New Delhi, February 2 – Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has described the Union Budget 2025-26 as a "budget by the people, for the people", quoting former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln to highlight its focus on public welfare. She revealed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly supported tax cuts for the middle class, but convincing bureaucrats and tax officials took time.

PM Modi Advocated for Middle-Class Tax Relief

In an exclusive interview with PTI, Sitharaman stated,
"We heard the voices of the middle class, who, despite being honest taxpayers, felt their aspirations were not being fulfilled."

The finance minister noted that PM Modi had directed her to explore ways to provide tax relief, as many taxpayers expressed concerns about the rising cost of living and inflation. While the Prime Minister quickly approved the tax relief proposal, the finance ministry and the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) needed convincing due to revenue concerns.

Biggest Tax Relief in Nearly Two Decades

Sitharaman, presenting her eighth Union Budget on Saturday, announced a historic increase in the income tax exemption limit, raising it from ₹7 lakh to ₹12 lakh under the new tax regime.

This ₹5 lakh increase is the largest tax relief ever granted in a single budget, equivalent to all tax reliefs given between 2005 and 2023 combined.

"The Prime Minister summed it up well—this is truly the people’s budget," she added.

New Tax Regime to Boost Consumption & Savings

Sitharaman emphasized that the revised tax structure would leave more disposable income in the hands of taxpayers, boosting domestic consumption, savings, and investment.

The finance minister revealed that discussions on tax reduction had been ongoing for some time, with efforts to simplify direct taxation and reduce compliance burdens beginning with the July 2024 Budget. A new tax law is also in the works, which will make legal language simpler and compliance easier.

How the Decision Was Made

Sitharaman explained that after extensive public feedback, PM Modi personally reviewed the tax cut proposal and gave his approval. However, she admitted that convincing the finance ministry and CBDT officials took longer.

"Your question should not be about how much effort it took to convince the Prime Minister, but rather how long it took to convince the ministry and tax authorities," she remarked.

According to Sitharaman, while Modi was clear about wanting tax cuts, bureaucrats had to ensure that revenue collection remained stable to fund welfare and development projects.

"Officials kept reminding me of the revenue implications, which was fair, but eventually, everyone agreed on the tax cuts," she said.

Expanding India’s Taxpayer Base

While the budget provides major tax relief, Sitharaman clarified that efforts to increase the tax base will continue.

Currently, 8.65 crore Indians file income tax returns (ITRs), and when including those subject to Tax Deducted at Source (TDS), the figure exceeds 10 crore.

"There are still many individuals outside the tax net, some of whom now earn enough to pay taxes or have been evading them. Our goal is to ensure fair and broader tax collection," she added.

Defending Capital Expenditure Allocation

The budget’s capital expenditure (CapEx) allocation has been raised to ₹11.21 lakh crore for FY 2025-26, up from ₹10.18 lakh crore in the revised estimate for FY 2024-25. Some experts have argued that the increase is smaller than expected, but Sitharaman defended the allocation, citing a focus on spending quality rather than just higher figures.

"Since 2020, we have increased capital expenditure by 16-17% annually. Now, some are questioning why this year’s increase isn’t as high. But I urge them to focus on the quality of spending rather than just the numbers," she said.

She also noted that capital spending slowed in 2024 due to the election cycle, affecting the revised estimates. Had elections not delayed projects, the final spending figures would have been closer to the budget estimates, she explained.

With massive tax cuts, a focus on domestic consumption, and sustained capital investment, the Union Budget 2025-26 is set to have far-reaching impacts on the middle class and economic growth. As PM Modi pushes for tax reforms, Sitharaman has ensured that the budget aligns with the government’s pro-people, pro-growth vision, making 2025 a landmark year for Indian taxpayers.

New Delhi, July 23 (HS). Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while reacting to the general budget on Tuesday, has described it as laying a solid foundation for developed India. He said that this budget will empower every section of the society.

