Budget 2022: Key Highlights from Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s speech

·        Focus on agricultural productivity and farmers, direct payment of MSP of Rs 2.37 lakh crore.

·       Chemical-free natural farming will be promoted throughout the country with a focus on farmers' land in 5 km wide corridors along the river Ganga, in the first stage.

 

·        Digital rupee to be issued using blockchain and other technologies by RBI starting 2022-23. 

·        This will give a big boost to the economy. 

3. Education  

·       Finance Minister Nirmala Sidharaman announced the formation of a digital university to provide access to world-class education to Indian students. 

·       “1 class 1 TV channel’ initiative will be started to counter the loss of learning due to the pandemic.

·       PM e-vidya scheme from 12 channels to 200 to be made available in all regional languages.

·       5 academic institutions on urban planning to be made centres of excellence.

·       Agricultural universities will revise syllabi to meet the needs of modern-day farming.

·       Income from transfer of digital assets to be charged 30% tax, plus 1% tax on the transaction.

·       Income from Long Term Capital Gains will be taxed at 15%.

·       Corporate surcharge to be reduced from 12% to 7%.

·       To provide an opportunity to correct an error, taxpayers can now file an updated return within 2 years from the relevant assessment year.

·       No change in income tax rate and slab.

 

Also read: Budget 2022: RBI to introduce digital currency; 30% tax on crypto assets

 

·       PM Gati Shakti project will be launched by the government. The project will expand the national highway network by "25,000 km in 2022-23.

·       400 new-generation Vande Bharat trains with better efficiency will be brought in during the next 3 years.

·       100 PM Gati Shakti Cargo terminals to be developed during next 3 years and implementation of innovative ways for building metro systems.