Interim Budget 2024-25

• Context (Budget): The Finance Minister, Ms Nirmala Sitharaman, presented the Interim Budget for 2024-25 on February 1, 2024.  
• The interim budget’s effectiveness extends only until March 31, 2024, restricting the spending power of the current government after that.

Budget Estimates 2024-25

• GDP growth estimate: 10.5% @ Nominal GDP (real growth plus inflation).

Receipts

• Total Receipts (Excluding borrowings): Rs. 30.80 Lakh Crore.
  • Tax receipts: Rs. 26.02 lakh crores.

To Learn about receipts, visit > Financial Resources of the State.

Trends in Tax receipts

Expenditure

• Total expenditure: Rs 44.90 lakh crore.
• Total capital expenditure is `11,11,111 crore. Increased by 11%.

Deficit

• Fiscal deficit: 5.1% of GDP
• Revenue deficit:  2% of GDP.

Transfer of Resources to States & UT’s

• Transfer to states: The central government will transfer Rs 22,74,541 crore to states and UT’s.

Finance overview

Resource Allocation to Various Ministries & Schemes

Tax Provisions

• Tax rates unchanged: Direct and indirect tax rates have remained unchanged.
  • Corporate Taxes:
    • 22% for existing domestic companies.
    • 15% for certain new manufacturing companies
    • No tax liability for taxpayers with income up to ₹7 lakh under the new tax regime.
• Tax benefits to certain entities extended by another year: Entities include (i) startups, (ii) sovereign wealth funds and pension funds, and (iii) some IFSC units.

Performance of the Indian Economy in the last ten years Status: Transformed from a “fragile five” to a “top five” economy. Exports: Increased from $450 billion to more than $775 billion. Sales of Khadi and Village Industries products: Increased by more than 4 times. Number of people filing Income Tax Returns: Increased from about 3.25 crores to 8.25 crores. Start-ups: > one lakh today. People paying GST: > 1 crore 40 lakh. Direct tax collections have more than tripled in the last 10 years. Increase in tax buoyancy of State revenue from 0.72 (2012-16) to 1.22 (2017-23) in the post-GST period. 12 lakh electric vehicles have been sold. Capex has increased 5 times to Rupees 10 lakh crore. Average inflation rate has been maintained at 5 per cent in the last decade. Fiscal Deficit is also under control. CAD as % GDP: Declining Forex reserves > 600 billion US dollars. NPAs of banks are around only 4 per cent. Today, India is the world’s second-largest producer of mobile phones. A few years ago, India used to import toys; today, India is exporting Made in India toys. in India, there is no tax on income up to Rupees 7 lakh. Due to tax exemptions and reforms, Indian taxpayers have saved about Rupees 2.5 lakh crore.

For the Poor (Achievements in the last few years)

• Shift in Approach: Entitlement-based partners in the development process.
• Poverty: According to NITI Aayog, in the last decade, about 25 crore countrymen have been lifted out of Multi-dimensional poverty.

  

• Street Vendors: PM-SVANidhi. So far, more than Rupees 10,000 crore has been given as collateral-free loans.
• Artisans & Craftsmen: PM-Vishwakarma Yojana. More than 84 lakh people have been connected.
• Disabled persons (Divyangjan): Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan.
• Transgenders: Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019.

4 crore 10 lakh poor families have got their own pucca houses. For the first time, piped water has reached about 11 crore rural families. 10 crore Ujjwala gas connections have by now been provided. Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, 80 crore countrymen have been given free rations. This facility has now been extended for another 5 years.

For the Farmers

• Minimum income support to farmers: PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi: Direct financial assistance is provided to 11.8 crore farmers, including marginal and small farmers.
• Crop insurance: Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. Every year, it is given to 4 crore farmers.
• Doubling Farmers Income: Till now, government companies have procured Ethanol worth more than Rupees one lakh crore.

Agriculture

• Atmanirbhar Oilseeds Abhiyaan-Strategy to be formulated to achieve self-sufficiency in oilseeds.
• Government to promote private and public investment in post-harvest activities.
• Application of Nano-DAP to be expanded in all agro-climatic zones.

