Budget 2023: A look back at some major announcements in previous Budget

Here is a brief status check of some initiatives that the Finance Minister touched upon in the Union Budget 2022

In just three weeks Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the 2023 Union Budget. Perfect time then to take a look back at her last budget, and some of the announcements made therein. This is a brief status check of some initiatives that the Finance Minister touched upon in the Union Budget 2022. These exclude fiscal, budgetary and taxation announcements and focus instead on infrastructure, agriculture, education, clean energy and others:

PM Gatishakti: The PM Gatishakti was envisaged as a master plan for all of the centre and states’ infrastructure projects, to ensure greater coordination and cooperation among various federal, state and private sector implementing agencies and speed up the process of completing the projects. The focus is on Roads, Railways, Airports, Ports, Mass Transport, Waterways, and Logistics Infrastructure with complementary roles of Energy Transmission, IT Communication, Bulk Water & Sewerage, and Social Infrastructure.

The GatiShakti portal and database are up and running, and are monitoring real time the progress in hundreds of infrastructure projects across the country.

The Finance Minister had also announced plans for four new multimodal logistics parks. Bids have been awarded only for one in Chennai, with bids yet to be awarded for Bengaluru, Nagpur and Indore.

Parvatmala: “As a preferred ecologically sustainable alternative to conventional roads in difficult hilly areas, National Ropeways Development Programme 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,” the FM had said.

The plan was to award contracts for eight ropeway projects for a length of 60 kms in FY23. According to the latest reports, the centre has received around 250 proposals from interested investors, though only one contract has been awarded, for Varanasi.

Capacity building for infrastructure: Although variations of such an announcement is made every budget, something significant did happen in FY23. The two infrastructure divisions of the Finance Ministry’s Department of Economic Affairs were combined to create a new institution called the Infrastructure Finance Secretariat (IFS). It got in people from multilateral institutions and the private sector, and works on PPP framework, various infra financing issues like deepening municipal bond markets, real estate and infrastructure investment trusts (REITS and InVITs), asset monetisation, dispute resolution and other myriad subjects.

National Oilseeds Mission: “To reduce our dependence on import of oilseeds, a rationalised and comprehensive scheme to increase domestic production of oilseeds will be implemented,” Sitharaman had said.

The National Mission for Edible Oils has been approved with a total outlay of Rs 11,040 crore. This will bring an additional area of 650,000 hectare under oil palm plantation with 328,000 hectare in the north-eastern states in the next 5 years.

Digital University: The FM had announced plans to set up a Digital University to provide access to students across the country for quality universal education with personalised learning experience. The university, with courses in different Indian languages, was be built on a networked hub-spoke model, with top public universities and institutions in the country collaborating.

There is a comprehensive framework for a National Digital University in the works, but actual implementation is still some time away.

Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for North East Region (PM-DevINE): Announced in the last budget, the scheme was approved by Cabinet in October, with an outlay of Rs 6,600 crore from 2022-23 to 2025-26. The scheme will focus on creation of infrastructure, support industries, social development projects and create livelihood activities for youth and women, thus leading to employment generation.

Aspirational Blocks Programme: A sister initiative to Aspirational Districts Programme, the programme was supposed to focus on the most backward blocks in the poorest districts. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the programme last week. Over half of these blocks are in six states—Uttar Pradesh (68 blocks), Bihar (61), Madhya Pradesh (42), Jharkhand (34), Odisha (29) and West Bengal (29). NITI Aayog in partnership with the states will release a quarterly ranking of these blocks based on their performance on development indicators covering sectors such as health, education and nutrition among others.

DESH Bill: “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 utilise available infrastructure and enhance competitiveness of exports,” Sitharaman had said.

The DESH Bill was expected to be tabled in the recent Winter Session of Parliament, but is now expected to be introduced in the Budget Session, as differences between the commerce and the finance ministries over tax incentives and some other key provisions of the draft Bill have delayed its introduction.

Green Bonds: The last budget had announced that India would join a select list of sovereigns that issue bonds for financing of green, climate resilient infrastructure. The bonds would be part of the centre’s yearly borrowing programme.

The framework was released in November. The central government will finance projects and initiatives in nine broad categories through its Rs 16,000 crore green bond offering this year and future issuances. The proceeds from green bond issuances will be deposited in the Consolidated Fund of India in line with the regular treasury policy, and they will be then made available for eligible green projects.

The nine categories are renewable energy, energy efficiency, clean transportation, climate change adaptation, sustainable water and waste management, pollution prevention and control, green buildings, sustainable management of living natural resources and land use, and terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity conservation.