Explained: How India Earns Each Rupee And Where It Goes

For every rupee that the Government of India earns, 34 paise comes through borrowings and liabilities while Goods and Services Tax (GST) contributes 17 paise, the 2023 Union Budget reveals.

Income tax and corporation tax add 15 paise each to every one rupee the Centre earns each year, while Union Excise Duty and Customs add seven and four paise respectively.

The remaining eight paise comes from non-tax receipts and non-debt capital receipts.

As per Union Budget 2023, the outstanding internal and external debt, and other liabilities of the Centre are estimated at ₹1,69,46,666.85 crore for FY 2023-24. On the other hand, GST is estimated to rise by 12 per cent from ₹8,54,000 crore to ₹9,56,600 crore in 2023-24.

Income tax, which is paid by just a small fraction of India's population, is expected to cross ₹9 lakh crore in 2023-24. Corporation tax, which is the tax levied on companies' incomes, is expected to be at ₹9,22,675 crore by March 2024.

These two taxes along with the total debt and liabilities contribute to 64 per cent of the government's total income, which stands at ₹45 lakh crore in 2023-24.

Non-tax revenue, which is estimated at ₹3,01,650 crore in 2023-24 - an increase of 15.2 per cent over the revised estimate of 2022-23 - adds six per cent to the Centre's coffer. 

Where Does One Rupee Go?

The high percentage of debt and liabilities in the government's yearly income, however, also means that interest payments constitute 20 per cent of the expenditure in 2023-24.

In other words: For every rupee that the government spends, 20 paise goes into the repayment of debt and liabilities.

The second biggest chunk of expenditure for the Centre is sharing the revenue earned from taxes and duties with the states - 18 per cent. The total amount that will be shared with states stands at ₹10.21 lakh crore for the financial year 2023-24, which is 41 per cent of the total net proceeds of the sharable central taxes, as per the recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission.

The states of UP and Bihar will get nearly 28 per cent of the total share of central taxes and duties, as per the Union Budget 2023.

Central Sector Schemes (17 per cent) and Centrally Sponsored (9 per cent), which are 100 per cent Centre-funded and partially-funded by the Centre respectively, constitute over one-fourth of the total government spending. In one-rupee terms, 26 paise goes into these schemes.

Defence, which is the single-biggest sectoral expenditure in Indian budget, takes away eight paise of every one rupee the Centre spends. The defence budget in 2023 stands at ₹5.94 lakh crore, which is 13.2 per cent of the total budgeted expenditure of the Centre.

At least seven paise will go into subsidies, one paise less than 2022-23. In the Union Budget, the Centre has cut expenditure on food, fertilisers and petroleum by 28 per cent, compared to the revised estimates for the ongoing financial year.