt for the concessional tax regime.