The Prime Minister described the budget as taking the country to new heights of development and congratulated Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her team. He said that this budget is going to take the villages, poor and farmers of the country on the path of prosperity. In the last 10 years, 25 crore people have come out of the poverty line. This budget is a continuation of the empowerment of this new middle class. Referring to the emphasis on youth in the budget, the Prime Minister said that its measures will open many new opportunities for the youth.

Skills of youth will get importance

He said that this budget will give a new scale to education and skills. This is a budget that will give new strength to the middle class. It has come with strong schemes to empower tribal society, Dalits and backward classes. This budget will help in ensuring economic participation of women. The Prime Minister said that this budget will provide a new path of progress to small traders, MSMEs. There is a lot of focus on manufacturing and infrastructure in the budget. This will give new impetus to economic development.

Self-employment will get a boost

The Prime Minister said that we have to make every city, every village, every house an entrepreneur. For this purpose, the limit of Mudra loan without guarantee has been increased from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh. This will give strength to self-employment among small businessmen, especially women, Dalit, backward and tribal families. He said that in this budget, a new scheme has been started to increase the ease of loan for MSMEs. Important announcements were made in the budget to take the manufacturing and export ecosystem to every district. This budget has brought completely new opportunities for our equipment, innovation ecosystem. Be it a fund of Rs 1,000 crore to promote space economy or the decision to remove angel tax, many such steps have been taken in this budget.

Relief in income tax is a big thing

The Prime Minister said that the NDA government has ensured in the last 10 years that the poor and the middle class are constantly given relief from taxes. In this budget too, a big decision has been taken to reduce income tax and increase standard deduction. It is also easy to meet the standards of TDS. Every taxpayer is going to get additional savings from these steps.

Farmers are at the center

He said that a big focus of this budget is on the farmers of the country. After the world's largest carrot for food storage, now we are going to create vegetable production clusters. This will provide new markets and better prices to small farmers for vegetables, fruits, other produce.

The Prime Minister said that poverty should be eradicated in the country, the poor should be protected, in this direction too the chief ministers made announcements in today's budget. It has been decided to build new houses worth 3 crores for the poor. Jan Unnat Unnat Gram Abhiyan, 5 crore relatives were connected to their relatives with saturation approach. Apart from this, 25 thousand new rural areas will be connected with all-weather roads under the Gram Sadak Yojana.

New Delhi (India) July 23 : As a plastic recycler, I have high hopes for the upcoming budget. One key expectation is for the government to continue pushing the recently introduced “Green Credit Programme” by our Honorable Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This initiative will incentivize and monetise environmental actions across various sectors, thus encouraging individuals and companies to participate in building a sustainable India.

Along with introducing new schemes like GCP, government should take measures to facilitate implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility compliances. Budget allocations would help in making the EPR portal hassle free and transparent. I would suggest that independent auditors should be deployed to verify the activities of registered recyclers, as this would avoid greenwashing and unfair practices taking place. Ministries of Environment and Forest, should get a significant percent of the union budget to make these measures possible, and I believe this portion of budget would prove to be an investment in the long run.

A key demand that plastic recyclers have been making is of reduction in Indirect Taxes on plastic waste and recycled plastic products as this would significantly reduce the working capital requirements and would also make recycled plastic granules an economical option for the plastic manufactures. Reduction in Indirect taxes would boost sales of recycled plastic products and hence help recycling industries thrive. Higher GST on recycled plastic granules, had a negative effect on its sales, I hope this union budget would rectify that.

Another request from the government is to invest more in climate-resilient & recycling infrastructure. According to a report by the World Bank, such investments in middle-income countries could yield approximately $4.2 trillion in total benefits—an impressive Rs.4 return for every ruppee invested. I believe that Sustainable Infrastructure is not a cost but rather a strategic investment for a clean, sustainable, and shining India.

I am sure this union budget will not only boost the Indian economy, but will also turn it into a circular economy, ensuring that every material remains in the economy through closed loops and hence have a compounding effect on the GDP.

