Ahead of Budget 2025, here's a recap of Narendra Modi 3.0 government's first Budget in 10 points

As India awaits the Union Budget for the coming fiscal year, 2025-26, present are 10 cardinal takeaways from the Narendra Modi 3.0 government's archetypal Union Budget, unveiled successful July 2024. To commencement with, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's July 2024 Budget, for the fiscal twelvemonth ending March 31, 2025, pegged spending astatine Rs 48.2 lakh crore—1.2 per cent implicit and supra the magnitude earmarked successful Interim Budget 2024. 

1. Focus Areas

In the Narendra Modi 3.0 government’s archetypal Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman mentioned 4 absorption areas: Employment, skilling, MSMEs and the mediate class. 

The concern curate besides laid retired a database of 9 precedence areas to guarantee ample employment opportunities for all, successful tandem with the government’s ambitious Developed India vision: Productivity and resilience successful agriculture, employment & skilling, inclusive quality assets improvement & societal justice, manufacturing & services, municipality development, vigor security, infrastructure, innovation, probe & development, and adjacent procreation reforms.

2. GDP Growth 

The July Budget pegged economical growth—measured by gross home merchandise (GDP)—at 10.5 per cent successful the fiscal twelvemonth 2024-25, astir a percent constituent supra the existent enlargement recorded successful the erstwhile year. 

3. Fiscal Deficit Target

The authorities targeted to adjacent FY25 with the fiscal shortage contained astatine 4.9 per cent of the country’s GDP, 20 ground points beneath the 5.1 per cent extremity acceptable successful Interim Budget. It acceptable a extremity of containing the shortage astatine 4.5 per cent by FY26. 

4. Market Borrowings

The Budget 2024 mentioned a Rs 12,000 crore simplification successful the government’s gross marketplace borrowings to Rs 14.01 lakh crore for FY25, starring to nett marketplace borrowings of Rs 11.63 lakh crore against Rs 11.75 lakh crore successful Interim Budget. 

5. Infrastructure 

In July, the Budget affirmed a grounds capex outlay for infrastructure astatine Rs 11.1 lakh crore, 3.4 per cent of GDP—unchanged from Interim Budget.

It besides mentioned semipermanent loans worthy Rs 1.5 lakh crore to enactment infrastructure investments successful states.

6. Rural & Urban Development 

The authorities committed to spending Rs 2.66 lakh crore connected agrarian improvement successful FY25 and Rs 2.2 lakh crore connected cardinal assistance for affordable municipality lodging successful 5 years. 

7. Job Creation 

The Finance Minister earmarked Rs 2 lakh crore for occupation instauration implicit the adjacent 5 years. She besides announced Rs 1.52 lakh crore allocation for agriculture and allied activities and promised to motorboat 3 schemes for employment-linked incentives.

8. Taxes: Personal 

The Budget brought a fig of tax-related changes, including a tweak successful the caller income taxation authorities aimed astatine offering salaried employees savings amounting to Rs 17,500. Key proposals included a 50 per cent summation successful modular deduction for salaried employees to Rs 75,000 nether the caller regime.

9. Taxes: Corporate 

It chopped the firm taxation complaint applicable to overseas firms by 500 bps to 35 per cent successful a bid to pull investments. 

10. Duties & superior gains taxes

The Budget hiked the short-term superior gains tax—applicable to profits supra Rs 1 lakh a twelvemonth connected equities sold wrong 1 twelvemonth of buying—to 20 per cent from 15 per cent and the semipermanent superior gains tax—applicable to akin gains arising retired of income aft 12 months of buying—to 12.5 per cent from 10 per cent. 

It chopped the import work applicable to golden and metallic to 6 per cent from 15 per cent, and connected mobile phones and related parts by 500 bps to 15 per cent.