July 23, 2024 – In a historic move aimed at propelling India’s economic growth and fostering social welfare, the government presented its Union Budget 2024 for the fiscal years 2024 and 2025, respectively. In Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 3.0 governance in India, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled a series of transformative initiatives, which marks a strategic shift towards sustainable development as well as inclusive growth. The Finance Minister informed that the overall receipts, other than borrowings along with the total expenditure are expected at INR 32.07 lakh crore and INR 48.21 lakh crore.
At the beginning of the announcement, the Finance Minister spoke about 2024-25 budget will be focused on four different castes: Garib (Poor), Mahilayen (Women), Yuva (Youth), and Annadata (Farmer) – which was mentioned in the Interim Budget 2024. She accounted for the highest minimum support of prices to the farmers by 50 per cent, and as per Garib Kalyan Yojana, it is extended for five years benefitting approximately 80 crore people.
There are four major topics of the Budget theme, including Employment, Skilling, MSMEs and Middle Class. A total of 9 main pillars to be prioritised:
| Priority | Potential highlights |
| Productivity and resilience in agriculture | 1.52 lakh crore. |
| Employment and skilling | 1.48 lakh crore. |
| Inclusive human & resource development and social justice | 2.66 lakh crore |
| Manufacturing and services | Loan benefits increased to 20 lakhs. |
| Urban development | Stamp duty |
| Energy security | 19,100 crores |
| Infrastructure | INR 11,11,111 crore, a total of 3.4 per cent of GDP. |
| Innovation and research & development | INR 1 lakh crore |
| Next generation reforms | Unique Land Parcel Identification Number or Bhu-Aadhar |
The priority related to employment and skilling has been at the top of the discussion. The government has launched five different schemes, and the government is interested in investing approximately 2 lakh crores for youth employment, for four crores of youths will benefit from the Budget 2024. Approximately one crore youths will be provided internships in the top five companies in India, and 5,000 stipends will be given.
Critical Considerations for TDP and JDO
Considering the Lok Sabha Election 2024, the Bharatiya Janata Party did not get the Purn Bahumat, and here, the BJP is dependent on two parties – TDP in Andhra Pradesh and JDO in Bihar to continue their party. Nitish Kumar, the Chief Minister of Bihar, earlier claimed to make Bihar a special state, which was avoided. However, as per Budget 2024, Bihar will be given a special package through Big Bonanza for Bihar. A total amount of 26,000 Crore Rupees will be allocated to the development of road projects in Bihar through multilateral agencies.
Other things will be considered, including the development of airports, medical colleges, sports infrastructure. The Purvodaya Yojana to be launched for all-round development in states like Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh. In Andhra Pradesh, Mega Infra boost announced to make it a capital city, where 15,000 crore Rupees will be allocated by the central government.
Tax Reforms in Budget 2024
As India’s Budget 2024 unveiled, it introduced a significant tax reform aimed at simplifying compliance and increasing revenue. The Finance Minister highlighted the commitment of the government to create a more transparent and efficiency tax system. The income tax slabs have been increased in the share market, from 15 per cent to 20 per cent in short term capital gain. Long term capital gain has been increased from 10 per cent to 12.5 per cent.
Budget 2024 was also hiked by Securities Transaction Tax (STT) on F&O to 0.02 per cent and 0.01 per cent. It is seen that, during the budget 2024 speech of Nirmala Sitharaman, the stock market saw a decline of 11,00 points, and Modi Stocks (PSU stock) declined by 6 per cent. The decision to hike the taxes from stock is taken, seeing the growing nature of the market over the years.
The income tax as of Budget 2024 is divided into two regimes – the old regime (it will remain similar) and the new regime. The new regime has seen some sort of modifications in the new budget of 2024-25. The standard deduction has increased by 50,000 and 75,000. The tax rate structure has also seen changes, as follows:
| 0.3 lakh rupees | NIL |
| 3.7 lakh rupees | 5 per cent |
| 7.10 lakh rupees | 10 per cent |
| 10.12 lakh rupees | 15 per cent |
| 12.15 lakh rupees | 20 per cent |
| Above 15 lakh rupees | 30 per cent |
Products that will be cheaper and costlier in future
The government has minimised the prices of certain products, including leather and mobile parts, where the customs duty required has been reduced. Also, gold and silver ornaments will be reduced from 15 per cent duty to 6 per cent and platinum had 15.4 per cent charge, decreased to 6.4 per cent. The other changes are made in cancer treatment drugs, where no finance will be charged for three major drugs during the treatment of cancer patients. Three things will be costlier than before, which are ammonium nitrate, telecom equipment and plastic products to reduce the rising usage of plastic products.
