Interim Budget 2024 HIGHLIGHTS: FM pegs FY25 fiscal deficit at 5.1%, capex at record Rs 11.1 lakh crore, disinvestment target at Rs 50,000 crore
Budget 2024 Highlights, Union Budget 2024 Highlights, Budget 2024 speech, Budget 2024 analysis: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government targets to contain fiscal deficit at 5.1 per cent for the financial year 2024-25, and to bring it below 4.5 per cent the following year. The finance minister announced a record capital expenditure (capex) of Rs 11.1 lakh crore for the year ending March 2025.
The Finance Minister began her Budget speech by stating that the economy staged a strong performance in the past 10 years, and that the government remains committed to transforming India into a developed nation by 2047. Here's the full text of FM's Interim Budget 2024 speech
Benchmark indices Nifty and Sensex remained almost flat while the speech was underway, following a largely rangebound trade earlier in the day after a mildly positive start. Zee Business Managing Editor Anil Singhvi, who had asserted earlier in the day that "no bad news is good news for the markets", said the Budget was largely neutral with slightly positive contours. Catch latest stock market updates here
The Budget speech, which lasted for about an hour, was the current finance minister's shortest ever. Her sixth Budget presentation came amid oceans of expectations, once again, that the annual event would spell some good news for everyone—from economists, policymakers, investors, businesses and taxpayers to the common man.
Catch all the highlights of the Interim Budget 2024-25 announcements in what appeared to be FM Nirmala Sitharaman's shortest Budget speech here:
Budget 2024 Highlights, Union Budget 2024 Highlights, Budget 2024 speech, Budget 2024 analysis: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government targets to contain fiscal deficit at 5.1 per cent for the financial year 2024-25, and to bring it below 4.5 per cent the following year. The finance minister announced a record capital expenditure (capex) of Rs 11.1 lakh crore for the year ending March 2025.
The Finance Minister began her Budget speech by stating that the economy staged a strong performance in the past 10 years, and that the government remains committed to transforming India into a developed nation by 2047. Here's the full text of FM's Interim Budget 2024 speech
Benchmark indices Nifty and Sensex remained almost flat while the speech was underway, following a largely rangebound trade earlier in the day after a mildly positive start. Zee Business Managing Editor Anil Singhvi, who had asserted earlier in the day that "no bad news is good news for the markets", said the Budget was largely neutral with slightly positive contours. Catch latest stock market updates here
The Budget speech, which lasted for about an hour, was the current finance minister's shortest ever. Her sixth Budget presentation came amid oceans of expectations, once again, that the annual event would spell some good news for everyone—from economists, policymakers, investors, businesses and taxpayers to the common man.
Catch all the highlights of the Interim Budget 2024-25 announcements in what appeared to be FM Nirmala Sitharaman's shortest Budget speech here:
Latest Updates
Budget 2024: Long-term equity investors to take Budget positively, says HDFC AMC’s Navneet Munot
The government’s commitment on the fiscal consolidation front and focus on supply augmentation bolster macroeconomic stability, and spell good news for bond markets as well as debt mutual funds, says Navneet Munot, MD and CEO, HDFC Asset Management Co.
“In equity markets, long-term investors will take the Budget positively while the near-term direction will depend on global cues, incoming data and earnings trajectory," says Munot.
“The Budget gets full marks for the credibility of numbers, the continuity on structural reforms and the conviction of building a developed economy in a highly sustainable and equitable manner. The conviction is commendable despite a challenging global backdrop,” he says.
“The focus has shifted on quality rather than quantity of spending, on outcome rather than outlays,” Munot adds.
Budget 2024: FM Nirmala Sitharaman says global rating agencies should take on board India's efforts in bettering fiscal deficit
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says international rating agencies should take on board the message that India has bettered the targets set for lowering fiscal deficit.
"Not only aligning with the fiscal consolidation roadmap that we gave earlier, but bettering it -- that is one simple, straightforward message that every rating agency should take on board," says the finance minister in a post-Budget press conference.
As per the Interim Budget 2024, the government has announced a fiscal deficit of 5.1 per cent of GDP for 2024-25, as against 5.8 per cent for the current fiscal year. It aims to reduce the fiscal deficit to below 4.5 per cent by 2025-26, after containing it at 5.1 per cent in 2024-25.