Achievements in the last few years Micro food processing: Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) Scheme. Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana has benefitted 38 lakh farmers and generated 10 lakh employment. Unified Agriculture Market: Electronic National Agriculture Market. It has integrated 1361 mandis and is providing services to 1.8 crore farmers with trading volume of 3 lakh crore. The Agricultural Export Policy in the country has led to agricultural exports reaching up to Rupees 4 lakh crore. So far, around 8,000 Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) have been formed. The Ministry of Cooperation has been established for the first time in the country. The world’s largest Grain Storage plan has been launched in the cooperative sector. 1.75 lakh Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samriddhi Kendra (sales centres for fertiliser) were established.

Fisheries (Achievements in the last few years)

• Fish production has increased from 95 lakh MT to 175 lakh MT i.e. almost doubled.
• Inland fisheries production has increased from 61 lakh MT to 131 lakh MT.
• Exports in the fisheries sector have more than doubled i.e., from 30,000 crore to 64,000 crore.
• Development of marine & inland fisheries: Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY)
• 5 Integrated Aquaparks to be set up.

Dairy development & Livestock

• First free vaccination campaign (National Animal Disease Control Programme) is underway to protect animals from foot and mouth diseases.
• Livestock farmers and fishermen have been given the benefit of Kisan Credit Card.

India is the world’s largest milk producer but with low productivity of milch-animals. In the last decade, per capita milk availability has increased by 40 percent. Existing schemes: Rashtriya Gokul Mission, National Livestock Mission, and Infrastructure Development Funds for dairy processing and animal husbandry.

For the Youth

Education (Achievements in the last few years)

• National Education Policy 2020
• PM Shri Vidyalayas: delivering quality teaching and nurturing holistic and well-rounded individuals.
• Many new institutions of higher learning

  

• The dropout rate in the country has reduced.
• The enrolment of girls in higher education has increased.
• Enrolment of Scheduled Caste students has increased by about 44%, that of Scheduled Tribe students by more than 65% and that of OBC by more than 44%.
• Mera Yuva Bharat Organization has been formed for youth and youth-led development.

Employment (Achievements in the last few years)

• Skill India Mission: over 1.4 crore youth were trained & established 3000 new ITIs.
• Entrepreneurship: PM Mudra Yojana, Fund of Funds, Start-Up India and Start-Up Credit Guarantee schemes are assisting our youth. They are also becoming ‘rozgardata’.

  

Sports (Achievements in the last few years)

• India won more than 100 medals for the first time in Asian Games & more than 100 medals in Para Asian Games.
• India has over 80 chess grandmasters compared to little over 20 in 2010.
• Praggnanandhaa surpasses Viswanathan Anand to become India’s No.1 chess player.

For Women

• Self Help Groups (SHG): The target for Lakhpati Didis enhanced from 2 crore to 3 crore.

Increasing maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks. Permanent commission to women for the first time in the Armed Forces. First time, women cadets were given admission in Sainik Schools and National Defence Academy. Reservation of one-third seats for women in the Lok Sabha and State legislative assemblies. Mudra Yojana: Out of 46 crore loans extended, more than 31 crore loans have been given to women. Female enrolment in higher education: increased by 28% in ten years. STEM courses: Girls and women constitute 43% of enrolment (one of the highest in the world). Made ‘Triple Talaq’ illegal. 15000 drones are being provided to groups under NAMO Drone Didi scheme.

Infrastructure Development

Railways

• Three major economic railway corridor programmes will be implemented. The projects have been identified under the PM Gati Shakti for enabling multi-modal connectivity.
  1. Energy, mineral and cement corridors,
  2. Port connectivity corridors, and
  3. High traffic density corridors.
• Forty thousand normal rail bogies will be converted to the Vande Bharat standards.

Achievements in the last ten years 25000 Km of railway tracks: This is more than the total length of railway tracks in many developed countries. India is very close to 100% electrification of railways. Semi high-speed trains: Started for the first time in India. Namo Bharat train. Amrit Bharat Station Scheme: More than 1300 railway stations are being transformed. Cross subsidization: Railways gives 50% discount on every passenger travelling by Indian Railways.

Aviation Sector

• No significant announcement in the current Budget.
• Achievements in the last ten years,
  • The number of airports has doubled to 149.
  • Roll out of air connectivity to tier-two and tier-three cities under UDAN Scheme.
  • Steps taken for manufacturing of big aircrafts in India.

