FM Nirmala Sitharaman announced her fourth Union Budget on 1st Feb 2022. All in all the budget was a balanced budget to fulfill all the expectations, especially amid the Covid-19 situation.
You may get confused with the huge budget. To simplify & make you understand better here are the key highlights that you must know.

Infrastructure

• The government has already started The National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID) and National Asset Reconstruction Compan.
• PM GatiShakti Master Plan for Expressways will be created in 2022-23 to facilitate faster movement of people and goods. 
• The National Highways network will be expanded by 25,000 km in 2022-23. ` 
• Rs. 20,000 crores will be mobilized through innovative ways of financing to complement the public resources. 
• The data exchange among all mode operators will be brought on Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP), designed for Application Programming Interface (API) for efficient movement of goods through different modes.
• Contracts for implementation of Multimodal Logistics Parks at four locations through PPP mode will be awarded in 2022-23. 

Railways 

• Railways will develop new products and efficient logistics services for small farmers and Small and Medium Enterprises.
• ‘One Station-One Product’ concept will be promoted to help local businesses & supply chains.
• As a part of Atmanirbhar Bharat, 2,000 km of the network will be brought under Kavach, the indigenous world-class technology for safety and capacity augmentation in 2022-23.
• Four hundred new-generation Vande Bharat Trains will be developed and manufactured during the next three years.
• One hundred PM GatiShakti Cargo Terminals for multimodal logistics facilities will be developed during the next three years. 

Agriculture

• The procurement of wheat in Rabi 2021-22 and the estimated procurement of paddy in Kharif 2021-22 will cover 1208 lakh metric tonnes of wheat and paddy from 163 lakh farmers, and ` 
• Rs. 2.37 lakh crore direct payment of MSP value to their accounts. 
• Chemical-free Natural Farming will be promoted.
• Support will be provided for post-harvest value addition, enhancing domestic consumption, and branding millet products nationally and internationally. 
• A rationalized and comprehensive scheme to increase the domestic production of oilseeds will be implemented. 
• A scheme in the Public-private partnership model will be launched for the delivery of digital and hi-tech services to farmers.
• The Usage of ‘Kisan Drones’ will be promoted for crop assessment, digitization of land records, spraying of insecticides, and nutrients. 
• A fund with blended capital, raised under the co-investment model, will be facilitated through NABARD to finance startups for agriculture & rural enterprise through support for FPOs, machinery for farmers on a rental basis at farm level, and technology including IT-based support

MSME 

• Udyam, e-Shram, NCS, and ASEEM portals will be interlinked to provide live, organic databases, providing G2C, B2C, and B2B services and formalizing the economy, and enhancing entrepreneurial opportunities for all. 
• Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) will be extended up to March 2023 and its guarantee cover will be expanded by ` 50,000 crores to the total cover of ` 5 lakh crore, with the additional amount being earmarked exclusively for the hospitality and related enterprises. 
• The government will facilitate an additional credit of ` 2 lakh crore for Micro and Small Enterprises and expand employment opportunities by revamping the Credit Guarantee Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) scheme.
• Raising and Accelerating MSME Performance (RAMP) programme with an outlay of ` 6,000 crores over 5 years will be rolled out to help the MSME sector become more resilient, competitive, and efficient.
• Duty on umbrellas is being raised to 20 percent.
• Customs duty exemption is being extended for another year to provide relief to MSME secondary steel producers. 
• Certain Antidumping and CVD on stainless steel and coated steel flat products, bars of alloy steel, and high-speed steel are being revoked.

Employment

• Digital Ecosystem for Skilling and Livelihood – the DESH-Stack eportal – will be launched. 
• Startups will be promoted to facilitate ‘Drone Shakti’ through varied applications and for Drone-As-A-Service (DrAAS).

Education

• ‘one class-one TV channel’ programme of PM eVIDYA will be expanded from 12 to 200 TV channels enabling all states to provide supplementary education in regional languages for classes 1-12. 
• In vocational courses, 750 virtual labs in science and mathematics, and 75 skilling e-labs for a simulated learning environment will be set up this year. 
• High-quality e-content in all spoken languages will be developed for delivery through the internet, mobile phones, TV, and radio through Digital Teachers. 
• A Digital University will be established with a personalized learning experience to provide world-class quality universal education to students.

