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As Google celebrates pani-puri, a recap of some Indian-based doodles that caught the eye

<ul><li>Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) saw its average flat sizes reduce to 743 sq. ft. in Q1 2023, from 932 sq. ft. in 2018. </li><li>Average flat sizes in the top seven cities have risen by 7% to about 1,225 sq. ft. in Q1 2023.</li><li>On a yearly basis, the average flat sizes in the top seven cities in Q1 2023 rose 5%</li></ul>New flat sizes in the financial capital of India, Mumbai, have shrunk by 20% in the last five years bucking the trend of consumers preferring larger homes in the rest of the top seven cities, as per real estate services provider Anarock. Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) saw average flat sizes reduce to 743 sq. ft. in the first quarter of 2023, from 932 sq. ft. in 2018. "In these five years, only 2020 saw average flat sizes in MMR see an annual rise of 21% against 2019. Since 2020, homes in the region are shrinking,” said Anuj Puri, chairman, Anarock Group. However, this is an outlier. Despite rising property prices, average new flat sizes grew by 7% in the other top metros of India – to about 1,225 sq. ft. in Q1 2023 from about 1,150 sq. ft. in 2018. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Hyderabad, NCR: Size matters" comment="subhead" text="Hyderabad, NCR: Size matters">Hyderabad, NCR: Size matters</cmsannotation> Among the top seven cities, the national capital region (NCR) saw the highest growth in average flat size in the last five years – from about 1,250 sq. ft. in 2018 to about 1,700 sq. ft. in Q1 2023. When it comes to the highest average flat size, Hyderabad tops the list with about 2,200 sq. ft. in Q1 2023, followed by NCR. “Before Covid-19, apartment sizes were shrinking annually to meet the demand for compact homes prevalent then," said Puri. "The central concerns were affordability and millennials’ preference for low-maintenance homes. 2020 saw an abrupt reversal of buyer preferences. With a sudden emphasis on the WFH and study-from-home culture, flat sizes began increasing for the first time in four years.” On a yearly basis, the average flat sizes in the top seven cities in Q1 2023 rose 5% – to about 1,225 sq. ft. from about 1,170 sq. ft. in Q1 2022. MMR and Chennai were the exceptions as they saw a 6% and 5% decrease, respectively, in average flat sizes during the period. “A perception among developers that there is currently sufficient existing supply of larger format homes may be a factor,” said Anarock, explaining the decrease in MMR as well as Chennai. “Also, while MMR is hyper-expensive, Chennai is a very cost-sensitive market. In both instances, increasing the supply of smaller, more affordable homes makes sense. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="New construction, better space" comment="subhead" text="New construction, better space">New construction, better space</cmsannotation> On a yearly basis, NCR saw average flat size rise 50% in Q1 2023 while Kolkata saw flat sizes increase by 44% to 1,150 sq. ft. in Q1 2023. While Hyderabad saw average flat size increase by 29% in the year, Pune saw a 16% yearly increase to 1,013 sq. ft. in Q1 2023, and Bengaluru saw a 8% yearly jump to about 1,300 sq. ft.

Mumbai flat sizes have shrunk 20% in past five years but other metros show improvement

