Highlights of the Interim Union Budget 2024-25

GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 1st Feb. Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Interim Union Budget 2024-25 in Parliament on Thursday. 

The budget focuses on the principles of “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, and Sabka Vishwas” and adopts a whole-nation approach of “Sabka Prayas”.

Here are the key highlights of the budget:

Part A: Social Justice

• The Prime Minister will prioritize the upliftment of four major castes: the poor, women, youth, and farmers.

‘Garib Kalyan, Desh ka Kalyan’

• The government has assisted 25 crore people in escaping multidimensional poverty in the last 10 years.
• The Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) of Rs. 34 lakh crore through PM-Jan Dhan accounts has saved the government Rs. 2.7 lakh crore.
• The PM-SVANidhi scheme has provided credit assistance to 78 lakh street vendors, with 2.3 lakh receiving credit for the third time.
• The PM-JANMAN Yojana supports the development of particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTG).
• The PM-Vishwakarma Yojana provides comprehensive support to artisans and craftspeople engaged in 18 trades.

Welfare of Farmers

• The PM-KISAN SAMMAN Yojana has provided financial assistance to 11.8 crore farmers.
• 4 crore farmers have received crop insurance under the PM Fasal Bima Yojana.
• The Electronic National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) has integrated 1361 mandis, serving 1.8 crore farmers with a trading volume of Rs. 3 lakh crore.

Momentum for Women Empowerment

• 30 crore Mudra Yojana loans have been given to women entrepreneurs.
• Female enrollment in higher education has increased by 28%.
• Girls and women constitute 43% of enrollment in STEM courses, one of the highest rates in the world.
• Over 70% of houses under the PM Awas Yojana have been given to women from rural areas.

PM Awas Yojana (Grameen)

• Despite COVID challenges, the target of constructing three crore houses under the PM Awas Yojana (Grameen) will be achieved soon.
• An additional two crore houses will be taken up in the next five years.

Rooftop Solarization and Free Electricity

• 1 crore households will receive 300 units of free electricity every month through rooftop solarization.
• Each household is expected to save Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 18,000 annually.

Ayushman Bharat

• Healthcare coverage under the Ayushman Bharat scheme will be extended to all ASHA workers, Anganwadi Workers, and Helpers.

Agriculture and Food Processing

• The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana has benefited 38 lakh farmers and generated 10 lakh employment opportunities.
• The Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises Yojana has assisted 2.4 lakh Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and 60,000 individuals with credit linkages.

Research and Innovation

• A corpus of Rs. 1 lakh crore will be established with a fifty-year interest-free loan to provide long-term financing or refinancing with low or no interest rates.
• A new scheme will be launched to strengthen deep-tech technologies for defense purposes and promote self-reliance.

Infrastructure

• The capital expenditure outlay for infrastructure development and employment generation will be increased by 11.1% to Rs. 11,11,111 crore, which will be 3.4% of the GDP.

Railways

• Three major economic railway corridor programs identified under the PM Gati Shakti will be implemented to improve logistics efficiency and reduce costs.
• 40,000 normal rail bogies will be converted to Vande Bharat standards.

Aviation Sector

• The number of airports in the country has doubled to 149.
• 517 new routes are carrying 1.3 crore passengers.
• Indian carriers have placed orders for over 1000 new aircraft.

Green Energy

• A coal gasification and liquefaction capacity of 100 MT will be set up by 2030.
• Mandatory blending of compressed biogas (CBG) in compressed natural gas (CNG) for transport and piped natural gas (PNG) for domestic purposes will be phased in.

Tourism Sector

• States will be encouraged to comprehensively develop iconic tourist centers, including branding and marketing at a global scale.
• A framework for rating tourist centers based on the quality of facilities and services will be established.
• Long-term interest-free loans will be provided to states for financing such development on a matching basis.

Investments

• Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow during 2014-23 amounted to USD 596 billion, twice the inflow during 2005-14.