Health

• An open platform, for the National Digital Health Ecosystem, will be rolled out. It will consist of digital registries of health providers and health facilities, unique health identity, consent framework, and universal access to health facilities. 
• National Tele Mental Health Programme will be launched with a network of 23 tele-mental health centers of excellence.

Housing

• Rs. 48,000 crores are allocated for the completion of 80 lakh houses for the identified eligible beneficiaries of PM Awas Yojana in both rural and urban areas.
• 56. The Central Government will promote affordable housing for the middle class and Economically Weaker Sections in urban areas. 

Banking 

• 100 percent of 1.5 lakh post offices will come on the core banking system enabling financial inclusion and access to accounts through 11 net banking, mobile banking, ATMs.
• SItharaman proposed to set up 75 Digital Banking Units (DBUs) in 75 districts of the country by Scheduled Commercial Banks. 
• The financial support for the digital payment ecosystem announced in the previous Budget will continue in 2022-23. 
• The government will promote the use of payment platforms that are economical and user-friendly.

Technology

• The issuance of e-Passports using embedded chips and futuristic technology will be rolled out in 2022-23 to enhance convenience for the citizens in their overseas travel. 
• An AVGC (animation, visual effects, gaming, and comic) promotion task force will be set up to build domestic capacity for serving markets and the global demand. 

Telecom Sector

• Spectrum auctions will be conducted in 2022 to facilitate the rollout of 5G mobile services by private telecom providers. 
• A scheme for design-led manufacturing, as part of the Production Linked Incentive Scheme, will be launched to build a strong ecosystem for 5G. 
• 5 percent of annual collections under the Universal Service Obligation Fund will be allocated to enable affordable broadband and mobile service proliferation in rural and remote areas. 
• The contracts for laying optical fibre in all villages will be awarded under the Bharatnet project through PPP in 2022-23. 

Export

• The Special Economic Zones Act will be replaced with new legislation, enabling the states to become partners in ‘Development of Enterprise and Service Hubs’,  to optimally utilize the available infrastructure and enhance the competitiveness of exports.
• Exemptions are being provided on items such as embellishment, trimming, fasteners, buttons, zipper, lining material, specified leather, furniture fittings, and packaging boxes to incentivize exports. 
• Duty is being reduced on certain inputs needed for shrimp aquaculture so as to promote its exports. 

Solar Power 

• An additional allocation of Rs. 19,500 crore for Production Linked Incentive for the manufacture of high-efficiency modules will be made to facilitate domestic manufacturing for the goal of 280 GW of installed solar capacity.

Finance 

• An outlay for capital expenditure in the Union Budget is stepped up sharply by 35.4 percent from Rs. 5.54 lakh crore in the current year to Rs. 7.50 lakh crore in 2022-23.
• Sovereign Green Bonds will be issued for mobilizing resources for green infrastructure.
• The government will promote thematic funds for blended finance with the government share being limited to 20 percent and the funds being managed by private fund managers.
• Sitharaman proposed to introduce Digital Rupee, using blockchain and other technologies, to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India. 

Electronics

• Customs duty rates are calibrated to provide a graded rate structure to facilitate domestic manufacturing of wearable devices, hearable devices, and 28 electronic smart meters. 
• The parts of the transformer of mobile phone chargers and camera lens of mobile camera module and certain other items have also been given duty concessions. . This will enable domestic manufacturing of high growth electronic items.

Gems and Jewellery 

• Customs duty on cut and polished diamonds and gemstones is being reduced to 5 percent. 
• A simplified regulatory framework shall be implemented by June this year to facilitate the export of jewelry through e-commerce.
• The customs duty on imitation jewelry is being prescribed in a manner that a duty of at least ` 400 per Kg is paid on its import to disincentives import of undervalued imitation jewelry.

Chemicals

• Customs duty on methanol, acetic acid, and heavy feedstocks for petroleum refining are being reduced. 
• The duty is being raised on sodium cyanide for which adequate domestic capacity exists.