New Delhi. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday that discussions are going on on cryptocurrencies and after that we will consider making laws on it. Speaking to reporters after the budget, Sitharaman said, “Deliberations on cryptocurrency have been started recently. Based on the conclusion that comes in this, we will look into bringing a law or any other proposal.”
The Finance Minister said in the budget speech that the Reserve Bank of India will introduce a blockchain technology based digital rupee in 2022-23. He clarified the taxation on cryptocurrencies and other private digital assets. He proposed to levy 30 per cent tax on the profit on transactions in such properties.
Sitharaman clarified, “This taxation is imposed on activities related to crypto currency. This does not mean that it is being legalized. Not everyone can issue currency. Responding to the question related to employment generation in the budget, he said, “We are increasing the capacity of the people by making them skilled. The guarantee cover under ECLGS (Emergency Credit Facility Guarantee Scheme) will be increased by Rs 50,000 crore to Rs 5 lakh crore. Also, its deadline has been extended till March 2023. Additional assistance is specifically for hospitality and related enterprises. This will increase employment opportunities.”
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He said that 68 percent of defense procurement expenditure in the budget has been earmarked for procurement from local industries. In addition, emphasis is being laid on food processing. All these will create good employment opportunities. Responding to a question related to the relief of the common man in the budget, Sitharaman said, “Merely reducing the tax rate is not beneficial. We made provision for cheap loans for affordable houses. The measures taken for farmers, provision for startups, extension of ECLGS deadline will also benefit common people.
Responding to a question on whether there is less money left in the market for the private sector due to increased borrowings of the government, he said that there is no shortage of liquidity in the market and the private sector has enough money for loans as per their requirement. Sitharaman also said that whatever is there in the budget, it is on the real ground. All the estimates given are real. On the question of higher raw material price, he said that all manufacturing industries have not been affected by the increase in raw material price, it is only affecting the metal industry to some extent. (agency)