Road

• No significant announcement in the current Budget.
• Achievements in the last ten years,
  • 3.75 lakh kilometers of new roads have been built in the villages.
  • Length of National Highways increased from 90,000 Km to 1,46,000 Km.
  • Length of the high-speed corridor was 500 Km earlier, is now 4,000 Km.
  • India got its largest sea-bridge, the Atal Setu.

Green Energy

• Towards meeting our commitment to net-zero by 2070, the following measures will be taken.
  • Viability gap funding for harnessing offshore wind energy (up to 1 giga-watt).
  • Coal gasification and liquefaction capacity of 100 MT will be set up by 2030. This will also help in reducing imports of natural gas, methanol, and ammonia.
  • A phased mandatory blending of compressed biogas (CBG) in compressed natural gas (CNG) for transport and piped natural gas (PNG) for domestic purposes will be mandated.
  • Financial assistance will be provided for procurement of biomass aggregation machinery.
  • A new scheme of bio-manufacturing and bio-foundry will be launched.It will provide environment friendly alternatives such as biodegradable polymers, bio-plastics, bio-pharmaceuticals and bio-agri-inputs.

Achievements in the last ten years Non-fossil fuel-based energy capacity has increased from 81 gigawatts to 188 gigawatts. 4th in the world in terms of Renewable Energy Installed Capacity. 4th in Wind Power capacity. 5th in Solar Power capacity. The target is to achieve 50% of its electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuels by 2030. 11 new solar parks have been built. Scheme for solar rooftop installations. 1 crore families will be provided assistance. 10 new nuclear power plants have been approved. Hydrogen energy: two projects in Ladakh and Daman & Diu. Ethanol: The country has achieved the target of 12 percent Ethanol blending. Oil production has started in a new block in the Bay of Bengal. Initiatives One nation one gas grid Blue Economy 2.0

Space

• No significant announcement in the current Budget.
• Significant achievements in the last few years,
  • Chandrayaan 3:First country to hoist its flag on the southern pole of the Moon.
  • Successfully launched the Aditya Mission (reached 15 lakh kilometers away from Earth).
  • Space sector has been opened up for young startups.
  • Gaganyaan (to be executed).

Digital India

• No significant announcement in the current Budget.
• Significant achievements in the last ten years,
  • Today, 46% of the world’s total real-time digital transactions take place in India.
  • UPI: A record 1200 crore transactions (18 lakh crore) were done in a single month (Jan-2024).

  

  • Trinity of Jan Dhan Aadhar Mobile (JAM)
    • Helped curb corruption.
    • 10 crore fake beneficiaries have been weeded out from the system. (2.75 lakh crore saved).
  • DBT: Rupees 34 lakh crore through transferred in last 10 years.
  • Digi Locker. More than 6 billion documents have been issued to its users.
  • Digital Health IDs 53 crore ID’s have been created under Ayushman Bharat Health Account.
  • Fastest 5G rollout in the world.
  • The number of broadband users has increased 14 times.
  • 2 lakh village panchayats of the country have been connected with optical fiber.
  • 4 lakh common service centers have been opened in villages.

Health

• The newly designed U-WIN platform for managing immunisation will be rolled out expeditiously.
• The government will encourage vaccination for girls (9 to 14 years) against cervical cancer.
• Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 to be expedited for improved nutrition delivery, early childhood care and development.

Significant achievements/initiatives in the last ten years. Ayushman Bharat scheme. Citizens saved nearly Rupees 3.5 lakh crore. Jan Aushadhi Kendras Citizens save about Rupees 28,000 crore on purchase of medicines. Prices of coronary stents, knee implants, cancer medicines have also been reduced. Other initiatives Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana Suraksha Bima Yojana. Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan, 100 percent institutional deliveries are taking place.This has resulted in a sharp decline in maternal mortality rate. New Ministry for development of Ayush. The WHO’s first Global Centre for Traditional Medicine is being established in India.

