Union Budget 2021 - 22 Preview
Please refer to important disclosures at the end of this report
Government spending to support growth
Post the Covid-19 pandemic there are expectations that the budget would contain
measures to boost the economy. In the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, the
Government had undertaken targeted fiscal measures aimed at supporting the most
critical sectors given the lack of fiscal space to provide support to the economy in the
form of large cash spending.
We expect the Union Budget 2021-22 to focus on boosting growth through a
combination of higher spending along with targeted tax breaks, which will help boost
consumption. We expect continued focus on critical sectors like Housing infrastructure
and manufacturing along with continued thrust on boosting the rural economy.
As per the RBI, real GDP is expected to contract by 7.5% in FY2021, which will have an
adverse impact on Government finances in FY2021. As a result, fiscal deficit is expected
to be significantly higher than the Budget estimates of 3.6% for FY2021 as spending is
likely to be in line with budgeted estimates. However the Government will try and keep
its gross borrowing program within the revised figure of ₹12 Lakh cr. which will be
positive for the markets.
While total receipts for the financial year till Nov’20 are down by 17.9% YoY to ₹8,309
Lakh cr., expenditure is up by 4.7% YoY to ₹19,064 lakh cr. led by a 12.8% increase in
capital expenditure. With improvement in tax collections from Q3FY21 we expect
Government spending will remain close to budgeted levels.
Major expectations from the Union Budget
1)
Infrastructure
- Infrastructure development will be one of the priorities of
government’s efforts to revive economy, to stimulate growth and create jobs.
Government key focus will be on defense, railway and road infrastructure. Addition
to the National Infrastructure Pipeline is also possible in the budget.
2)
Housing –
There is a possibility that the Government may increase the deduction
available on interest paid on self occupied house from current levels of ₹2 Lakh.
There is also strong possibility of increased allocation to PMAY and extension of
tax holiday for affordable housing projects till March 2022.
3)
Manufacturing –
In order to boost the manufacturing sector we expect the
Government to announce hike in import duties on more items along with
expanding the scope of the ₹1.46 Lakh cr. PLI schemes to include more sectors.
4)
Personal income tax
– The Government can try and address the slump in
consumer spending by providing tax breaks to the middle class. This Government
may extend the new optional tax regime to individuals earning greater than ₹15
Lakh per annum and also increase the limit of the deductions under Sec 80 C for
individuals under the old income tax regime.
5)
Auto
- While there has been a strong rebound in the Auto sector from the Covid
lows led by 2 wheelers, PV and Tractors, the MHCV space still has a long way to
recover to pre Covid levels. There is high probability that the Government will
announce an incentive based scrappage plan in the budget which will be
beneficial for the MHCV space
.