UNION BUDGET 2024 – 25: ROADMAP TO VIKSIT BHARAT

As per Article 112 of Constitution of India “Budget is a statement of the estimated receipts and expenditure of the government in a financial year.” Commonly known as the Annual Financial Statement, the term budget is not mentioned anywhere in the Constitution of India. The Budget is prepared by Department of Economic Affairs and Ministry of Finance in consultation with NITI Aayog and concerned Ministries.  

As mentioned in the interim budget, the 4 major classes in focus in this budget are namely 

• Annadata (Farmer) 
• Garib (Poor) 
• Mahilayen (Women) 
• Yuva (Youth) 

Theme of the budget 

• Employment 
• Skilling 
• MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) 
• Middle class 
• A significant allocation of Rs 1.48 lakh crore is earmarked for education, employment, and skilling.  

The budget envisages sustained efforts on the following 9 priorities for generating ample opportunities for all.  

Productivity and resilience in Agriculture

• Comprehensive review of the agriculture research setup to bring focus on raising productivity and developing climate resilient varieties.
• 109 new high-yielding and climate resilient varieties of 32 field and horticulture crops will be released for cultivation by farmers. 
• Achieve Atmanirbharta for oil seeds such as mustard, groundnut, sesame, soyabean and sunflower. 
• Promotion of Farmers Producer Organisations, cooperatives & start-ups for vegetable supply chains for collection, storage, and marketing. 
• 1 crore farmers across the country will be introduced into natural farming, supported by certification and branding in next 2 years. Also 10,000 need-based bio-input resource centres to be established. 
• Financing for Shrimp farming, processing and export will be facilitated through National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development. 
• Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) will cover farmers and their lands in 3 years. It will hold digital crop survey in 400 districts • Jan Samarth based Kisan Credit Cards will be issued.

Employment & Skilling 

• 20 lakh youth will be skilled over a 5-year period and 1,000 Industrial Training Institutes will be upgraded in hub and spoke arrangements with outcome orientation. 
• Under the PM’s Package the budget introduces 3 schemes for Employment Linked Incentive which includes first timers (One-month wage to new entrants in all formal sectors in 3 instalments up to ₹15,000), job creation in manufacturing (Incentive to both employee & employer for EPFO contributions in the specified scales for the first 4 years) and support to employers (Government will reimburse EPFO contributions of employers up to ₹3000 per month for 2 years for all new hires). 
• Facilitating higher women participation in the workforce by setting up working women hostels in collaboration with industry and establishing crèches. 
• Model Skill Loan Scheme will be revised to facilitate loans up to ₹7.5 lakh with a guarantee from a government promoted Fund is expected to help 25,000 students every year. 
• Financial support for loans up to ₹10 lakh for higher education in domestic institutions. E-vouchers for this purpose will be given directly to 1 lakh students every year for annual interest subvention of 3% of the loan amount.

Inclusive Human Resource Development and Social Justice 

• Purvodaya: Vikas bhi Virasat bhi entails plan for all-round development of the Eastern region of the country, rich in endowments with strong cultural traditions covering Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. It includes human resource development, infrastructure and generation of economic opportunities to attain Viksit Bharat.  
• Amritsar Kolkata Industrial Corridor with development of an industrial node at Gaya. 
• Allocating more than ₹3 lakh crore for schemes benefitting women and girls. 
• More than 100 branches of India Post Payment Bank will be set up in the North East region to enhance banking serives. 
• The requests of Bihar Government for external assistance from multilateral development banks will be expedited. 
• 3 crore additional houses under the PM Awas Yojana in rural and urban areas in the country have been announced, for which the necessary allocations are being made. 
• Pradhan Mantri Janjatiya Unnat Gram Abhiyan aims to improve the socio-economic condition of tribal communities covering 63,000 villages benefitting 5 crore tribal people. 
• Under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act, financial support of ₹15,000 crores will be arranged in FY 24- 25. The completion of Polavaram Irrigation Project ensures food security of the nation. Providing essential infrastructure such as water, power, railways and roads in Kopparthy node on the Vishakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor and Orvakal node on Hyderabad-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor. 

Manufacturing & Services 

• The limit of Mudra loans will be enhanced to ₹ 20 lakh from ₹ 10 lakh for entrepreneurs who have availed and successfully repaid previous loans under the ‘Tarun’ category. 
• Financial support for setting up of 50 multi-product food irradiation units in the MSME sector will be provided. 100 food quality and safety testing labs with NABL accreditation will be set up. 
• To enable MSMEs to unlock their working capital by converting their trade receivables into cash, turnover threshold of buyers for mandatory onboarding on the TReDS platform will be reduced from 500 crore to 250 crore. 
• To support MSMEs, focus is on labour-intensive manufacturing, with a new self-financing guarantee fund offering up to Rs 100 crore to each applicant.   
• Public sector banks will build their in-house capability to assess MSMEs for credit, instead of relying on external assessment. A new credit assessment model will be developed based on the score of digital footprints of MSMEs in the economy. 
• Facilitate development of investment-ready “plug and play” industrial parks with complete infrastructure in or near 100 cities, in partnership with the states and private sector, by better using town planning schemes. 
• Twelve industrial parks under the National Industrial Corridor Development Programme also will be sanctioned. 
• Set up a Critical Mineral Mission for domestic production, recycling of critical minerals and overseas acquisition of critical mineral assets. 
• Appropriate changes to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, strengthen the tribunal and appellate tribunals to speed up insolvency resolution and establish additional tribunals.  
• Scheme providing internship opportunities in 500 top companies to 1 crore youth in 5 years. Internship allowance of ₹5,000 per month along with a one-time assistance of ₹6,000 will be provided. 10% of such cost will be borne by companies from their CSR funds. 

