Key Feature Of Budget 2024-25

Key Feature Of Budget 2024: On July 23, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled her seventh consecutive budget for the fiscal year 2024–25, breaking the previous record held by former Prime Minister Morarji Desai. Since its re-election in June, the BJP-led NDA government has presented its maiden budget. The budget theme is named as Viksit Bharat, read the full blog to learn in detail.

Key Feature Of Budget 2024

Priorities for the Viksit Bharat are:
• Productivity and resilience in agriculture.
• Employment and Skilling.
• Inclusive human resource development and social justice.
• Manufacturing and services.
• Urban development.
• Energy security.
• Infrastructure.
• Tourism.
• Next generation reforms.

Productivity and resilience in agriculture

• The government has put aside a budget of Rs. 1.52 lakh crore for agriculture and associated industries.
• The government would provide farmers with 109 new, high-yielding, and climate-resilient varieties of 32 field and horticultural crops.
• Over the next two years, one crore farmers will be introduced to natural farming, which will be aided by branding and certification. The government plans to build 10,000 need-based bio-input resource centres to achieve this goal.
• The government will fund Farmer-Producer Organisations, startups, and cooperatives to help with vegetable supply chains such as marketing, collecting, and storage.
• To achieve “Atmanirbharta” for oil seeds such as groundnut, mustard, soybean, sesame, and sunflower, a strategy is being developed.
• The government will speed up the implementation of the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) in agriculture in partnership with the states, ensuring that farmers and their assets are covered within three years.
• The farmer and land records will include information on 6 crore farmers and their estates. Five states will accept applications and issue Kisan Credit Cards based on Jan Samarth.
• The establishment of a network of Nucleus Breeding Centres for Shrimp Broodstocks will be financially supported.

Employment and Skilling

• The government will introduce three new ‘Employment Linked Incentive’ schemes based on EPFO enrolment:
• I. Scheme A: First Timers – This plan would give a direct benefit transfer of one month’s pay in three instalments of up to Rs.15,000 to first-time employees in the formal sector, whoever is registered with the EPFO.
• II. Scheme B: Job Creation in Manufacturing – An incentive will be granted directly to the employee and employer based on their EPFO contributions during the first four years of employment.
• III. Scheme C: Employer Support – The government would compensate employers up to Rs.3,000 per month for each new employee for a period of two years depending on their EPFO contribution. All extra job with a monthly wage of Rs.1 lakh is included.
• A new centrally supported skilling system will be launched in partnership with industry and state governments. This project would train 20 lakh kids over five years, and 1,000 Industrial Training Institutes (ITI) will be updated in hub-and-spoke arrangements with an emphasis on outcomes.
• The Model Skill Loan Scheme will be updated to allow students to borrow up to Rs.7.5 lakh with a guarantee from a government-backed fund.
• The government has given financial support for loans of up to Rs.10 lakh for students pursuing higher education at local institutions. Every year, 1 lakh students will get e-vouchers in exchange for a 3% annual interest subsidy on their loan balance.

Inclusive Human resource development and social justice

• The government has allocated Rs.2.66 lakh crore on rural development and infrastructure.
• Purvodaya is the government’s strategy for the overall development of India’s eastern region, which includes Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal, and Andhra Pradesh.
• The government would promote the development of Gaya’s industrial hub, the Amritsar Kolkata Industrial Corridor. This corridor will accelerate the industrial development of the eastern area.
• The government would also assist the development of road connection projects, including the Patna-Purnea Motorway, Buxar-Bhagalpur Motorway, Bodhgaya, Rajgir, Vaishali, and Darbhanga spurs, as well as an extra 2-lane bridge across the Ganga at Buxar, at a total cost of Rs.26,000 crore.
• The government would undertake electricity projects, including the construction of a new 2400 MW power plant at Pirpainti at a cost of Rs. 21,400 crore.
• The government is dedicated to implementing the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act and would provide specific financial assistance through multilateral development organisations. The government would set aside Rs.15,000 crore in the current fiscal year, with further funds to be allocated in subsequent years.
• The government would finance the early completion of the Polavaram Irrigation Project. It would also support critical infrastructure projects including as power, water, roads, and trains along the Kopparthy node of the Vishakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor and the Orvakal node of the Hyderabad-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor.
• The government has announced plans to build three crore more dwellings in rural and urban regions via the PM Awas Yojana.
• The government has set aside more than Rs.3 lakh crore to support women-led development and benefit women and girls.
• The government will introduce a new plan, Pradhan Mantri Janjatiya Unnat Gramme Abhiyan, to enhance the socioeconomic status of tribal tribes. It would encompass near 63,000 villages and help 5 crore tribals.
• To increase banking services, India Post Payment Bank will open around 100 branches in the North East area.