Tribes

• No significant announcement in the current Budget.
• Significant achievements/initiatives in the last ten years.
  • Establishment of Van Dhan Kendras and MSP on more than 90 forest produce.
  • PM JANMAN Yojana outlay of around Rupees 24,000 crore for PVTG’s.
  • Sickle cell anaemia. For the first time, a national mission has been launched to address this. So far, about one crore forty lakh people have been screened under this mission.

Research & innovation

• Long-term financing or refinancing: A corpus of one lakh crore will be established with fifty-year interest free loan to encourage the private sector research and innovation in sunrise domains.

Other Initiatives Deep Tech Startup Policy Artificial Intelligence mission. National Quantum Mission Atal Innovation Mission Deep Ocean Mission

Defence

• No significant announcement in the current Budget.
• Significant achievements/initiatives in the last ten years.
  • India’s defence production has crossed Rupees one lakh crore.
  • Defence corridors are being developed in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
  • Participation of the private sector in the defence sector.

Tourism

• States to be encouraged to take up comprehensive development of iconic tourist centres.
• Long-term interest free loans to be provided to States to encourage development.
• Framework for rating of the tourist centres based on quality of facilities and services to be established.
• Destination for meetings and exhibitions. For this, facilities like Bharat Mandapam, Yashobhoomi have been created.

Other Significant achievements/initiatives in the last ten years Border Villages Vibrant Village Programme. Modern facilities on Andaman-Nicobar and Lakshadweep. Lakshadweep was also connected with underwater optical fiber. Inclusive Growth First time, the benefit of reservation has been extended to economically weaker sections. 27 percent reservation has been introduced under central quota for OBCs in undergraduate and postgraduate medical courses. Constitutional status has been granted to National Commission for Backward Classes. Waste to Energy Government is encouraging a circular economy. India’s first Vehicle Scrappage Policy was announced. Governance Approach: ‘citizen first and ‘minimum government, maximum governance’ Effective and timely delivery of programmes: All forms of infrastructure, physical, digital or social,are being built in record time. Initiatives: Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra: largest-ever outreach initiative of the Government of India. Aspirational Districts Programme. Aspirational Blocks Programme. Ease of Doing Business More than 40,000 compliances have been removed or simplified in the last few years. 63 provisions in the Companies Act and Limited Liability Partnership Act have been removed from the list of criminal offences. The Jan Vishwas Act has decriminalized 183 provisions under various laws. A Mediation law has been enacted for amicable resolution of disputes outside the court. Forest and Environment Clearances now take less than 75 days (600 days earlier). Faceless Assessment Scheme has brought greater transparency in tax administration. Reforms in MSME’s The definition of MSMEs has been expanded. Presently, approximately 3.5 crore MSMEs are registered on the Udyam Portal. Credit Guarantee Scheme for MSMEs: guarantees of nearly Rupees 5 lakh crore have been sanctioned in the last few years. Important Legislations Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (Women’s Reservation Bill). Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) (Criminal law bills). Digital Personal Data Protection Act (Digital India Bill). Anusandhan National Research Foundation (NRF) Bill. The Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act. The Central University Act was amended. Last year, 76 other old laws were also repealed. India & the world Strategic autonomy: India’s interests are firmly placed before the world. A leading voice in the world against terrorism. India is emerging as the “Vishwa Mitra” (friend of the world), and “Vishwa ka atut saathi” (world’s reliable partner). Evacuated every Indian safely through campaigns like Operation Ganga, Operation Kaveri, Vande Bharat. Continuous efforts to propagate the Indian traditions of Yoga, Pranayam and Ayurveda. India & G-20 The unanimous adoption of the Delhi Declaration .(India assumed G20 Presidency). Efforts to secure permanent membership of the African Union in the G-20. The development of India – Middle East – Europe Corridor was announced. The launch of the Global Biofuel Alliance. Important Declarations & activities A statue of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose was installed on Kartavya Path. 5 places associated with Baba Saheb Ambedkar have been developed as Panchteerth. A museum dedicated to all the Prime Ministers of the country was inaugurated in Delhi. Shantiniketan and Hoysala Temple were included in the World Heritage List. Veer Bal Diwas was declared in the memory of Sahibzaade. The birth anniversary of Bhagwan Birsa Munda was declared as Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas. 10 museums dedicated to tribal freedom fighters are being built across the country.