BUDGET 2021-22: POWER SECTOR & MORE ( CURRENT AFFAIRS 3 FEB 2021 )

 BUDGET 2021-22: POWER SECTOR

Union Minister for Finance in her budget speech of 2021-22, proposed an outlay of Rs 3,05,984 crore over 5 years for a revamped reforms- based result-linked power distribution sector Scheme.

About:

• The Scheme will provide assistance to DISCOMS for infrastructure creation, including pre-paid smart metering and feeder separation, up gradation of systems, etc. tied to financial improvements.
  
  
• she also proposed to put in place a competitive framework to give consumers alternatives to choose from among more than one distribution companies.
  
  
• For a green and sustainable future, the Finance Minister also proposed to launch a comprehensive National Hydrogen Energy Mission in 2021-22 for generating Hydrogen from green power sources fulfilling the announcement made by Prime Minister in November 2020.

BUDGET 2021-22: INFRASTRUCTURE FINANCING

To achieve the target of National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) in the coming years the Government proposes following three steps : (1) Creation of institutional structures, (2) A big thrust on monetizing assets, and (3) Enhancing the share of capital expenditure in Central and State budgets.

About:

• NIP launched in December 2019 with 6835 projects has now expanded to 7,400 projects and around 217 projects worth Rs. 1.10 lakh crore under some key infrastructure Ministries have been completed.
  
  
• A sum of Rs. 20,000 crore has been provisioned in the Union Budget to capitalise Development Financial Institution (DFI). A Bill will be introduced to set up DFI which will act as a provider, enabler and catalyst for infrastructure financing.
  
  
• to enable Debt Financing of InVITs and REITs by Foreign Portfolio Investors suitable amendments will be done in the relevant legislations.
  
  
• The Union Finance Minister announced launch of a “National Monetization Pipeline” of potential brownfield infrastructure assets stating that Monetizing operating public infrastructure assets is a very important financing option for new infrastructure construction.
  
  
• The Minister informed that an Asset Monetization dashboard will also be created for tracking the progress and to provide visibility to investors.

BUDGET 2021-22: FISCAL DEFICIT

Against an original Budgetary Estimates (BE) 2020-2021 for expenditure of Rs. 30.42 lakh crore, the Revised Estimates (RE) 2020-21 are Rs. 34.50 lakh crore.

About:

• Fiscal deficit in RE 2020-21 is pegged at 9.5% of GDP. It has been funded through Government borrowings, multilateral borrowings, Small Saving Funds and short term borrowings.
  
  
• Another Rs 80,000 crore would be needed for which Government would be approaching the markets in these 2 months.
  
  
• The fiscal deficit in BE 2021-2022 is estimated to be 6.8% of GDP. The gross borrowing from the market for the next year would be around 12 lakh crore.
  
  
• Finance minister will be proposing an amendment to thBUDGET 2021-22: RAILWAYS
  Indian Railways has received a record outlay of 1,10,055 crore, of which 1,07,100 crore is for capital expenditure. This was announced in the Union Budget 2021-22.
  

  About:

  • Indian Railways have prepared a National Rail Plan for India – 2030. The Plan is to create a ‘future ready’ Railway system by 2030.
    
    
  • Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) and Eastern DFC are expected to be commissioned by June 2022.
    
    
  • The Sonnagar – Gomoh Section (263.7 km) of Eastern DFC will be taken up in PPP mode in 2021-22. Gomoh-Dankuni section of 274.3 km will also be taken up in short succession.
    
    
  • Future dedicated freight corridor projects namely East Coast corridor from Kharagpur to Vijayawada, East-West Corridor from Bhusaval to Kharagpur to Dankuni and North-South corridor from Itarsi to Vijayawada will be undertaken.
    
    
  • 100% electrification of Broad-Gauge routes will be completed by December, 2023. Broad Gauge Route Kilometers (RKM) electrified is expected to reach 46,000 RKM i.e., 72% by end of 2021 from 41,548 RKM on 1st Oct 2020.
  e FRBM Act towards achieving Central Government fiscal deficit along the broad path indicated above.

BUDGET 2021-22: ROAD INFRASTRUCTURE

The Union Minister of Finance announced several measures to augment road infrastructure in the Union Budget 2021-22 presented in the Parliament.

About:

• An enhanced outlay of 1,18,101 crore has been provided for Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, of which 1,08,230 crore is for capital, the highest ever.
  
  
• More than 13,000 km length of roads, at a cost of 3.3 lakh crore, has already been awarded under the 5.35 lakh crore Bharatmala Pariyojana project of which 3,800 kms have been constructed. By March 2022, another 8,500 kms would be awarded.
  