<ul><li>Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made five announcements in the personal income tax front including changing the income tax rebate limit. </li><li>The allocation to PM Awas Yojana was also enhanced by 66% to ₹79,000 crore. </li><li>PAN will be common identification for all digital systems which will increase ease of doing business. It will be facilitated via a legal mandate. </li></ul>Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday that those earning below ₹7 lakh income per annum need not pay any income tax in the new tax regime. This limit has been increased from ₹5 lakh earlier. “This is for our hard working middle class,” she said in her Budget speech insisting that this is the announcement ‘everyone’ is waiting for. The government also said it will increase its capital outlay by 33% to ₹10 lakh crore in FY24 – that’s 3.3% of GDP. The allocation to PM Awas Yojana was also enhanced by 66% to ₹79,000 crore. She also allocated ₹15,000 crore over three years to the Schedule Tribe Mission. The FM also allocated ₹35,000 crore as energy transition investment. She also said that FY23 fiscal deficit at 6.4%, adheres to budget estimates. She fixed FY24 fiscal deficit target at 5.9%. India is heading towards a bright future despite challenges, as she delivered her fifth budget in the parliament. She identified seven priorities for the budget — inclusive growth, reaching the last mile (digital public infra for agriculture), infrastructure and investment, unleashing potential, green growth, youth power, and financial sector. “Three things will be in focus – ample opportunities for citizens to youth to fulfill growth, strong impetus to growth and job creation and strengthening macro economic stability,” Sitharaman said. It is the last budget that the government will deliver before India goes into a general election next year. Here are the Budget speech highlights: 5 Personal Tax Announcements <ul><li>The FM today changed the income tax rebate limit from ₹5 lakh per annum to ₹7 lakh per annum in the new tax regime. Those with an annual income of ₹7 lakh and below need not pay income tax. </li><li> In the second announcement, FM said that she is changing the tax structure and reducing the number of slabs and increasing the tax exemption limit, under the new tax regime. The new tax rates are </li></ul><table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Slab </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Tax rate </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹0-3 lakh </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Nil </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹3-6 lakh </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">5% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹ 6-9 lakh </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">10% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹ 9-12 lakh </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">15% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹12-15 lakh </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">20% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹15 lakh and above </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">30% </td></tr></tbody></table> <ul><li>The third proposal is for the salaried class and the pensioners including family pensioners. She extended the benefit of standard deduction to the new tax regime. Each salaried person with an income of ₹15.5 lakh or more will thus stand to benefit by ₹52,500. </li><li>The FM reduced the highest surcharge rate in personal income tax from 37% to 25% in the new tax regime. This would result in reduction of the maximum tax rate to 39%. </li><li>The limit of ₹3 lakh for tax exemption on leave encashment on retirement of non-government salaried employees is increased to ₹25 lakh. </li></ul>She also said that the new income tax regime will be the default tax regime. However, citizens can continue to avail the benefit of the old tax regime. Other speech highlights <ul><li>It’s the first budget in Amritkaal. It hopes to build on the foundation laid in previous Budgets and the blueprint drawn for India@100. </li><li>Current year eco growth is estimated to be at 7% – highest among all major economies in spite of the massive slowdown globally caused by war and Covid-19. </li><li>Despite challenges, India is heading to a bright future. </li><li>The government will provide 5 kg grains to 81 crore people free of cost. This will result in a food subsidy bill of ₹2 lakh crore for the next one year. </li><li>Three things will be in focus – ample opportunities for citizens to youth to fulfill growth, strong impetus to growth and job creation and strengthening macro economic stability. </li><li>Seven priorities – inclusive growth, reaching the last mile (digital public infra for agriculture), infrastructure and investment, unleashing potential, green growth, youth power, financial sector. </li><li>Agricultural credit target raised to ₹20 lakh crore. An agricultural accelerator fund to be set up. </li><li>157 new nursing colleges to be started. </li><li>Age appropriate reading material to be provided to children and adolescents with non-curricular titles via National Book Trust and more to make up for the loss of learning during the pandemic. </li><li>Allocation to PM Awas Yojana enhanced by 66% to ₹79,000 crore. </li><li>₹15,000 crore allocated over three years to the Scheduled Tribe Mission. </li><li>Computerisation of 63,000 primary agricultural credit societies with an investment outlay of ₹2,516 crore. </li><li>More than 39,000 compliances have been reduced and over 3,400 legal proceedings have been decriminalised to enhance Ease of Doing Business. </li><li>PAN will be common identification for all digital systems which will increase ease of doing business. It will be facilitated via a legal mandate. </li><li>₹35,000 crore allocated for energy transition investment. </li><li>₹7,000 crore for the third phase of e-courts. </li><li>Will facilitate 1 crore farmers to adopt natural farming methods. For this, 10,000 bio-input resource centers will set-up. </li><li>A unified skill India digital platform will be set-up linking with employers, facilitating entrepreneurship schemes and stipends to students. </li></ul>Customs Duty The number of basic customs duty rates on goods reduced, other than textiles and agriculture, from 21 to 13. There are minor changes in the basic custom duties, cesses and surcharges on some items including toys, bicycles, automobiles and naphtha, FM said in her speech. Savings &amp; Deposits Mahila Samman Bachat Patra – a one-time small savings scheme called Mahila Samman Savings Certificate will be made available for a 2-year period upto March 2025. This will offer ₹2 lakh for women and girls for 2 years at a FD rate of 7.5% with partial withdrawal option. The maximum deposit for senior savings increased from ₹15 lakh to ₹30 lakh. Fiscal Deficit <ul><li>FY23 fiscal deficit retained at 6.4%, adheres to budget estimates. </li><li>FY24 fiscal deficit target is at 5.9%. To bring fiscal deficit below 4.5% by FY25-26 </li></ul>Calamity related duty on cigarettes hiked by 16%. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/mukesh-ambani-overtakes-gautam-adani-as-the-richest-indian/articleshow/97519749.cms">Mukesh Ambani overtakes Gautam Adani as the richest Indian on the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/startups-incorporated-till-march-2024-to-get-income-tax-benefits-fm/articleshow/97519570.cms">Startups incorporated till March 2024 to get income tax benefits: FM</a>

