Key Highlights From Union Budget 2024-25

TIL Desk #TILUnionBudget2024:👉 Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented Budget 2023 in Parliament. Key highlights from Union Budget 2024-25.

India’s economic growth continues to be the shining exception and will remain so in the year ahead. India’s inflation continues to be low, stable, and moving towards the 4 per cent target. Core inflation is 3.1 per cent. Steps are being taken to ensure supplies of perishable goods reach markets adequately, says Sitharaman.

• Budget 2024 issues an outlay of Rs 2 lakh crore for promoting employment and skilling initiatives in the country for 4.1 crore youth, says FM Sitharaman.

• FM Sitharaman issued an outlay of Rs 1.52 lakh crore for agriculture and allied sectors.

• The government announced a new centrally sponsored skilling program which will aim to help 20 lakh youth. The scheme will skill these youth over a period of 5 years and 1,000 industrial training institutes will be created.

• FM Sitharaman announced the nine priorities of the Union Budget 2024.

Priorities:

1. Agriculture

• Employment

• Inclusive development

• Manufacturing and Services

• Urban Development

• Energy

• Infra

• Innovation, R&D

• NexGen reforms

• Budget 2024 included a financial support for loans up to Rs 10 lakh for helping students in higher education.

• Sitharaman said that under the AP Reorganisation Act, funds will be provided for essential infra such as water, power, rail, and roads.

• The Finance Minister announced an allocation of more than Rs 3 lakh crore for schemes benefiting women and girls.

1. The Budget announced an outlay of Rs 2.66 lakh crore for rural development including rural infrastructure.

• The Finance Minister announced employment-oriented skilling initiatives under the PM’s economic package. These programs will work on EPFO enrollment, specifically targeting newly employed individuals. New entrants to the formal workforce will receive a one-month salary as an incentive. This direct benefit transfer of up to Rs 15,000 will be disbursed in three phases. Eligibility for this benefit is set at a monthly salary of Rs 1 lakh, aiming to benefit approximately 210,000 young adults.

• FM Sitharaman announced that the mudra loans limit has been enhanced to Rs 20 lakh for entrepreneurs who have availed and successfully repaid loans under Tarun category.

• The Finance Minister announced a Critical Mineral Mission for domestic production, recycling of critical minerals and overseeing acquisition of critical mineral assets.

• FM Nirmala Sitharaman announced government support for the Amritsar-Kolkata industrial corridor, with plans to establish an industrial hub in Gaya, Bihar. This initiative aims to stimulate development in the eastern region. Additionally, the government will facilitate road connectivity projects, including the Patna-Purnea expressway, Buxar-Bhagalpur highway, and the Bodhgaya-Rajgir-Vaishali-Darbhanga route. Further, an additional two-lane bridge over the Ganga in Buxar is also planned, with an investment of Rs 26,000 crores.

• The Finance Minister announced a Critical Mineral Mission for domestic production, recycling of critical minerals and overseeing acquisition of critical mineral assets.

• To develop urban housing, the FM announced the PM Awas Yojana Urban 2.0 scheme with an outlay of Rs 10 lakh crore, including central assistance of Rs 2.2 lakh crore in the next 5 years.

• Regarding MSMEs, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the introduction of a credit guarantee scheme aimed at facilitating term loans for MSMEs in budget 2024. This scheme will mitigate the credit risks associated with these enterprises. Each applicant will be eligible for coverage up to Rs 100 crore through a self-financing guarantee fund, with the possibility of more significant loan amounts.

• The government announced a support of Rs 1.5 lakh crore for providing long-term interest free loans for states to support their resource allocation.

• FM Sitharaman said that the government will provide strong fiscal support for infrastructure development over the next five years and issued an capital expenditure outlay of Rs 11.11 lakh crore, coming up to 3.4 per cent of the country’s GDP.

• The government announced a boost of Rs 1,000 crore for the space sector to develop space economy in the next decade.

• “We will develop taxonomy for climate finance for enhancing the availability of capital for climate adaptation and mitigation,” FM Sitharaman said.

• As part of the Budget Estimates, the government announced the fiscal deficit to be at 4.9 per cent of the GDP in the 2024-25 fiscal year.

• The government announces customs duty exemptions for 3 medicines related to cancer to provide relief for patients.

• The Finance Minister announced a reduction in customs duties on gold and silver to 6 per cent and that of platinum to 6.4 per cent.

• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced an increase in the exemption limit on capital gains to Rs 1.25 lakh per fiscal year. The Budget 2024 issued an abolishment of angel tax for all classes of investors. The FM announced a reduction in taxation on long term capital gains on financial and non-financial assets to 12.5 per cent.

• The Finance Minister announced changes in the new tax regime as part of the Budget 2024 presentation.

• Revised Tax Structure in New Regime –

• 0-3 lakh – nil

• 3-7 lakh – 5%

• 7-10 lakh – 10%

• 10-12 lakh – 15%

• 12-15 lakh – 20%

• 15 lakh above – 30%
• Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) will open new branches to expand its reach to serve all major MSME clusters within 3 years and provide direct credit to them. With the opening of 24 such branches this year, the service coverage will expand to 168 out of 242 major clusters, said Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman while presenting the budget 2024.
• In a bid to simplify taxation of capital gains, the government increased the tax rate on short-term gains on specified financial assets to 20 per cent, from the earlier rate of 15 per cent. Meanwhile, the tax rate on long-term gains on all financial and non-financial assets was raised to 12.5 per cent.