Interim Union Budget 2024 Highlights: India’s Roadmap to 2025

According to the Budget 2024 live updates, the Interim Union Budget of India, presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, outlines a comprehensive vision for India’s economic growth. Themed around “Employment, MSMEs, Skilling, and Middle Class,” the budget focuses on four key demographics: the poor (garib), women (mahilaye), youth (yuva), and farmers (annadata). 

This budget sets forth a roadmap for “Viksit Bharat” through nine major priorities, ranging from agricultural development to next-generation reforms.

Here are the top budget key highlights for 2024. Let’s take a closer look!

The theme of the budget 2024

The Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, announced the theme of the 2024 interim union budget of India. The budget focuses on the primary areas of Employment, MSMEs, Skilling, and Middle Class. The budget revolved around 4 main castes. In Sitharaman’s words: “’We need to focus on the garib, mahilaye, yuva, and annadata.”

Budget 2024 priorities

As per the Budget live updates, the budget had nine main targets that the government recommended for the “Viksit Bharat” goal in mind.

1. Productivity and resilience in Agriculture
2. Employment & Skilling
3. Inclusive Human Resource
4. Development and Social Justice
5. Manufacturing & Services
6. Urban Development
7. Energy Security Infrastructure
8. Innovation, Research & Development and
9. Next Generation Reforms

Agriculture development

The Finance Minister announced that in the coming 2 years, 1 crore farmers will be encouraged to practice natural farming through certification, branding, and 10,000 need-based bio-input resource centres. 

For Annadata or the farmers, a higher MSP (Minimum Support Price) per month is announced, which will assure a minimum of 50% margin over cost. Apart from that, the PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana is also extended for 5 years, which will benefit 80 crore citizens.

Infrastructure and Regional Development:

The budget accounted for rental housing in PPP mode (Public Private Partnerships)for industrial workers. Andhra Pradesh received dedicated financial support of ₹15,000 crore. New infrastructure, medical facilities, and airports are proposed for Bihar. In more than 100 cities, industrial parks will be developed, the Finance Minister said.

With the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana, more than 1 crore houses will be installed with rooftop solar plans.

Sitharaman also announced ₹2.66 lakh crore for rural development, including rural infrastructure and 100 bank branches in the Northern-Indian region.

PM Package of Schemes to Boost Employment

The Finance Minister today announced plans to boost education, employment and skills with a PM package of 5 schemes.  

She said, “I am happy to announce the Prime Minister’s package of 5 schemes and initiatives to facilitate employment, skilling, and other opportunities for 4.1 crore youth over 5 years with a central outlay of ₹2 lakh crores.”

As a part of the PM’s package, there are 3 schemes for ‘Employment Linked Incentive’ that will focus on employment-linked skilling and first-time employees. Up to ₹15,000 would be given to first-time workers in three instalments in Scheme A; 210 lakh young people are anticipated to profit from this programme.

According to Scheme B under the PM package for job creation in manufacturing, first-timers will be incentivized when entering the workforce (applicable for all formal sectors) for the first 4 years of employment. 30 lakh youth would benefit from this scheme.

For the EPFO contributions, the government has announced that it will reimburse employers a maximum of ₹3000 a month for 2 years in Scheme C. This is to incentivize the employment of an additional 50 lakh people.

The importance of women’s engagement in the workforce was underlined by the minister of finance. The initiative will be facilitated by fostering partnerships for organising skilling programmes for women. The budget also proposed an allocation of ₹3 lakh crore for schemes for women in India.

MSME and manufacturing support

The Mudra loan limit is now increased from ₹10 lakh to ₹20 lakh.

In the MSME sector, Sitharaman declared financial support for fifty multi-product food irradiation facilities. A novel approach is suggested to help MSMEs obtain bank financing. To explore the international markets, e-commerce export hubs are decided to be set up in PPP mode for MSMEs and local artisans for business.

Tax slab budget 2024: Tax rate revisions under the new tax regime

According to the budget highlights for 2024, income tax will be as follows: 

Tax slab	Tax rate
₹0-3 lakh	Nil
₹3-7 lakh	5%
₹7-10 lakh	10%
₹10-12 lakh	15%
₹12-15 lakh	20%
Above ₹15 lakh	30%

As per the revised tax rate, a salaried employee will save ₹17,500 in income tax in a year, as mentioned in the budget highlights 2024 today.

Stock market proposals

According to the budget, income from the buyback of shares by companies is now chargeable to the investor instead of the company as dividends. The cost of these shares will be considered a capital loss for the investor.

The Finance Minister also proposed to lower the rate of income tax chargeable on the income of foreign companies to 35% from 40%. STT on the sale of options is also proposed to be increased from 0.0625% to 0.1%, and the sale of futures will be increased from 0.0125% to 0.02% of the price. 

Short-term gains (STCG) tax (on specific financial assets) is increased to 20% from 15%.

Capital gain tax budget 2024 on all financial and non-financial assets is increased to 12.5%, and the limit of exemption of capital gains on specific financial assets is increased from ₹1 lakh to ₹1.25 lakh every year. 

Source: indiabudget.gov.in

Conclusion

As we wrapped up the budget 2024 key points, the budget reflects India’s strong economic position and commitment to sustainable growth. With India described as a “shining exception” in global economic growth, the government’s focus on job creation and boosting consumption is likely to benefit key sectors such as consumer goods, real estate, and automobiles.

The push towards digital infrastructure indicates a forward-looking approach to governance and economic development. This implies a thorough plan for inclusive growth, especially when paired with an emphasis on job creation.

Overall, the budget aims to position India for continued economic leadership while addressing social needs and fiscal responsibilities. 

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