The last budget of the incumbent government was presented in the Parliament by the hon. finance minister Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman on 1 February 2024. India’s first full-time woman finance minister presented her sixth straight budget, a feat accomplished only by former prime minister Morarji Desai.

FM keeps it brief

Clocking at 58 minutes, this was the shortest budget presentation by the finance minister. As expected, reducing the fiscal deficit was a priority, as the interim budget carefully avoided too many populist expenditures.

As the interim budgets often tend to be, the Budget 2024 outlined a roadmap for the future and indicated the priorities of the government for the years to come.

Key takeaways of the Interim Budget 2024-25
 

From a closer look at the interim budget speech, these are some of the important highlights -

Government’s focus and vision
 

• The finance minister highlighted the government’s focus on Viksit Bharat by 2047
• She pointed out that the Prime Minister has identified four pillars of development, namely Garib, Yuva, Annadata and Narishakti (GYAN) (the poor, youth, farmers and women power)
• The government is also focused on a more comprehensive GDP, which they spelled out as their vision in terms of Governance, Development and Performance

Housing
 

• The PM Awas Yojana Grameen has undertaken the construction of three crore houses. There is an added target of completing two crores more houses in the next five years
• Deserving sections of the middle class who live on rent or in chawls and unauthorised colonies will be helped in building or buying houses under a new scheme

Energy and power
 

• India is aiming to become net-zero by 2070 through measures in areas like offshore wind energy generation, coal gasification and liquefaction, compressed biogas, CNG, piped natural gas, etc.
• E-vehicle infrastructure will be expanded, and more e-buses will be introduced
• A new scheme for bio-manufacturing and bio-foundry will be launched
• The Pradhan Mantri Suryodaya Yojana will cover 1 crore households, enabling them to generate 300 units per month. This can lead to an annual saving of Rs 15,000-18,000 per household which can be sold to distribution companies

Healthcare
 

• More medical colleges to be set up using the existing departmental hospital infrastructure
• Vaccination for the prevention of cervical cancer will be encouraged for girls in the age group of 9 to 14
• A comprehensive programme will be introduced to cover the various maternal and childcare schemes
• Anganwadi upgrade will be expedited to deliver better nutrition and early childhood care
• Immunisation management will be expedited under the U-Win platform and Mission Indradhanush
• Ayushman Bharat Health Care scheme will be expanded to cover all Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) workers, Anganwadi workers and helpers

Agriculture and allied sectors
 

• The government will promote private and public investment in post-harvest activities including storage, supply chain, processing, marketing, and branding
• The use of Nano-DAP on crops in all agro-climatic zones will be expanded
• Aatmanirbhar Oilseeds Abhiyan will be formulated to achieve self-reliance in oilseeds like mustard, soybean, sesame, and sunflower
• A comprehensive programme for dairy farmers will also be introduced
• Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana will aim to enhance productivity, double exports, generate 55 lakh job opportunities, and set up five aquaparks

Infrastructure and industries
 

• Railways, metros, power, and capital goods are identified as key infrastructure segments that will see government support
• Three major economic railway corridors will be introduced under PM Gati Shakti
• Indian Railways will improve 40,000 normal railway bogies to Vande Bharat standards. This will improve the safety standards and quality of railway travel
• Metro rail and NaMo Bharat will be expanded in large cities
• Expansion of existing airports and comprehensive development of new airports under the UDAAN scheme was also announced
• Long-term interest-free loans will be provided to the states to develop iconic tourist places
• Infrastructural projects will be taken up to develop island tourism.

Taxation
 

• Keeping with the convention, the finance minister didn’t tinker with the present direct and indirect tax regimes
• Tax benefits to startups, investments made by sovereign wealth or pension funds, and certain incomes of IFSC units, which are expiring on 31 March 2024 have been extended by a year
• She also announced that disputed direct tax demands of up to Rs 25,000 for 2009-10 or earlier, and those less than Rs 10,000 for 2010-11 to 2014-15, will be dismissed

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