India Union Budget 2024
On July 23, the Union Minister for Finance Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2024-25 in the Parliament, the first budget of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's third term.
The Budget identified nine priority areas including agriculture, employment, inclusive development, manufacturing and services, urban development, energy, infrastructure, innovation, and research & development, and next generation reforms.
The Budget retained the Government’s capital expenditure from the interim Budget at INR 11.1 trillion, and infrastructure spend at 3.4% of the GDP. Further, the Finance Minister lowered the FY25 fiscal deficit target to 4.9% of the GDP, lower than the 5.1% projected in the interim budget in February, and closer to the 4.5% target set for 2025-26. The Budget is further aimed at raising INR 22.07 trillion (USD 264 billion) from direct taxes and INR 16.33 trillion (USD 195.24 billion) from indirect taxes.
The Budget has focused on enhancing MSME performance and the share of the manufacturing sector through a credit guarantee scheme, term loans for machinery purchase and technology support package for MSMEs. It has introduced an increased standard deduction on income tax, and revised tax rates for salaried individuals under the new tax regime. It further provided a deduction on customs duty on gold, silver, mobile phones, and other goods.
This analysis of the Budget provides further details and highlights from key sectors.
