Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan 2023 – New Self Reliant India

  Theme:  Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan is the mission started by the Government of India on 13th May 2020, towards making India Self-reliant. The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi announced an economic package of INR 20 lakh crore as aid to support the country in the times of pandemic. It is focused on 5 components – Economy, Infrastructure, Systems, Vibrant Demography and Demand. Atmanirbhar (Self-Reliant) Country:  A self-reliant nation need not take any necessary measures. On the other hand, it will want to produce and process more such products that it can knowingly produce at a lower cost and higher demand worldwide. At the same time, it cannot rely permanently on countries that dump their substandard products and undermine the importing country’s technological development To benefit from scale, availability of natural and skilled people, expertise in manufacturing & processing products in the country, and attitude to judge domestic global needs, always helps countries let them decide whether to manufacture goods or import useful or essential goods. Atmanirbhar Bharat: What does it mean for India?  Being self-reliant, India has been planning to revive its small-scale industries that earlier contributed to high economic growth but are no longer viable as some countries like China dumped their inferior products in the Indian market so at a lower price – the way small businesses Thousands of scale cottage businesses are getting off track. Income generation from agriculture, the backbone of India, also needs to be boosted, so that India retains its rural Indian grid and allows the cycles of economic growth to continue to turn rapidly. India initially suffered greatly from the coronavirus health crisis because it was surprised by the sudden spread of the virus from China. There was a shortage of masks, gloves, sanitisers and PPE kits for militant doctors to treat the infected. No country could help in this global epidemic because they were all suffering from the same problem. India then stood firm and demonstrated its ability to supply medicines to the United States and other countries suffering from Covid-1 India is facing a self-reliant COVID-19 situation. India has repurposed automotive industries to collaborate in life-saving ventilation. From producing zero personal protective equipment (PPE) before March 2020, today India has developed a capacity to manufacture 2 lakh PPE kits per day, which is also growing steadily.   How India Achieves Self-Reliance in Any Situation? Examples The sudden development of the PPE industry in India is the best example of India gradually turning into a self-reliant country. It has received the biggest fund of ₹21,000 crores from the IIT Alumni Council to support the Atmanirbhar Bharat Mission. The PPE enterprise in India drastically made ₹7,000 crores (US$980 million) in just two months (March to May 2023). The Atmanirbhar Bharat Mission? Pillars and Goals Atmanirbhar Bharat (Atmanirbhar Bharat) is the vision of Shri Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India who has a formidable plan to make India a self-reliant nation. Starting with an initiative evolved by way of Suchak, he launched the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’ or ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Mission’ on 12 May 2020 while he introduced the finances for the coronavirus pandemic. There were many government decisions such as amending the definition of MSMEs, growing non-public region participation in diverse sectors and growing FDI within the defence quarter as part of the Self-Reliant India scheme and many tasks which include potential technology. The increase of India’s Protective Equipment Sector (PPE) zone from 0 to 2000 portions per day is the best example of Self-Reliant India (Atmanirbhar Bharat). 5 Pillars of Atmanirbhar Bharat India has 5 Pillars to Focus Upon to achieve the Atmanirbhar Bharat mission and plans to focus on each of them: Growth of Economy Infrastructure Development System Vibrant Demography Demand Increase Plan to achieve the goal of Atmanirbhar Bharat? 5 Phase Strategy India proposes to build a self-reliant India in the five phases below Phase-I: Growth of Businesses including MSMEs Phase-II: Well-Being of the Poor, including Migrants and Farmers Phase III: Agriculture Growth Phase-IV: New Horizons of Growth Phase-V: Government Reforms and Enablers ​Rs. 20 Lakh Crore Package to Revive Indian Economy With the plan to restore the Indian economy and make India self-reliant, the Indian Prime Minister announced huge finance of Rs. 20 lakh crore – equivalent to 10% of India’s GDP. The budget is supposed to guide MSMEs, and agriculture and is to be dispensed in 5 phases mentioned above. To date, India has had the maximum intense closed society within the globe with very little financial support for the weaker sections of the economy. The size of the package deal reflects the preference to compensate migrant workers and their families for their plight. MSMEs, Agriculture and other key sectors are the pillars of the Self-Reliant India Mission. The country has put together a rescue plan of approximately 13% of its GDP. Conclusion: At the present juncture, when we need both growth and jobs, there can be no second thoughts about the industrial revolution. A well-thought industrial policy can change the ecosystem which can transform India into a global manufacturing hub with competitive pricing, and innovation, and make the country an attractive investment destination.  

