Pooja Mahabadi, Pune
On 23rd July 2024, Nirmala Sitharaman, the Finance Minister of India, put forth the Union Budget to the nation. The budget is closely designed around Viksit Bharat, all the schemes and new policies are mainly based on the Viksit Bharat Yojna. The Union Budget has focused on areas like MSMEs, skilling, employment, and the challenges of the middle classes.
The theme of the budget is seen to focus on employment, and skilling of the youth in the nation, keeping the nine priorities of the Budget in mind which revolve around the Viksit Bharat strategy which are: Productivity and Resilience in Agriculture, Employment, and Skilling, Services and Manufacturing, DEvelopment in the Urban landscapes, Energy Security, Infrastructure, and Reforms based on the future generations.
The new budget for the Modi Government 3.0 has seen an introduction of increased standard deduction and revised tax rates for salaried individuals, in addition, there will be a cut on customs, duty on gold, silver, mobile phones, and other goods, which were a revision to the budget.
The New Tax regime is as follows:
| ₹0-3 lakh | Nil tax |
| ₹3-7 lakh | 5% |
| ₹7-10 lakh | 10% |
| ₹10-12 lakh – | 15% |
| ₹12-15 lakh | 20% |
| Above ₹15 lakh | 30% |
The key aspects to remember from the budget:
Employment and Skilling – There are five schemes to upscale the youth’s status in the next five years. There is one fulfilling internship scheme that would sustain at least a crore youth. Many incentives around the employment, including wage support for one month for the people just starting a job. Women are also a star of this budget, there will be women-specific skilled programs to increase workforce participation.
Manufacturing Support and MSME – The budget has paid special attention to Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises as well as the manufacturing industry. There will be credit guarantee schemes that will allow people for term loans to purchase machinery. The government aims to support the MSMEs technologically.
Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) will open 24 new branches to help the upcoming MSMEs.
The Financial Initiatives, include the Mudra loan, which has been increased. There will be higher amounts of education loans up to 10 lakhs in domestic organisations.
In Agriculture, Rs 2.66 lakh crores have been provisioned for Agriculture. There is a sense of transformation in rural research to focus more on productivity and crops that grow in all seasons. There is a plan to push one crore farmers to natural farming in the coming 2 years.
Infrastructure has also seen a push in the budget. There will be a provision for industrial workers to avail of rental housing, and Andhra will see a special financial support of Rupees 15,000 crore.
Bihar is another state that will infrastructure boom, with new airports, medical facilities, and sports facilities.
Onto wearing the economic lens, inflation will be moving towards the 4% target, and the Indian economic growth in the next 5 years is described as a “shining exception”.