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New Delhi, July 23 (HS): Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented her seventh consecutive budget in Parliament today. This budget prepares the outline of developed India by 2047.

The middle class of the country has the highest expectations from this budget. There are indications that Finance Minister Sitharaman may announce steps to promote micro, small and medium enterprises. On the eve of the budget, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "This is an important budget of Amritkaal. This budget will determine the direction of the journey of the five years that we have. It will also lay the foundation for fulfilling the dream of a developed India in 2047.

Lucknow, 23 July (HS): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has described the General Budget 2024-25 as all-touching, all-inclusive, development-oriented, which will fulfil the hopes, aspirations and all the resolutions of 140 crore countrymen. The Chief Minister said that the General Budget 2024-25 is an economic document for building 'Developed India-Self-reliant India'. It has the sacred spirit of Antyodaya, limitless potential for development and a new vision of innovation.

In this budget, there is a resolve for overall development of all sections of the society including villages, poor, farmers, women, youth, a vision of becoming self-reliant in every field and a roadmap to free the deprived from deprivation.

While providing huge relief to the middle class directly, announcement of new provisions regarding the tax system is welcome. Heartfelt gratitude has been expressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for this public-welfare budget, paving the way to make 'New India' a 5 trillion dollar economy and the world's growth engine.

New Delhi, July 23 (HS): Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday allocated ₹1.52 lakh crore for agriculture and agriculture-related sectors while presenting the Union Budget for the financial year 2024-25 in the Lok Sabha. Emphasizing the importance of research and development in the agriculture sector, the Finance Minister announced that adequate funds would be provided for research and development initiatives, especially focusing on the production, storage and marketing of pulses and oilseeds.

Union Finance Minister Sitharaman said, "We will strengthen their production, storage and marketing." The initiative aims to achieve "self-sufficiency" in oilseeds such as mustard, groundnut, sesame, soybean and sunflower. She said, "A strategy has been formulated to achieve "self-sufficiency" for oilseeds like mustard, groundnut, sesame, soybean and sunflower as announced in the interim budget."

The Union Finance Minister said, to enhance the supply chain of vegetables, the budget proposes to develop large scale clusters for vegetable production near major consumption centres. "Large scale clusters for vegetable production will be developed close to major consumption centres. We will promote farmer producer organisations, cooperatives and startups for supply chains of vegetables including collection, storage and marketing," she said.

Sitharaman announced a three-year plan to facilitate digital public infrastructure for agriculture, aimed at comprehensively covering farmers and their land. "Our government will facilitate digital public infrastructure in agriculture to cover farmers and their land in 3 years. Digital crop survey for Kharif will be conducted in 400 districts during this year," she said.

The Finance Minister said, "The details of six crore farmers and their land will be brought into the farmer and land registry. Facility will be provided to issue Kisan Credit Card in five states." In which financial assistance has been provided for shrimp farming in the budget under aquaculture. Financing facility will be provided through National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) for shrimp farming and export.

The Finance Minister said, "A new National Cooperative Policy will be introduced to ensure systematic and all-round development of the cooperative sector. The goal of the policy will be to accelerate the development of the rural economy and create employment opportunities on a large scale." The aim of this policy is to accelerate the development of the rural economy and create employment opportunities on a large scale.

New Delhi, July 23 (HS): The domestic stock market is now seen recovering from the shock after the presentation of the budget today. The stock market had fallen by more than 1.5 percent during the budget speech of the Finance Minister. But after the budget speech is over, the stock market seems to be recovering rapidly. After trading till 1 pm, the Sensex was trading with a decline of 0.63 percent and Nifty with a decline of 0.62 percent.

Today's trading started with a rise. But in the early trade itself, investors adopted a cautious stance and started trading at a flat level. Even after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman started her budget speech, the stock market continued to trade at a flat level with a slight decline for a long time. But as soon as the Finance Minister started speaking on the provisions related to the industrial and corporate sector around 12:15 pm, there was a strong selling pressure in the market, due to which both the Sensex and Nifty indices fell by more than 1.5 percent.