Global rating agencies Fitch, S&P and Moody's have the lowest investment grade ratings on India with a stable outlook.
What are credit ratings?
A credit rating is a measure of an entity's creditworthiness. It is an evaluation of the borrower's ability to repay debt and the likelihood of defaulting on payments.
Credit ratings are assigned by credit rating agencies taking into account various factors such as the borrower's financial history, income, assets and liabilities.
These ratings are looked at by investors as a barometer of the country's creditworthiness and impact borrowing of companies.
Budget 2024: Deeply appreciate clear focus on tech, youth, says All India Gaming Federation CEO
“Today's Interim Budget may not have directly addressed the needs of the gaming industry, however, the clear focus on technology and the youth is one that we deeply appreciate," says Roland Landers, CEO, All India Gaming Federation.
"As the apex industry body, we are committed to working with policymakers to create an enabling environment for the gaming sector's growth and innovation. Our industry has immense potential, and we look forward to constructive policies that will drive its development in the Union Budget," Landers adds.
Budget 2024: Centre's digital public infra push to be instrumental in formalisation of economy, says CredAble's Ram Kewalramani
The Interim Budget echoes the potential of advancing the economy forward in unison, says Ram Kewalramani, Co-Founder and MD at CredAble. "Given how this is a Vote on Account, it has set the tenor for what we can expect in the detailed Budget in July, assuming all other factors remain unchanged. Considering India’s unprecedented development in the last few years, it is heartening to see all stratas of the country becoming active participants in economic growth," says Kewalramani.
The government is taking up a renewed focus on strengthening digital public infrastructure, which will be instrumental in the formalisation of the economy, he adds.
Budget 2024: Centre's digital public infra push to be instrumental in formalisation of economy, says CredAble's Ram Kewalramani
The Interim Budget echoes the potential of advancing the economy forward in unison, says Ram Kewalramani, Co-Founder and MD at CredAble. "Given how this is a Vote on Account, it has set the tenor for what we can expect in the detailed Budget in July, assuming all other factors remain unchanged. Considering India’s unprecedented development in the last few years, it is heartening to see all stratas of the country becoming active participants in economic growth," says Kewalramani.
The government is taking up a renewed focus on strengthening digital public infrastructure, which will be instrumental in the formalisation of the economy, he adds.
Interim Budget 2024: Budget 2024 aligns seamlessly with PM Modi's resolve to propel India to status of world's third-largest economy, says Credilio CEO
Aditya Gupta, CEO of Credilio, says: "We wholeheartedly endorse the government's visionary strides delineated in the Interim Budget 2024, a crucial approach of providing consistency in direction which is instrumental for fortifying India's economic sector."
"Central to this initiative is the emphasis on introducing 50-year interest-free loans tailored for the tech-savvy youth which not only resonates with our commitment to fostering financial literacy but also aligns perfectly with our goal of supporting the next generation in their ambitious endeavours," Gupta adds.
Budget 2024 Update: Budget outlines comprehensive roadmap for sustained economic growth, says Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
Describing the Budget as an "all encompassing growth-focused" one that augments inclusive economic development, biotechnology industry veteran Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw says the Interim Budget 2024 outlines a comprehensive roadmap for sustained economic growth that will enable India to achieve a developed economy status by 2047.
"In the interim budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has outlined a comprehensive roadmap for sustained economic growth that will enable India to achieve developed economy status by 2047. Her emphasis on research and innovation, bio-manufacturing, robust infrastructure development, and technology-driven digital transformation augur well for India to deliver on aspirational yet people-centric, inclusive development," says Mazumdar-Shaw.
#Budget2024: In the Interim #Budget, Finance Minister @nsitharaman has outlined a comprehensive roadmap for sustained #EconomicGrowth that will enable #India to achieve developed economy status by 2047. Her emphasis on #research & #innovation, biomanufacturing, robust…
— Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (@kiranshaw) February 1, 2024
No Tax Change, "Viksit Bharat" Mantra In Last Budget Before Polls - An all encompassing growth focused interim budget which augments inclusive economic development. Bio manufacturing & research financing to boost innovation & green technologies is positive https://t.co/CSamqf6bf5
— Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (@kiranshaw) February 1, 2024
Budget 2024: Punit Goenka says government’s efforts to boost India’s economy through structured policy reforms to accelerate nation development over next few years
ZEE Entertainment Enterprises MD and CEO Punit Goenka says that the government’s efforts to boost the country's economy through structured policy reforms will accelerate the development of the nation over the next few years.
