Farmers, employment, youth take centrestage in Nirmala Sitharaman's historic 7th Budget; catch key takeaways here

Budget 2024: Agriculture, women, youth, employment and the underprivileged took centrestage yet again in Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget speech as she rose to present her historic seventh back-to-back Budget in Parliament on July 23. Within the first few minutes of her much-anticipated speech, the first under the Narendra Modi 3.0 administration, the finance minister announced a provision to the tune of Rs 1.52 lakh crore for agriculture and allied sectors. 

Among big-ticket announcements, the government reiterated its mega capital expenditure outlay for infrastructure at 3.4 per cent of the GDP, following an 11.1 per cent increase to Rs.11,11,111 crore announced in the Interim Budget. 

In two major announcements for income tax assesses, the finance minister announced a 50 per cent increase in the standard deduction in taxable income allowed to salaried individuals under the new regime to Rs 75,000, and introduced a new tax slab to exempt tax liability for income up to Rs 3 lakh 

Here are key takeaways from the Finance Minister's historic seventh Budget speech in Parliament: 

• Expenditure estimated at Rs 48.2 lakh crore (BE FY25)
• Market borrowings at Rs 11.63 lakh crore
• FY25 fiscal deficit pegged at 4.9 per cent of GDP
• Major economies enduring challenging times 
• Indian economy fares much better compared to global economic situation
• Inflation rate at low levels in India, moving towards RBI's 4 per cent target 
• Government remains focused on four areas of society: the poor/underpriveleged, women, youth & farmers
• It remains committed to creating employment
• 5 schemes to create employment
• Rs 2 lakh crore package for creating jobs
• Measures to enhance productivity in farming; special focus on research & development 
• High-yielding varieties least prone to damage by weather changes to be introduced
• Work on pulses & oilseeds underway in mission mode; scheme to promote self-reliance in oilseed production 
• Cluster scheme to be introduced to boost vegetable production
• In FY25, digital surveys to be conducted on Kharif crops in 400 districts 
• Financial aid to support enhance shrimp production
• Provision of 1.52 lakh crore for agriculture & allied sectors 
• Rs 10 lakh crore for PM Urban Housing plan 
• Rs 10 lakh loan scheme announced to promote higher education; every year, 25,000 students to get Rs 7.5 lakh loans at special rates
• Steps to promote rental housing and regulation 
• One crore houses to get solar electricity for free
• Centre reiterates Rs 11.11 lakh crore capex for infra in FY25, equivalent to 3.4 per cent of GDP
• Incentives for creating employment under three new scheme; incentives to be doled out in three phases  

• 3 crore additional houses under PM Awas scheme in rural & urban areas

• Allocation of more than Rs 3 lakh crore for schemes benefitting women & girls

• A package covering financing, regulatory changes and tech support for MSMEs (as mentioned in Interim Budget)

• Credit Guarantee Scheme for MSMEs in manufacturing

• New assessment model for MSME credit

• New SIDBI branches to expand its reach to serve major 

• MSME clusters within 3 years

• Mudra loan limit to be enhanced to Rs 20 lakh from Rs 10 lakh entrepreneurs who have availed & successfully repaid previous loans under ‘Tarun’ category

• E-commerce export hubs in PPP mode to help MSMEs, artisans sell their products in international markets

• A comprehensive scheme to be launched for providing internship opportunities in 500 top companies to 1 crore youth in 5 years

• Internship allowance of Rs 5,000 per month, one-time assistance of Rs 6,000 to be provided

• An Integrated Technology Platform to be set up for improving Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) outcomes 

• Rs 10 lakh crore for fulfilling housing needs of 1 crore urban poor and middle-class families under PM Awas Yojana Urban 2.0

• PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli scheme launched to install rooftop solar plants to enable 1 crore households to obtain free electricity up to 300 units every month

• An NTPC-BHEL JV to set up a full scale 800 MW commercial plant using AUSC tech

• In some relief to cancer patients, three additional medicines fully exempt from customs duties

• Customs duty on mobile phone parts reduced to 15 per cent 

• No customs duty on 25 critical minerals 

• Abolishment of angel tax for all types of investors

• New income tax slabs introduced in new regime Read more on income tax slabs

FOLLOW THESE LINKS: For latest updates on Union Budget 2024 & income tax announcements​​