Introduction to Viksit Bharat Budget 2024
Nirmala Sitharaman, the Finance Minister, presented the interim Union Budget 2024-25 on Thursday in the parliament. Under the second term of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, this is the government’s sixth budget.
FM Sitharaman has announced programs and advantages that help the general population, notwithstanding the temporary nature of the situation. The topic of this year’s budget, “Viksit Bharat Budget 2024,” places a focus on Atmanirbhar Bharat. This year’s Nirmala Sitharaman budget prioritized the needs of farmers, women, youth, and the impoverished.
Budget 2024: Union Budget Highlights
The Union Budget 2024 was presented by the Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman. Let’s take a look at the annual budget of India for 2024-25:
Taxation Prescribed in Budget 2024
- The finance minister said that the direct tax rates for the fiscal year 2024–2025 will remain unchanged under Budget 2024.
- Under the new tax regime, individuals earning up to Rs. 7 lakhs would not be required to pay any taxes.
- The current domestic enterprises will continue to pay corporate taxes at a rate of 22%.
- There will be new manufacturing enterprises that qualify for a 15% corporation tax rate reduction.
- Over the past ten years, direct tax receipts have tripled.
- The number of filtering the receipts has increased by 2.4 times.
- Tax return processing times have decreased from an average of 93 days in 2013–14 to 10 days in 2023–24.
‘Lakhpati Didi’ Initiative Mentioned in Budget 2024
The Minister of Finance declared that the ‘Lakhpati Didi’ program is improving things in rural regions. By encouraging empowerment and self-reliance, 83 lakh self-help groups (SHGs) comprising nine crore women are significantly changing the socioeconomic landscape. Nearly one crore women have already benefited from the program’s success in becoming “Lakhpati Didis.” Inspired by this success, the government has decided to increase the aim from 2 crore to 3 crore women. This is quoted in Budget 2024.
Infrastructure Development
- Spending on developing infrastructure, such as roads and bridges, has increased threefold over the past four years, boosting the nation’s economy and adding employment.
- In the next year, the Finance Minister intends to raise this spending even further by 11.1%, allocating a total of 11.11 lakh crore, or 3.4% of the nation’s entire economic output.
- Railways Improvement: The government is making 40,000 standard bogies safer and more pleasant by converting them into Vande Bharat trains under Budget 2024.
- In order to improve train travel and stimulate the economy, three new railway corridors are also being planned. These will link ports, energy-mineral-cement sectors, and major routes.
- Reforms to the Power System: The budget 2024 included a rooftop solarization program that would provide up to 300 units of free power per month to 10 million people. This is consistent with the government’s aim to reduce costs and use renewable energy.
- The increase of coal gasification capacity, the requirement to combine compressed biogas, and the financing of offshore wind energy viability gaps are some of the steps that will be taken to fulfil the ‘net zero’ goal by 2070.
Healthcare Prescribed in the Budget 2024
- Girls between the ages of 9 and 14 are strongly encouraged to have a cervical cancer vaccination.
- Upgrading Anganwadi centres with an emphasis on early children care and development and nutrition delivery is the goal of the Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 program.
- The U-WIN platform will be used to improve Mission Indradhanush’s vaccination efforts.
- All ASHA, Anganwadi staff, and assistance will now be covered for health care under the Ayushman Bharat initiative.
- A committee will be formed to investigate the difficulties in establishing more medical institutions in India.
What’s in Store for Green Energy in Budget 2024?
In keeping with its commitment to reach “net zero” by 2070, the government unveiled the following initiatives in Budget 2024:
- With an initial capacity of one gigawatt, funding support will be provided to close the viability gap for using offshore wind energy potential.
- A hundred million tonnes of coal liquefaction and gasification capacity are planned by 2030. The goal of this action is to lessen reliance on methanol, ammonia, and natural gas imports.
- Compressed biogas (CBG) will have to be blended with piped natural gas (PNG) for home use and compressed natural gas (CNG) for transportation as part of a phased implementation.
- In order to help the biomass collecting process, financial aid will be given for the purchase of biomass aggregating machinery.
Budget 2024: Investment Promotion and Technology Advancements
- In order to promote economic growth and development, the government has focused on attracting and maintaining foreign investment through the negotiation of bilateral investment treaties and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) under budget 2024.
- The goal of the ₹1 lakh crore corpus was to support research and innovation in new technologies through a fifty-year interest-free loan. With this project, India is positioned as a worldwide leader in technology.