The extent of selling pressure during this period can be gauged from the fact that the Sensex fell 1,542.09 points from the upper level to reach 79,224.32 points with a weakness of 1,277.76 points. Similarly, the Nifty fell 508.35 points from the upper level to 24,074.20 points with a weakness of 435.05 points.

However, in the next 15 minutes of trading, buyers again dominated the market and started buying all around, due to which both the stock market indices started recovering from the lower level. With the support of continuous buying, at 1 pm, the Sensex recovered 768.16 points from the lower level and was trading at a level of 79,992.48 points with a weakness of 509.60 points. Similarly, the Nifty improved 283.60 points from the lower level and reached a level of 24,357.80 points with a decline of 151.45 points.

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India] July 23 : Post the General elections which resulted in a fractured mandate after a decade the union budget 2024-25 is keenly awaited. Boosting economic and job growth in India is a primary concern requires a comprehensive approach that spans various sectors and addresses both supply and demand factors.

Here are some key strategies for the same :

  1. Skill Development and Education:
    – Vocational Training:  Expand vocational training programs to equip workers with skills that match industry needs.
    – Educational Reforms: Align educational curricula with market demands, emphasizing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and soft skills.
 
 2. Promoting Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs):
    – Access to Finance: Provide easier access to credit and financial services for SMEs.
    – Support Services: Offer business development services, mentoring, and support for startups and small businesses.
 
 3. Infrastructure Development:
    – Construction Projects: Invest in large-scale infrastructure projects, which create numerous jobs in construction and related industries.
    – Rural Infrastructures:  Develop rural infrastructure to create jobs and reduce migration to urban areas.
 
 4. Industrial Growth:
    – Manufacturing Sector: Promote Make in India and other initiatives to boost manufacturing, which has high employment potential.
    – Special Economic Zones (SEZs): Develop SEZs and industrial corridors to attract investments and create job opportunities.
 
 5. Agricultural Reforms:
    – Agri-Business: Encourage value addition in agriculture through food processing and agro-based industries.
    – Modern Farming Techniques: Promote modern farming techniques to increase productivity and create employment in rural areas.
 
 6. Digital Economy:
    – IT and ITES: Strengthen the Information Technology (IT) and Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES) sectors.
    – Digital Skills Training: Provide digital literacy and advanced digital skills training to workers.
 
 7. Tourism and Hospitality:
    – Tourism Infrastructure: Develop tourist destinations and improve infrastructure to attract more visitors and create jobs.
    – Promotion Campaigns: Run campaigns to promote India as a tourist destination.
 
 8. Labour Market Reforms:
    – Flexible Labor Laws: Reform labor laws to make it easier for businesses to hire and retain employees.
    – Worker Protection: Ensure adequate worker protection and benefits to create a secure working environment.
 
 9. Encouraging Innovation and Startups:
    – Startup Ecosystem: Foster a startup ecosystem with incubation centers, funding support, and innovation hubs.
    – Research and Development: Invest in R&D to create new industries and job opportunities.
 
 10. Government Policies and Incentives:
     – Incentives for Job Creation: Provide tax breaks and incentives for companies that create a certain number of jobs.
     – Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs): Encourage PPPs in various sectors to boost job creation.
 
 By addressing these areas, India can create a conducive environment for job growth and economic development.

About the author : 

Mayank Singhvi is the CEO of Cosmos Financial Group, spanning financial services, real estate, hospitality, and aviation, and Managing Partner at IMK Capital Partners

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New Delhi, 15 July (H.S.): The Union Budget 2024, set to be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on July 23, is expected to focus on increasing private sector participation in airports and Indian Railways projects. Key expectations include privatizing existing airports and listing Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) corridors.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and economists, including planning minister Rao Inderjit Singh, chief economic advisor V Anantha Nageswaran, economists Surjit Bhalla and Ashok Gulati, and experienced banker K V Kamath.