"The steps taken by the Hon'ble Finance Minister to empower the youth by fueling the entrepreneurial spirit and fostering innovation in technology, through initiatives like the one lakh crore research corpus, creates a golden era for sunrise sectors such as media and entertainment. The combination of youth and technology certainly holds immense potential and can lead to exciting new opportunities for content distribution and monetization, boosting the growth of the M&E sector at large," says Goenka.
Budget 2024 Update: Government focused on modernising Railways, PM Modi has changed entire strategy for sector over last 10 years, says Ashwini Vaishnaw
Railways gets an unprecedented budget allocation of Rs 2.52 lakh crore for FY25.
PM Narendra Modi has changed the entire strategy for Railways over the last 10 years, and now the focus is on investment to modernise it, says Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
Image: ANI
Interim Budget 2024: Centre withdraws outstanding tax demands up to Rs 25,000 up to FY10; here's what CAs are saying about it
"Withdrawal of outstanding demand from the records of the Income Tax Department would mean refunds of other years, which were proposed to be adjusted against them, would now be released to the taxpayers. This proposal also indicates that the government wants to do away with old and irrelevant income tax records," says Sandeep Shah, Managing Partner at NA Shah Associates, a Mumbai-based CA firm.
"While the Finance Bill does not contain the procedural aspects, they are expected to be rolled out through separate notifications," Shah adds.
Budget 2024 LIVE Update: Here are 10 takeaways from the Interim Budget 2024
The finance minister's sixth Budget emphasised a slew of priority areas for the government.
Interim Budget 2024 Key Takeaways: In the election year, it was expected of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman (FM Sitharaman) to make some changes in tax slabs. But with the government in a strong position, the finance minister maintained status quo in terms of existing tax slabs and made no changes.
While the budget speech was the shortest of all of her six speeches as a finance minister so far, she gave importance to the government's priority areas, such as focus on women, poor and youth; expansion of railway corridors and metro rail; construction of 2 crore houses for poor; consideration of housing scheme to the middle class; and extending interest-free loans to states for tourism.
- Record capex of Rs 11.1 lakh crore
- Focus on women, poor, youth and farmers in the budget
- Two crore houses to be built for poor in five years
- Consideration of a housing scheme for the middle class
- Target to bring fiscal deficit to 4.5% by FY26
- No change in tax rates
- Three railway corridors for energy, minerals, cement
- 40,000 railway coaches to be converted into Vande Bharat standard; metro rail expansion
- Coal gasification to be taken to 100 lakh crore tonnes by 2030
- States to be given interest-free loans for tourism
Budget 2024 LIVE: Where does the government make money from?
Here's a summary of where the government collects every rupee of money from:
Image: Interim Budget 2024-25 documents
Budget 2024 LIVE Update: FM proposes to withdraw outstanding direct tax demands up to Rs 25,000 till FY10, up to Rs 10,000 for FY11-FY15
The proposed move is expected to benefit about a crore taxpayers, the FM says.
Interim Budget 2024 LIVE: Budget outlines vision for confident India, says Rajnath Singh
Union Minister Rajnath Singh says the Interim Budget outlines the vision for a "confident, strong and self-reliant Viksit Bharat (Developed India)", and asserts that he is confident that the size of the economy will grow to more than $5 trillion by 2027.
Congratulations to Finance Minister Smt. @nsitharaman for presenting a positive and encouraging ‘Interim Budget’ which outlines the vision for a confident, strong and self-reliant #ViksitBharat. Inspired by PM Shri @narendramodi’s vision of making India a developed nation by…
— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) February 1, 2024
Interim Budget 2024 LIVE Update: Nitin Gadkari says Budget 2024 to propel India's transformation into economic superpower
Describing the government's latest Budget as "inventive", Union Minister Nitin Gadkari says it aligns seamlessly with PM Modi's commitment to uplift farmers, women, youth, and the underprivileged.
Budget 2024: Rooftop solar scheme to enable one crore households to save up to Rs 18,000/year
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman mentions that the PM Suryodaya scheme will enable one crore families to get up to 300 units of free electricity every month and help them save up to Rs 18,000 annually.