Housing
- The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Grameen) is over halfway towards its three crore housing objective, with an additional two crore homes to be built within the following five years.
- There will be a new initiative for middle-class housing to promote building or purchasing a home as showcased in Budget 2024.
Budget 2024: MSME Empowerment and Agriculture Support
- The budget 2024 placed a strong emphasis on the value of training MSMEs to compete on a global scale. The creation of new Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) is part of the government’s commitment to reskilling and upskilling.
- In an effort to stimulate public and private investment in post-harvest operations, efforts to increase farmers’ income and support value addition in the agricultural industry were highlighted.
Inclusive Growth under Budget 2024
The government’s dedication to the advancement of the four main “castes” – women, youth, the impoverished, and farmerswas emphasized by Finance Minister Sitharaman. A number of plans and programs were presented in Budget 2024 to improve these groups and promote economic growth as a whole.
Fiscal Numbers
- Five per cent of GDP was designated as the target budget deficit for FY25. The budget deficit goal for FY24 was lowered to 5.8% of GDP.
- With ₹14.13 lakh crore and ₹11.75 lakh crore, respectively, the government’s gross and net borrowings for 2024–25 are less than those for 2023–24.
Revenue Expenditures Quoted in Budget 2024
The budget expenditure is projected to be ₹36.55 lakh crore (11.2% of GDP) in the budget estimates for FY 2024–25, a 3.2% increase over ₹35.40 lakh crore in RE 2023–24.
Additional Budget 2024 Highlights
- The government pulled 25 crore people out of poverty in ten years, providing free food for 80 crore people through various schemes.
- Direct Benefit Transfers of ₹34 lakh crore through PM Jan Dhan Yojana led to savings of ₹2.7 lakh crore.
- The PM Vishwakarma Yojana provides support to artisans, with credit assistance to 78 lakh street vendors under the PM-SVANidhi scheme.
- Over 1.4 crore youth were trained under the Skill India Mission, with 43 crore loans sanctioned under PM Mudra Yojana.
- The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor’s role in world trade was highlighted, and attention will be given to developing the East for India’s growth.
- Inflation is within the target band (2%-6%), and economic growth has increased, with the average real income of people rising by 50%.
- The government will subsidize the construction of 30 million affordable houses in rural areas.
- A new department, ‘Matsya Sampada,’ will be set up to address the needs of fishermen.
- The average real income of people has grown, while economic development has kept inflation within the goal range of 2% to 6%.
- The typical person’s real income has grown by 50%, while economic development has resulted in inflation being within the goal range of 2% to 6%.
- In rural regions, the government would fund the development of 30 million reasonably priced homes.
- ‘Matsya Sampada,’ a new department, would be established to cater to the demands of fishermen.
Conclusion
The Budget 2024 ended with a note that in the upcoming years and decades, the government will be able to achieve the goal of “Viksit Bharat” with good intentions, true dedication, and hard work because of the exceptional track record of governance, development and performance, effective delivery, and “Jan Kalyan.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Union Budget 2024 is the government’s budget for the year 2024-25.
There is no difference in tax slabs; there will be no tax on the income of individuals to seven lakhs per annum.
The Union Budget is presented every year on February 1 by the Finance Minister of India.
The Interim Budget was presented to the Lok Sabha on Thursday by FM Nirmala Sitharaman. She emphasized the government’s numerous programs for women, youth, and the underprivileged in her budget address.
Allocation for Minority Affairs Ministry increases by ₹574 crore – The revised estimate of ₹2,608.93 crore for 2023–24 has resulted in an increase of ₹574.27 crore in the budgeted allocation for the Ministry of Minority Affairs to ₹3,183.24 crore for 2024–25.
The fiscal deficit is 5.8%, somewhat less than the aim. Raising the capital investment spending for FY2024–25 by 11.1% to Rs 11,11,111 crore (11.11 lakh crore), or 3.4% of the GDP of the nation.
Although a balanced budget guards against unnecessary expenditure and guarantees economic stability, it is not appropriate during deflation or economic downturns. A surplus budget may be used to lower aggregate demand during inflation and is a sign of a nation’s financial prosperity.
On February 1, 2023, Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman, the Finance Minister, introduced the Union Budget 2023–24. For the fiscal year, it plans to spend Rs 45,03,097 crore. Revenue expenditures are projected to account for Rs 35,02,136 crore of the total expenditures, representing a 1.2% rise over the revised estimates from 2022–23.
Read our Article:Budget 2022-23: Major Highlights And Key Announcements
