Lok Sabha completes Budgetary exercise for 2022-23 by passing Finance Bill

The Lok Sabha on Friday approved the Finance Bill, which gives effect to new taxation, thus completing the Budgetary exercise for 2022-23 fiscal.

The Finance Bill was approved by the Lower House after accepting 39 official amendments moved by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and rejecting the amendments proposed by the opposition by voice vote.

Replying to a discussion on the Finance Bill, Sitharaman said India was probably the only country that did not resort to new taxes to fund the recovery of the economy hit by the Covid pandemic.

She said that according to an OECD report, as many as 32 countries have increased the tax rates after the pandemic.

"Instead, we put more money where multiplier effect would be maximum," she said while referring to the Budget's focus on raising capital expenditure.

The Budget 2022-23 raised Capex by 35.4 per cent to ₹ 7.5 lakh crore to continue the public investment-led recovery of the pandemic battered economy.

Responding to the concerns expressed by members on imposing customs duty on umbrella, she said it was done to encourage domestic manufacturing by MSMEs.

She further said that IFSC in Gujarat is making steady progress, and several global funds and insurance companies are setting up offices in the International Financial Services Centre at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT).