Budget statement 2022

The much awaited budget of 2022, which was expected to bring impetus post the Covid-19 shock, was presented in the amidst of the surge of the Omicron virus. The past years have been testing times for the world at large and India has been no exception with both the short and long term disruptions and uncertainties caused by the pandemic. The Hon’ble Finance Minister’s Budget speech and the Economic Survey both started on the note of looming pandemic cloud. However, India’s growth trajectory as per advance estimates is pegged at GDP expansion of 9.2 per cent in 2021-22 after the contraction in 2020-21, highest among all the large economies. The Finance Minister premised the rebound and recovery of the economy on country’s strong resilience. The Budget 2022 has been aligned with the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s recent Independence Day address and vision for India@100 and paving the way for the Amrit Kaal, the 25-year-long leading up to India@100. The Amrit Kaal, which is stated to be futuristic has an inclusive approach, seeking to benefit the youth, women, farmers, the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes and provide the required stimulus for growth. The Amrit Kaal would be coupled with PM GatiShakti (driven by seven engines, namely, Roads, Railways, Airports, Ports, Mass Transport, Waterways, and Logistics Infrastructure) which is aimed at big public investment for modern infrastructure, readying for India@100. PM GatiShakti is being slated to be transformative approach for economic growth and sustainable development. Such approaches found mentions at various places in the Hon’ble Finance Minister’s speech. Initiatives of the last year’s Budget have resulted in significant progress like strengthening of health infrastructure, speedy implementation of the vaccination programme, nation-wide resilient response to the current wave of the pandemic, Productivity Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for receiving great response and achieving the vision of AtmaNirbhar Bharat. With respect to the disinvestment plans announced in the last year’s budget, strategic transfer of ownership of Air India has been closed, the public issue of the LIC is expected shortly and others would follow. In the wake of the farmer discontent, the Government plans to follow inclusive development to promote agriculture sector, viz. promotion of chemical-free natural farming, promote use of ‘Kisan Drones’ for crop assessment, digitization of land records, spraying of insecticides, and nutrients. Revamping of the syllabi of agricultural universities has been emphasised to meet the modern needs of natural, zero-budget and organic farming, value addition and management.