Urban Development 

• Encouraging states to lower stamp duties for properties purchased by women. 
• Envisioning a scheme to develop 100 weekly haats or street food hubs in select cities 
• In partnership with the State Governments and Multilateral Development Banks promote water supply, sewage treatment and solid waste management projects and services for 100 large cities through bankable projects. 
• Transit Oriented Development plans for 14 large cities with a population above 30 lakh. 
• Under the PM Awas Yojana Urban 2.0, housing needs of 1 crore urban poor and middle-class families will be addressed with an investment of ₹ 10 lakh crore. This includes central assistance of ₹ 2.2 lakh crore in the next 5 years. 
• Enabling policies and regulations for efficient and transparent rental housing markets with enhanced availability will also be put in place. 

Energy Security 

• PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana has been launched to install rooftop solar plants to enable 1 crore households obtain free electricity up to 300 units every month. 
• A joint venture between NTPC and BHEL will set up a full scale 800 MW commercial plant using indigenous Advanced Ultra Super Critical technology.  
• In pursuit of nuclear energy, our government will partner with private sector for (1) setting up Bharat Small Reactors (2) research & development of Bharat Small Modular Reactor (3) research & development of newer technologies for nuclear energy. 
• A policy for promoting pumped storage projects will be brought out for electricity storage and facilitating smooth integration of the growing share of renewable energy. 
• An investment-grade energy audit of traditional micro and small industries in 60 clusters will be facilitated. Financial support will be provided for shifting them to cleaner forms of energy and implementation of energy efficiency measures. 

Infrastructure  

• Provision of ₹11,11,111 crore for infrastructure (3.4% of GDP). ₹1.5 lakh crore to states as long-term interest free loans to support resource allocation. 
• Phase IV of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana will be launched to provide all-weather connectivity to 25,000 rural habitations which have become eligible in view of their population increase. 
• Financial support for projects with estimated cost of ₹11,500 crore such as Kosi-Mechi intra-state link and 20 other on-going and new schemes 
• Assistance for reconstruction and rehabilitation in Himachal Pradesh and for flood management and related projects in Assam, Sikkim & Uttarakhand 
• Development of Nalanda as a tourist centre besides reviving Nalanda University to its glorious stature. 
• Assistance to develop Odisha’s scenic beauty, temples, monuments, craftsmanship, wildlife sanctuaries, natural landscapes and pristine beaches making it an ultimate tourism destination. 
• Comprehensive development initiative for Rajgir that holds religious significance for Hindus, Buddhists and Jains. 
• Development of Vishnupad Temple Corridor at Gaya and Mahabodhi Temple Corridor at Bodh Gaya in Bihar modelled on Kashi Vishwanath Temple Corridor. 

Innovation, Research & Development 

• A venture capital fund of Rs. 1,000 crore will be set up to expand the space economy. 
• Encourage private sector-driven research and innovation at commercial scale with a financing pool of Rs. 1 lakh crore. 
• Operationalization of Anusandhan National Research Fund for basic research and prototype development. 

Next Generation Reforms 

• Land-related reforms and actions, both in rural and urban areas, covers (1) land administration, planning and management (2) urban planning, usage and building bylaws. These will be incentivized for completion within next 3 years through appropriate fiscal support. 
• Rural land related actions will include (1) assignment of Unique Land Parcel Identification Number (ULPIN) or Bhu-Aadhaar for all lands (2) digitization of cadastral maps (3) survey of map sub-divisions as per current ownership (4) establishment of land registry (5) linkages to farmers’ registry.  
• Land records in urban areas will be digitized with Geographic Information System mapping. 
• Plans for an Economic Policy Framework, labour reforms, and simplification of Foreign Direct Investment regulations are outlined to prompt economic growth.  
• Shram Suvidha and Samadhan portals will be revamped to enhance ease of compliance for industry and trade. 
• NPS-Vatsalya, a plan for contribution by parents and guardians for minors will be started. On attaining the age of majority, the plan can be converted seamlessly into a normal NPS account. 
• Jan Vishwas Bill 2.0 focuses on enhancing ‘Ease of Doing Business’. Further states will be incentivized for implementation of their Business Reforms Action Plans and digitalization.

Income Tax Act, Tax Reassessment, Capital Gains Taxation

• In order to make the tax law concise, lucid and easy to understand, while providing certainty to tax payers, the IT Act will undergo a comprehensive review that will be completed in six months. The goods and service tax is also up for simplification.  
• Tax authorities can reopen cases for reassessment beyond three years up to a maximum of five years from end of assessment year only if escaped income is 50 lakhs or more. 
• In search cases the time limit is reduced from 10 years to 6 years before the year of search. 
• Vivad se Vishwas Scheme 2024 is a new dispute resolution scheme for direct taxes with the aim to lower down litigation. It also proposes to raise the threshold at various appellate forum. 
• Listed financial assets held for more than a year shall be classified as long term assets. 
• Tax on short term capital gains on certain financial assets will now attract 20% while tax long term capital gains on all financial and non-financial assets has been raised from 10% to 12.5%. 

Tax relief and revised tax slab in new tax regime  

• In new tax regime, income tax saving of salaried employees is up to Rs. 17500 
• Standard deduction for salaried employees is increased to Rs. 75000 from Rs. 50000 which means that anyone with an annual income of Rs. 7.5 lakh will not have to pay any tax.  
• Deduction on family pension for pensions is increased to Rs. 25000 from Rs. 15000.