The Electric Vehicle (EV) industry is anticipating several key measures to drive growth and adoption. Increased subsidies will make electric vehicles more affordable for a wider range of consumers, fostering widespread adoption. Expanding the network of charging stations, especially those powered by renewable energy, is essential for supporting EV infrastructure and addressing range anxiety. Reducing the GST on batteries and components will lower costs, making electric vehicles more accessible to the masses. Simplifying financing options for EV purchases will encourage adoption by easing the financial burden on consumers. Promoting fleet electrification can significantly cut emissions and showcase the viability of electric vehicles for commercial use. Export incentives will help Indian EV manufacturers compete globally and expand their market reach.

Kunal Arya, Co-Founder & Managing Director of ZELIO Ebikes, believes these measures will collectively propel the EV sector towards a sustainable and prosperous future. Individual taxpayers also have expectations from the Union Budget 2024, including increased limits on exemptions and deductions.

Mr. Ujwal Landge, Partner & CEO, E. A. Patil and Associates LLP

Mr Ujwal Landge, a well-known expert on Company Valuations and a noted Chartered Accountant who is a partner and CEO of a Mumbai–based E. A. Patil and Associates LLP, called the Budget a progressive setting of a strategic blueprint for inclusive development, particularly in housing and infrastructure sectors.

Analysing the implications of the interim budget presented by the Union Finance Minister Smt Nirmala Sitharaman, Mr Ujwal Landge, a well-known expert on Company Valuations and a noted Chartered Accountant who is a partner and CEO of a Mumbai – based E. A. Patil and Associates LLP called the Budget as progressive setting a strategic blueprint for inclusive development, particularly in housing and infrastructure sectors.  

Mr Landge said, “The Union Finance Minister unveiled a comprehensive roadmap in the interim budget, delineating the government’s strategic vision for inclusive development, particularly in the housing and infrastructure sectors. The Finance Minister’s commitment to immediate fiscal needs, outlined in her sixth consecutive budget, signifies a pivotal moment for the country. The budget has been hailed as growth-oriented and inclusive, with a particular focus on addressing the needs of four distinct demographic groups: the poor, women, youth, and farmers.”

Mr Landge, who is credited with various research papers in the field of Audit, Mergers and Acquisitions, Business Process Re-engineering (BPR), Financial Due diligence and System Improvement studies, noted that the targeted initiatives for rural housing, gender-inclusive housing provisions, and a focused approach to middle-class homeownership align seamlessly with the government’s vision for inclusive growth. The increased infrastructure outlay and innovative financial provisions further solidify the budget’s position as a forward-looking and comprehensive plan to address the evolving needs of the nation, he pointed out.

According to Mr Landge, a standout announcement was the government’s ambitious goal of constructing two crore houses in the next five years under the PM Awaas-Rural scheme. He added that the target of three crore houses under the PM AwaasYojana – Grameen, a rural housing program, was within close reach. “Notably, the commitment to allocate 70 percent of these houses for women underscores the government’s dedication to gender-inclusive development,” observed Mr Landge.

Another significant housing initiative, according to Mr Landge, was the launch of a housing program for the middle class. He mentioned, “The scheme aims to assist deserving sections of the middle class residing in rented houses or slums in building their own homes. This move aligns with the broader goal of fostering homeownership and represents a key step in realizing the government’s vision for a self-reliant and empowered middle class.”

Mr Landge’s note on the Budget further stated that with an allocation of Rs 11.11 lakh crore, the Government signalled its commitment to bolstering the country’s infrastructure. Mr Landge called the provision of Rs 75,000 crore, a 50-year interest-free loan to state governments, a novel and far–reaching proposal. He explained, “This financial injection is earmarked for milestone-linked reforms, demonstrating a commitment to collaborative governance.” 

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