Manufacturing and Services

• The government is planning to implement a credit guarantee system to make it easier for MSMEs to get term loans for machinery and equipment without the need for collateral or a third-party guarantee. It would be a distinct self-financing guarantee fund that will issue a guarantee of up to Rs.100 crore to each applicant.
• Rather of depending on external assessments, public sector banks will develop an in-house competence to assess MSMEs for lending. They will also be creating or obtaining a new credit evaluation model based on the analysis of MSMEs’ digital footprints in the economy.
• The government has unveiled a new procedure to help MSMEs continue to get bank loans during times of crisis.
• For entrepreneurs that have successfully repaid prior loans under the ‘Tarun’ category, the maximum for Mudra loans has been increased to Rs.20 lakh from the present Rs.10 lakh.
• The turnover barrier for obligatory onboarding on the TReDS platform has been decreased from Rs.500 crore to Rs.250 crore.
• The government will be creating a comprehensive strategy to give internships to 1 crore youngsters in the top 500 corporations over a five-year period. An internship allowance of Rs.5,000 each month and a one-time payment of Rs.6,000 would be made.
• The government is going to work with states and the corporate sector to create investment-ready “plug and play” industrial parks.
• The government will approve 12 industrial parks as part of the National Industrial Corridor Development Programme.
• The government plans to establish a key Mineral Mission to recycle key minerals, stimulate local production, and acquire critical mineral assets overseas.
• The government will launch the first tranche auction of offshore mining blocks, building on previous exploration efforts.
• Additional National Company Law Tribunals will be established to speed up insolvency settlement. Some Tribunals will be notified to decide matters only under the Companies Act.
• Additional Debt Recovery Tribunals will be formed to expedite the recovery process.

Urban development

• The government will create a Transit Orientated Development plan for 14 major cities with populations of more than 30 lakh.
• The PM Awas Yojana Urban 2.0 would meet the housing requirements of one crore urban middle-class and poor families with a Rs.10 lakh crore investment. This would entail federal aid of Rs.2.2 lakh crore over the next five years.
• State governments and multilateral development banks will use bankable projects to enhance sewage treatment, water supply, and solid waste management facilities and services in 100 major cities.
• Over the next five years, the government will undertake a program to help build 100 weekly ‘haats’ or street food centres in key cities.
• The government will encourage states to modify their stamp duty rates, which are currently high for everybody, and will explore further cutting costs for houses acquired by women.

Energy Security

• PM The Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana was created to provide 300 units of free power per month to 1 crore families through rooftop solarisation.
• A strategy to promote pumped storage projects for electricity storage will be implemented, allowing for the smooth integration of renewable energy’s rising proportion.
• The government will work with the commercial sector to establish Bharat Small Reactors, conduct research and development on the Bharat Small Modular Reactor, and develop future nuclear energy technologies.
• A joint venture between NTPC and BHEL will build a full-scale 800 MW commercial plant based on Advanced Ultra Super Critical (AUSC) technology.
• A policy will be implemented to promote pumped storage projects.
• The government will conduct an investment-grade energy assessment of conventional micro and small companies in 60 clusters, give financial assistance to transition them to greener kinds of energy, and implement energy saving measures.

Infrastructure

• The government has allocated Rs. 11,11,111 crore for capital expenditure.
• The government has offered Rs.1.5 lakh crore in long-term interest-free loans to help states in resource distribution.
• Phase IV of the Pradhan Mantri Gramme Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) will be implemented, providing all-weather connection to 25,000 rural homes.
• The government will provide financial assistance through the Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme and other sources for projects costing Rs.11,500 crore, such as the Kosi-Mechi intra-state link and 20 other ongoing and new schemes, including river pollution abatement, irrigation projects, and barrages.
• The government will establish the Vishnupad Temple Corridor and Mahabodhi Temple Corridor in Rajgir, Nalanda, and Odisha.

Tourism

• The Vishnupad Temple Corridor and Mahabodhi Temple Corridor were designed based on the Kashi Vishwanath Temple Corridor.
• Rajgir will undergo a comprehensive development program, with religious importance for Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains.
• Developed Nalanda as a tourist destination and restored Nalanda University to its former glory.
• Helped promote Odisha’s scenic beauty, temples, monuments, handicrafts, animal sanctuaries, natural landscapes, and beaches, making it a top tourist destination.

Next generation reforms

• The government will collaborate with the states to implement land-related reforms, rural land-related activities, and urban land-related actions.
• The e-shram site would be comprehensively integrated with other portals to provide a one-stop solution for providing a wide range of services to workers.
• The Shram Suvidha and Samadhan websites will be upgraded to improve commerce and industry compliance.
• The government plans to create a climate finance taxonomy to increase the availability of funds for climate adaptation and mitigation.
• The government plans to create a climate finance taxonomy to increase the availability of funds for climate adaptation and mitigation.
• The laws and regulations governing foreign direct investment and abroad investments will be simplified in order to encourage prioritising, ease foreign direct investments, and will promote the use of the Indian rupee so that it become a currency for overseas investments.
• The government will implement NPS Vatsalya, a scheme for parental and guardian contributions for minors.
• The administration is working on Jan Vishwas Bill 2.0 to improve ‘ease of doing business’.

In the next blog we will be covering about the changes in tax slabs and rotation of revenue and expenditure. Stay connected on telegram, do follow our accounts.