Budget 2023-24 highlights: Those with income below ₹7 lakh a year need not pay income tax

<ul><li>The festive-season momentum of increased hiring in retail, e-commerce, and BFSI sectors will likely spill over into 2023. </li><li>A similar trend is expected in the services-oriented industries of hospitality, and airline sectors as people continue to travel more to make up for the Covid-time isolation. </li><li>A survey by <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/epaper/delhicapital/2022/dec/15/et-corp/indian-it-hiring-to-buck-global-trend-may-pick-up-in-23/articleshow/96235151.cms">Randstad</a> says that hiring in the Indian IT sector is likely to rise in the first quarter of 2023 as seven out of 10 companies plan to increase their headcount in the period. </li><li>Data science, analytics, and other technology-related job roles are likely to continue to be in demand in the new year.</li></ul>Specialised IT, telecom and service-oriented jobs will be on the upswing in 2023 as increased digitalisation, 5G expansion and a claw back by service sectors to pre-Covid levels of growth — will necessitate increased hiring in these sectors.Also, the momentum from the festive season-driven hiring growth in retail, e-commerce and BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) sectors witnessed in the last quarter of 2022 will likely spill over into the next year, industry players say. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="High-skilled IT jobs, telecom sector to drive growth" comment="subhead" text="High-skilled IT jobs, telecom sector to drive growth">High-skilled IT jobs, telecom sector to drive growth</cmsannotation> Despite the large-scale job cuts and hiring freeze affected by global technology players, the Indian IT sector is likely to defy the global trends and see hiring next year – especially for specialised digital skills. A survey by staffing and recruiting services firm <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/epaper/delhicapital/2022/dec/15/et-corp/indian-it-hiring-to-buck-global-trend-may-pick-up-in-23/articleshow/96235151.cms">Randstad</a> says that hiring in the Indian IT sector is likely to pick up in the first quarter of 2023 as seven out of 10 companies plan to increase their headcount during the period. And the country’s big push for 5G expansion in 2023 will see a surge in hiring in the telecom sector as well. “Sectors such as IT, healthcare, e-commerce will continue to grow and with the advent of 5G, we will see a sharp rise in telcom jobs as well in the next few quarters. With the rising job market and ever-evolving concept of job, it will be interesting to see how India defines the future of work,” Sashi Kumar, head of sales at Indeed India, told Business Insider India. To be sure, the hiring pace in the Indian IT sector slowed down this year and this was particularly seen in the case of freshers. However, experts say that the demand for IT digital skills like SAP, salesforce developers, dot net, data analytics, java, full stack, devOps, and cloud infra will continue to remain strong in 2023. “We do see an upswing in demand for digital skills as the services sector continues to hire,” Nitin Dave, CEO – Quess Staffing Solutions told Business Insider India. According to a recent Indeed survey, around 71% of companies recruited people with IT abilities and skills this year. Data science, analytics, and other technology-related job roles are likely to continue to be in demand next year as well, according to Kumar of Indeed India. “High-skilled engineering employees who have prowess for futuristic tech are in demand and they have multiple opportunities, hence we see that employability is positive,” Kumar added. Crypto roles - which had the biggest share of hires in overall technology job roles, increasing from 41.22% in 2019-20 to 67.48% in 2021-22 – will continue its upward growth with high demand for application developers, data engineers and full-stack developers. Another big source of demand for human resources will be from global capability centres (GCCs). “We also expect to see an increase in job demand from the growing number of GCCs in India,” Dave added. GCCs will create over 3.64 lakh new jobs over the next 12 months, a 38% rise from last year, according to a <a href="https://www.livemint.com/technology/tech-news/gccs-to-ramp-up-india-hiring-11670426280595.html">report</a> by staffing firm NLB Services. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Tier 1 cities to dominate IT hiring, Tier 2,3 will also join the party" comment="subhead" text="Tier 1 cities to dominate IT hiring, Tier 2,3 will also join the party">Tier 1 cities to dominate IT hiring, Tier 2,3 will also join the party</cmsannotation> Bengaluru will continue to lead in hiring of IT professionals. As per Quess data, the overall tech hiring is expected to be dominated by Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities like Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Pune, NCR, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Jaipur and others. “We are seeing a positive growth of product and engineering roles in India, which will grow exponentially in the coming years. As a result of the pandemic’s digital push, there is a rise in jobs in engineering and R&amp;D being made available in Tier 2 and 3 cities as well,” Kumar said. Cities like Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Kochi, Indore, Jaipur, Surat and others are expected to contribute over 6.5% of total R&amp;D jobs in 2023, according to data by Indeed. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Jobs in the services industry on the upswing" comment="subhead" text="Jobs in the services industry on the upswing">Jobs in the services industry on the upswing</cmsannotation> Hospitality industry will be a key employer as people have started travelling again with a vengeance and this trend is not likely to slow down despite high inflation and interest rates, industry players added. “We are also optimistic that the hospitality, aviation and retail sectors will soon return to pre-pandemic levels,” said Dave. The aviation industry – one of the most affected industries due to the pandemic lockdowns – had to cut <a href="https://www.businesstoday.in/industry/aviation/story/covid-19-impact-10-jobs-in-aviation-sector-lost-between-apr-2020-and-dec-2021-says-govt-327667-2022-03-28">10% or 19,200 jobs</a> between April 2020 and December 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, VK Singh, Minister of State for Civil Aviation said in March this year. However, the ministry in August <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/transportation/airlines-/-aviation/indias-aviation-sector-likely-to-employ-1-lakh-more-people-in-next-two-years/articleshow/93432356.cms">said</a> the Indian aviation industry would employ over 1 lakh people in the next two years. A growing regulatory push for ESG (environment, social and governance) compliance will drive demand for professionals in this space next year. “We are also seeing more roles in the sustainability and ESG space ranging from engineers, and research analysts to consultants,” Kumar said. Besides growth in regular jobs, g<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/india-to-add-9-million-gig-jobs-by-2025-says-indeed-report/articleshow/96060459.cms">ig jobs</a> in the retail and e-commerce sectors – which saw a steep growth this year – will continue to rise in 2023, experts say. As per Indeed, 9 million gig workers will be added to the Indian workforce in the next three years. “Companies have also begun to invest in platforms and procedures for gig labour, underscoring how crucial they are to India's future job growth,” said Kumar. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/fintech-player-zaggle-files-ipo-papers-with-sebi-to-mobilise-funds-via-ipo/articleshow/96367455.cms">Fintech player Zaggle files IPO papers with Sebi to mobilise funds via IPO</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/news/tirupati-lucknow-madurai-and-other-non-metros-that-transacted-the-most-for-movies-as-per-bookmyshow/slidelist/96366956.cms">Tirupati, Lucknow, Madurai and other non-metros that transacted the most for movies, as per BookMyShow</a>

Jobs market outlook 2023: Specialised IT, telecom and service-oriented sectors to drive hiring

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As Google celebrates pani-puri, a recap of some Indian-based doodles that caught the eye

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Jobs market outlook 2023: Specialised IT, telecom and service-oriented sectors to drive hiring

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