  
• Advanced Traffic management system with speed radars, variable message signboards, GPS enabled recovery vans will be installed in all new four and six lane highways.

BUDGET 2021-22: TAXATION

The Union Budget 2021-22 seeks to further simplify the Tax Administration, Litigation Management and ease the compliance of Direct Tax Administration.

About:

• To further reduce litigation of small tax payers, Smt. Sitharaman proposed to constitute a Dispute Resolution Committee. Anyone with a taxable income upto Rs. 50 lakh and disputed income upto Rs. 10 lakh, shall be eligible to approach the Committee.
  
  
• She also announced setting up of National Faceless Income Tax Appellate Tribunal Centre, wherein all communication between the Tribunal and the appellant shall be electronic.
  
  
• In the 75th year of independence, the Budget seeks to reduce compliance burden on senior citizens who are of 75 years of age and above. Such senior citizens having only pension and interest income, will be exempted from filing their income tax return.
  
  
• The Budget proposes to notify rules for removing the hardship of Non-Resident Indians returning to India, on the issue of their accrued incomes in their foreign retirement account. It proposes to make dividend payment to REIT/InvIT exempt from TDS.
  
  
• The Finance Minister proposed to extend the eligibility period for claim of additional deduction for interest of Rs. 1.5 lakh on loan taken for purchase of an affordable house to 31st March, 2022.
  
  
• In order to incentivize start-ups in the country, Smt. Sitharaman announced extension in the eligibility for claiming tax holiday for start-ups by one more year till 31st March, 2022.

BUDGET 2021-22: PUBLIC TRANSPORT IN URBAN AREAS

Public transport system in urban areas got a major boost in the Budget for the year 2021-22.

About:

• A new scheme will be launched at a cost of 18,000 crore to support augmentation of public bus transport services. It will facilitate deployment of innovative PPP models to enable private sector players to finance, acquire, operate and maintain over 20,000 buses. 
  
  
• Government plans to deploy two new technologies i.e. ‘MetroLite’ and ‘MetroNeo’ to provide metro rail systems at much lesser cost with same experience, convenience and safety in Tier-2 cities and peripheral areas of Tier-1 cities.

BUDGET 2021-22: CAPITAL EXPENDITURE

While presenting the Union Budget 2021-22 in Parliament the Union Minister for Finance announced a sharp increase in capital expenditure with BE of Rs 5.54 lakh crore which is 34.5% more than the BE of last financial year (Rs. 4.12 lakh crore).

About:

• It is expected that the total capital expenditure during 2020-21 will be at around Rs 4.39 lakh crore.
  
  
• In the Capital Budget a sum of more than Rs. 44,000 crore has been kept in the Budget of Department of Economic Affairs and will be provided for projects/programmes/departments that show good progress on Capital Expenditure and are in need of further funds.
  
  
• More than Rs 2 lakh crore will be provided to States and Autonomous Bodies for their Capital Expenditure. The Government will work out specific mechanisms to nudge the States to spend more of their budget on creation of infrastructure.

KRITAGYA

Union Minister of Agriculture informed Lok Sabha about AGRI INDIA HACKATHON.

About:

• The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has started organising KRITAGYA- a National level hackathon in the month of August, 2020 to promote innovation in agriculture and allied sectors in the country.
  
  
• Advantages of organising Agri-Hackathon are to give opportunity to the students along with faculties, innovators for showcasing their innovative approaches & technologies in agriculture and allied sectors.
  
  
• Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has also put in place an Institutional mechanism through Research Institutes, Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) and Agriculture Universities (AUs) to address the problems being faced by the farming sector.

‘CHAURI CHAURA’ INCIDENT

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Chauri Chaura Centenary Celebrations at Chauri Chaura, Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, on 4th February 2021.

About:

• The day marks 100 years of the ‘Chauri Chaura’ incident, a landmark event in the country’s fight for independence.
  
  
• The Chauri Chaura incident took place on 4 February 1922 at Chauri Chaura in the Gorakhpur district of the United Province (modern Uttar Pradesh) in British India.
  
  
• In this, a large group of protesters participating in the Non-cooperation movement, clashed with police who opened fire. In retaliation the demonstrators attacked and set fire to a police station, killing all of its occupants.
  
  
• The incident led to the death of three civilians and 22 policemen.
  
  
• Mahatma Gandhi, who was strictly against violence, halted the non-co-operation movement on the national level on 12 February 1922, as a direct result of this incident