Budget 2024 Highlights: Interim Budget Key Takeaways

Notable Numbers - Interim Budget 2024

• Nominal GDP growth of 10.5% assumed for FY25
• FY25 divestment target Rs 50,000 crore; lowered to Rs 30,000 crore for FY24
• Fiscal Deficit at 5.1% of GDP fot FY25
• Fiscal Deficit for FY24 Seen At 5.8% of GDP
• Aim to reduce fiscal deficit to below 4.5% by FY26
• FY25 Capex Outlay at 3.4% of GDP
• FY24 Gross Market Borrowing seen at Rs 14.1 lakh crore
• Pre-FY10 disputed tax demands of up to Rs 25,000 withdrawn
• 2 crore houses to be build in the next five years.

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Roadmap for “Viksit Bharat” by 2047

The major theme for this year’s budget was the goal to achieve a ‘Viksit Bharat’ or developed India by the year 2047. Women, youth, farmers, and the poor are the four pillars of Viksit Bharat's Budget 2024. Under this budget -

• There will be substantial development of physical, social, and digital infrastructure.
• Digital public infrastructure will help promote financial inclusion and formalization.
• GIFT IFSC and the unified regulatory authority, IFSCA, will create a robust gateway for global capital and financial services in the economy.
• Inflation management will be prioritized.
• The tax base will be widened via GST.

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Interim Budget 2024 - Key Highlights

Given below are the important points that you need to know about when it comes to the interim budget 2024.

Direct Tax Announcements

• As announced by the FM, there is no change in the direct tax rates. In other words, the tax rates prevalent in FY23-24 will be retained for FY24-25. Taxpayers with a total income of up to Rs.7 lakh will not have to pay income tax under the new tax regime.
• Tax benefits for startups, investments made by sovereign wealth, and pension funds are to be extended to March 2025.
• Proposal to withdraw outstanding direct tax demands:
  • For amounts up to Rs.25,000 incurred between FY1962-63 and FY2009-2010.
  • For amounts up to Rs.10,000 incurred between FY2010-11 and FY2014-2015.
• A corporate tax rate of 22% will be applicable to existing domestic companies and 15% for certain new manufacturing companies.
• The tax benefits available to startups and the investments made by the pension fund and sovereign wealth funds have been extended to March 2025.
• The tax exemption for specific IFSC units that were supposed to expire on 31st March 2024 has been extended upto 31st March 2025.

Garib Kalyan Announcements

• The Direct Benefit Transfer facility has resulted in savings of Rs.2.7 lakh crores.
• More than 25 crore people have moved out of multidimensional poverty.
• 78 lakh street vendors have received credit assistance under PM-SVANidhi.

Empowering the Youth

• 1.4 crore youth were trained under the Skill India mission.
• 43 crore loans were disbursed to youth under the PM Mudra Yojana to help youth fulfill their entrepreneurial aspirations.
• FM announced setting up a corpus of Rs.1 lakh crore to fund the tech-savvy youth for 50 years with an interest-free loan to provide re-financing or financing.

Nari Shakti

• 30 crore + Mudra loans have been given to women entrepreneurs.
• Female enrollment in higher education has increased by 28% in the past 10 years.
• STEM courses have witnessed more than 43% female enrollment
• The target for Lakhpati Didi has been increased from Rs.2 crore to 3 crore. In light of this target, 1 crore women are being assisted by 83 lakh SHGs.

Farmer Welfare

• Direct financial assistance has been provided to 11.8 crore farmers under PM-KISAN Yojana.
• 1361 mandis have been integrated under eNAM that support a trading volume of Rs.3 lakh crore.
• The government targets to increase productivity under PM Matsya Sampada Yojana from 3 tonnes per hectare to 5 tonnes per hectare.

Green Energy/Sustainable Development

The Finance Minister committed to achieving 'Net Zero' by 2070 through the Amrit Kaal initiative. The following measures were announced in light of the same -

• Increasing coal gasification and liquefaction capacity to 100 MT by 2030.
• Implementing phased mandatory blending of CNG and other gases for domestic use.
• Offering financial aid for the procurement of biomass aggregation machinery.
• Facilitating rooftop solarization, enabling one crore households to receive up to 300 units of free electricity per month.
• Promoting the adoption of e-buses for public transportation and bolstering the e-vehicle ecosystem by supporting manufacturing and charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.
• Introducing a new scheme for biomanufacturing and bio-foundry to promote environmentally friendly alternatives.
• Installing 1.3 crore LED street lights under the SNLP scheme.
• Launching the Blue Economy 2.0 scheme to enhance and adapt coastal aquaculture and mariculture practices.

Infrastructure

• Implementation of three key railway corridor programs:
  • Energy, minerals, and cement corridor
  • Port connectivity corridor
  • High-traffic density corridor
• Enhancing logistics efficiency and reducing costs under the PM Gati Shakti initiative.
• Promotion of foreign investment via negotiation of bilateral investment treaties.
• Expansion of existing airports and comprehensive development of new airports as part of the UDAN scheme.
• Urban transformation initiatives, including Metro Rail and NaMo Bharat projects.

Inclusive Development

The Finance Minister emphasized inclusive development through the Amrit Kaal initiative, introducing a District Programme for faster state-level progress and job creation. Following are the initiatives taken by the government to promote inclusive development.

Healthcare:

• Promoting cervical cancer vaccination for girls aged 9-14.
• Upgrading Anganwadi centers for better nutrition and child care.
• Introducing the U-WIN platform for immunization.
• Extending health coverage under Ayushman Bharat.
• Establishing a committee for more medical colleges.

Housing:

• Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana is about to achieve the target of three crore houses.
• Launching a scheme for middle-class home ownership.

Tourism:

• Encouraging states to develop iconic tourist spots.
• Offering interest-free loans for state development.
• Initiatives for island infrastructure, including Lakshadweep.

While the Budget 2024 is just an interim budget, the full Budget for the mentioned fiscal will be introduced in July, after a new government is formed following the upcoming general elections in the first half of 2024. You can stay updated about the Budget 2024 here.

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