Key Highlights of Union Budget 2023-24: PART B

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PART B:

• 500 new 'waste to wealth' plants under GOBARdhan (Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources Dhan) scheme to be established for promoting circular economy at total investment of Rs 10,000 crore.

• 5 per cent compressed biogas mandate to be introduced for all organizations marketing natural and bio gas.

• Centre to facilitate one crore farmers to adopt natural farming over the next three years. For this, 10,000 Bio-Input Resource Centres to be set-up, creating a national-level distributed micro-fertilizer and pesticide manufacturing network.

• Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 4.0, to be launched to skill lakhs of youth within the next three years covering new age courses for Industry 4.0 like coding, AI, robotics, mechatronics, IOT, 3D printing, drones, and soft skills.

• 30 Skill India International Centres to be set up across different States to skill youth for international opportunities.

• Revamped credit guarantee scheme for MSMEs to take effect from 1st April 2023 through infusion of Rs 9,000 crore in the corpus. This scheme would enable additional collateral-free guaranteed credit of Rs 2 lakh crore and also reduce the cost of the credit by about 1 per cent.

• Central Processing Centre to be setup for faster response to companies through centralized handling of various forms filed with field offices under the Companies Act.

• The maximum deposit limit for Senior Citizen Savings Scheme to be enhanced from Rs 15 lakh to Rs 30 lakh.

• Targeted Fiscal Deficit to be below 4.5% by 2025-26. Agriculture Accelerator Fund to be set-up to encourage agri-startups by young entrepreneurs in rural areas.

• To make India a global hub for 'Shree Anna', the Indian Institute of Millet Research, Hyderabad will be supported as the Centre of Excellence for sharing best practices, research and technologies at the international level.

• ₹20 lakh crore agricultural credit targeted at animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries A new sub-scheme of PM Matsya Sampada Yojana with targeted investment of ₹6,000 crore to be launched to further enable activities of fishermen, fish vendors, and micro & small enterprises, improve value chain efficiencies, and expand the market.

• Digital public infrastructure for agriculture to be built as an open source, open standard and inter operable public good to enable inclusive farmer centric solutions and support for growth of agri-tech industry and start-ups.

• Computerisation of 63,000 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) with an investment of ₹2,516 crore initiated.

• Massive decentralised storage capacity to be set up to help farmers store their produce and realize remunerative prices through sale at appropriate times.

• Sickle Cell Anaemia elimination mission to be launched.

• Joint public and Private Medical research to be encouraged via select ICMR labs for encouraging collaborative research and innovation.

• New Programme to promote research in Pharmaceuticals to be launched.

• Rs. 10 lakh crore capital investment, a steep increase of 33% for third year in a row, to enhance growth potential and job creation, crowd-in private investments, and provide a cushion against global headwinds.