Reforms in the States

• A provision of Rs. 75,000 crore as a fifty-year interest-free loan is proposed to support milestone-linked reforms by the State Governments.

Revised Estimates (RE) 2023-24

• The RE for total receipts, excluding borrowings, is Rs. 27.56 lakh crore, with tax receipts amounting to Rs. 23.24 lakh crore.
• The RE for total expenditure is Rs. 44.90 lakh crore.
• Revenue receipts are expected to be higher than the Budget Estimate, reflecting strong growth momentum and formalization in the economy.
• The RE for the fiscal deficit is 5.8% of GDP for 2023-24.

Budget Estimates 2024-25

• The total receipts, excluding borrowings, and total expenditure are estimated at Rs. 30.80 lakh crore and Rs. 47.66 lakh crore, respectively.
• Tax receipts are estimated at Rs. 26.02 lakh crore.
• The scheme of a fifty-year interest-free loan for capital expenditure to states will continue this year with a total outlay of Rs. 1.3 lakh crore.
• The fiscal deficit in 2024-25 is estimated to be 5.1% of GDP.
• Gross and net market borrowings through dated securities during 2024-25 are estimated at Rs. 14.13 lakh crore and Rs. 11.75 lakh crore, respectively.

Part B

Direct taxes

• The Finance Minister proposes to keep the same tax rates for direct taxes.
• In the last 10 years, direct tax collection has tripled and the number of return filers has increased by 2.4 times.
• The government aims to improve taxpayer services by withdrawing outstanding direct tax demands up to Rs 25,000 for the period up to FY 2009-10 and up to Rs 10,000 for the financial years 2010-11 to 2014-15. This will benefit one crore taxpayers.
• Tax benefits for Start-Ups and investments made by Sovereign wealth funds or pension funds have been extended until 31.03.2025.
• Tax exemption on certain income of IFSC units has been extended by a year until 31.03.2025 from 31.03.2024.

Indirect taxes

• The Finance Minister proposes to retain the same tax rates for indirect taxes and import duties.
• GST has unified the highly fragmented indirect tax regime in India. The average monthly gross GST collection has doubled to Rs 1.66 lakh crore this year, and the GST tax base has also doubled.
• State SGST revenue buoyancy (including compensation released to states) has increased to 1.22 in the post-GST period (2017-18 to 2022-23) from 0.72 in the pre-GST period (2012-13 to 2015-16).
• 94% of industry leaders view the transition to GST as largely positive. GST has led to supply chain optimization, reduced compliance burden on trade and industry, lower logistics cost and taxes, and helped reduce prices of goods and services, benefiting consumers.

Tax rationalization efforts over the years

• No tax liability for income up to Rs 7 lakh, up from Rs 2.2 lakh in FY 2013-14.
• Presumptive taxation threshold for retail businesses increased to Rs 3 crore from Rs 2 crore.
• Presumptive taxation threshold for professionals increased to Rs 75 lakh from Rs 50 lakh.
• Corporate income tax decreased to 22% from 30% for existing domestic companies, and the corporate income tax rate is 15% for new manufacturing companies.

Achievements in taxpayer services

• The average processing time of tax returns has reduced to 10 days from 93 days in 2013-14.
• Faceless Assessment and Appeal have been introduced for greater efficiency.
• Updated income tax returns, new form 26AS, and prefilled tax returns have been implemented to simplify return filing.
• Reforms in customs have led to reduced import release time, with reductions of 47% to 71 hours at Inland Container Depots, 28% to 44 hours at Air Cargo complexes, and 27% to 85 hours at Sea Ports.

Economy-then and now

• In 2014, there was a responsibility to mend the economy and put governance systems in order. The focus was on attracting investments, building support for much-needed reforms, and giving hope to the people.
• The government succeeded with a strong belief in ‘nation-first’.
• The Finance Minister will present a White Paper on the table of the house to examine the progress made from 2014 to the present.