The Interim Union Budget for the financial year 2024-25 was tabled in the Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman earlier today.
Upliftment of ‘Garib’ (Poor), ‘Mahilayen’ (Women), ‘Yuva’ (Youth) and ‘Annadata’ (Farmer) is the highest priority of government.
The key takeaways of this interim budget are:
There are no changes in direct and indirect tax rates.
The government withdrew income tax demands up to ₹25,000 (till 2009-10) and ₹10,000 from 2010-11 to 2014-15. This will benefit about one crore taxpayers.
A scheme to help the middle class living in rented houses to buy or build their own houses will be launched.
Tax benefits to start-ups and investments made by sovereign wealth or pension funds extended by 1 year till March 31, 2025.
Capital expenditure hiked 11% to ₹11.11-lakh crore, which is 3.4% of the GDP.
Fiscal deficit for FY25 projected at 5.1%, lower than the revised estimate (5.8%) in FY24.
Govt to borrow ₹14.13-lakh crore in next fiscal, lower than ₹15.43 lakh crore in FY24.
Nominal GDP growth for FY25 is projected at 10.5%.
Mop-up from central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) disinvestment pegged at ₹50,000 crore for FY25, up from ₹30,000 crore in FY24.
Gross tax revenue target for FY25 hiked 11.46% to ₹38.31-lakh crore, from ₹34.37 lakh crore in FY24.
Direct tax collection target set at ₹21.99-lakh crore, while that of indirect tax is at ₹16.22-lakh crore.
Next-generation reforms will be unveiled in consultation with States and stakeholders.
Govt to form a high-powered panel to address population growth challenges and demographic changes
Railways: 40,000 normal rail bogies will be converted to Vande Bharat to enhance the safety, convenience, and comfort of passengers. Key rail infrastructure projects including Metro Rail and Namo Bharat will be expanded to more cities.
Also, 3 major railway corridors were also announced - the port connectivity corridor, the energy, mineral, and cement corridor, and the high traffic density corridor.
Swayed by the success of the Lakhpati Didi scheme, it has been decided to enhance the target of the scheme from 2 crore to 3 crore.
Green Energy: Towards meeting the commitment to ‘net zero’ by 2070, the following measures were announced.
Viability gap funding will be provided for harnessing offshore wind energy potential for the initial capacity of one giga-watt.
Coal gasification and liquefaction capacity of 100 MT will be set up by 2030. This will also help in reducing imports of natural gas, methanol, and ammonia.
Phased mandatory blending of compressed biogas (CBG) in compressed natural gas (CNG) for transport and piped natural gas (PNG) for domestic purposes will be mandated.
Financial assistance will be provided for the procurement of biomass aggregation machinery to support collection.
Ayushman Bharat cover will be extended to all Anganwadi and Asha workers, Finance Minister Sitharaman announced. She also added that all maternal and child healthcare schemes will be brought under one comprehensive scheme.
Despite the challenges due to COVID, implementation of PM Awas Yojana (Grameen) continued and the center is close to achieving the target of three crore houses. Two crore more houses will be taken up in the next five years to meet the requirement arising from the increase in the number of families.
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