Union Budget of India 2023-24 & its key features

Theme: The central government’s expenditure is presented and authorized by Parliament through the Union Budget every financial year. Article 113 of the Constitution requires all expenses (except charged payment) to be submitted as Demands for Grants (Ministry-wise) to Lok Sabha. The Demands for Grants are referred to the Ministries’ respective Departmentally-Related Standing Committees for further examination. Following this, they are discussed in Lok Sabha and approved. After Lok Sabha authorized the demands, an Appropriation Bill was introduced and passed to permit expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of India.  Union Budget of India 2023- 24:    The Union Budget 2023-24 was presented on February 1, 2023, by the Finance Minister Mrs Nirmala Sitharaman. It proposes to spend Rs 45,03,097 crore in the financial year. Revenue expenditures are estimated to be Rs 35,02,136 crore (a 1.2% increase from revised estimates for 2022-23). Interest expenditure is 41% of revenue receipts. Capital expenditure is estimated to be Rs 10,00,961 crore, a 37.4% increase from revised estimates for 2022-23. Increased capital expenditure is driven by higher outlay on transport infrastructure and state capital loans.   Under the Finance Bill 2023, several changes have been made to the new tax regime in union budget of India. The income limit to avail of a rebate and not pay taxes has increased from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 7 lakh. Further, the number of tax slabs has been reduced from six to five. The surcharge for the highest slab (income over Rs 5 crore) has been cut from 37% to 25%.    The highlights of expenditure of Union Budget of India 2023-24 in various ministries/departments include the following:   1)Defence: The Ministry of Defence has been allocated Rs 5,93,538 crore, the largest across all ministries, and accounts for over 13% of the total expenditure of the central government. Over the last decade, the expenditure of the Ministry as a percentage of GDP has reduced in union budget of India. In 2023-24, its allocation is estimated to be marginally lower than 2% of GDP. Since 2014-15, the spending on defense pensions has been consistently higher than 20% of the total budget, and capital outlay has remained below 30%. 2)Road Transport and Highways: The Ministry has been allocated Rs 2,70,435 crore, 25% higher than the revised estimates for 2022-23 in union budget of india. Most of the additional allocation (60%) has been earmarked for investment in NHAI. The budgetary allocation has increased since NHAI will not borrow from the market. Construction of roads is primarily done through public funds. Private investment constituted 7% of investment in roads in 2020-21.    3)Food and Public Distribution: Allocation for the Department in 2023-24 was 31% lower as compared to the revised estimate for 2022-23. This was due to eliminating the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, a program announced during the pandemic to provide eligible beneficiaries with free food cereals. In 2023- 24, expenditure on food subsidy is estimated to be Rs 1.97 lakh crore. Updating the coverage of eligible families is an issue as the total number of beneficiaries continues to be based on the 2011 Census.  4)Home Affairs: The Ministry has been allocated Rs 1,96,035 crore, an increase of 1.1% over the revised estimates for 2022-23. Of the Ministry’s total budget, 65% is on police, and 31% is on grants to UTs. 74% of the expenditure on police has been allocated to the Central Armed Police. Issues in the sector include shortages of police personnel and an inadequate number of cybercrime cells. In addition, 24% of the Indo-Bangladesh border remains unfenced.  5)Rural Development: The Ministry of Rural Development was allocated around Rs 1.6 lakh crore for 2023-24, 12% less than the revised estimates for 2022-23. The decline in violent crime is mostly to blame for this. Allocation to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (Rs 60,000 crore) is 33% less than the revised estimate for 2022-23. Demand for work under MGNREGS could decrease this year as the rural economy returns to normal after the pandemic. On the other hand, allocation towards rural housing increased by 13% in 2023-24 in union budget of india, while the budget towards rural roads remained unchanged.  6)Railways: In 2023-24, Railways is projected to have a marginal revenue surplus, which would fund less than 1% of its capital expenditure plan. 92% of capital expenditure will be financed by budgetary support from the central government and 7% from extra-budgetary resources. The operating ratio (expenditures as proportionate to traffic works receipts) is 98.5%, indicating a limited surplus for capital investment in union budget of india. 7)Agriculture: The Ministry has been allocated Rs 1,25,036 crore in 2023-24, a 5% increase over the revised estimates for 2022-23. 77% of the Ministry’s estimated expenditure is towards three schemes that provide cash transfer, interest subsidy, and crop insurance. The amount of institutional credit to farmers has risen (7.8% over the past ten years), but loans are primarily used to meet revenue expenditure in farming or recurring household expenditure.  8)Education: In 2023-24, the estimated expenditure of the Ministry of Education is Rs 1,12,899 crore, a 13% increase from revised estimates for 2022-23. The Department of Education and Literacy possesses 61%. In addition to the first 61%, the remaining 39% was distributed to the Department of Higher Education in union budget of India. In addition, 33% of the Ministry’s budget has been given to Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan. Since 2015, the overall allocation towards education has been around 2.8% of the GDP.  9)Telecommunications: Rs 59,740 crore (56% of the allocation) in 2023-24 is towards the revival package for BSNL and MTNL in union budget of India. No funds were disbursed under the PLI scheme in 2021-22. In 2022-23, no funds will be spent towards this scheme as per revised estimates. Bharatnet and Network for Defence projects have seen significant delays. 10)Jal Shakti: The Ministry of Jal Shakti was allocated Rs 97,278 crore for 2023-24, a 31% increase over the revised estimates for 2022-23. The Jal Jeevan Mission received the highest allocation (Rs 70,000 crore). In