Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government laid out India’s budget for the financial year starting April 1, months after a devastating second Covid-19 wave that crippled small businesses and deepened the country’s already vast inequalities.
The Budget estimates the effective capital expenditure of the Central government at Rs 10.68 lakh crore in 2022-23, making up about 4.1 per cent of the GDP. The gross GST collections for the month of January 2022 are Rs 1,40,986 crore — the highest since the inception of the tax in 2017 — the Finance Minister said. In a major push for digital currency, Sitharaman stated that digital rupee will be issued using blockchain technology by the RBI starting 2022-23. This will give a big boost to the economy, the Finance Minister said.
Here’s a list of Advantage and Disadvantage from the federal budget announcements:
Advantage give to the following sectors:
EV Battery Makers
Crucial for plans to expand India’s ambitions to promote clean transport technology, battery makers will gain from a new swapping policy for electric vehicles announced by Sitharaman.
Transport, Infrastructure
Plans for investments in remote roads, mass transit in cities and 400 new “Vande Bharat” trains in three years will benefit key infrastructure players.
Metals
The government’s 600 billion rupee allocation for piped water to 38 million homes and spending on logistics will benefit India’s metals producers.
Solar
Production-linked incentives worth 195 billion rupees for solar modules to boost local manufacturing will turn the focus on growth at leading panel manufacturers.
Cement, Construction
The government’s plan to build more homes for low-income earners across cities will mean more contracts for cement and construction
Telcom, Data Centers
The launch of 5G auctions in 2022 will help boost telco sector and the classification of data storage as infrastructure spending will benefit companies.
Digital Finance
Digital financial services providers in India are set to gain after Tuesday’s budget focused on expanding such services
Disadvantage give to the following sectors:
Crypto Currency
The decision to levy 30% tax on profits from digital asset transactions, including cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens, may rule out a blanket ban on such tokens for now but it will make trading in them less profitable
Coal Sector
The companies to watch after India’s incentives for solar power and plans to use biomass pellets in thermal power plants in a bid to rely less on coal
Stainless Steel
India has made plans to revoke some anti-dumping and countervailing duties on stainless steel, coated steel flat products, bars of alloy steel and high-speed steel, given the rise in metal prices.