Financial Budget 2024 | What’s New | Hedged

The Government of India has unveiled the Union Budget for 2024–25, outlining a roadmap for economic growth amid global uncertainties. Here’s a summary of the key highlights and their implications.

Employment and Skill Development: The budget emphasizes job creation and skill development with a ₹2 lakh crore package aimed at providing opportunities for 4.1 crore youths over the next five years. An additional ₹1.48 lakh crores are allocated for education, employment, and skill training. For MSMEs, Mudra loan limits have been doubled to ₹20 lakh, and a new guarantee fund of ₹100 crore has been introduced.

Agriculture and Rural Development: A significant ₹1.52 lakh crores are earmarked for agriculture and allied sectors, including the introduction of climate-resilient crop varieties. One crore farmers will transition to natural farming with support for certification. Rural development gets a boost with ₹2.66 lakh crores for infrastructure, including Phase IV of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) to improve connectivity in 25,000 rural areas.

***Social Justice and Inclusive Development: ***The budget aims to uplift marginalized communities with the Pradhan Mantri Janjatiya Unnat Gram Abhiyan, benefiting 5 crore tribal people across 63,000 villages. Over ₹3 lakh crores are allocated for women-led development initiatives.

Urban Development: Urban housing receives a major boost with the PM Awas Yojana Urban 2.0, targeting 1 crore urban poor and middle-class families with a ₹10 lakh crore investment. The government also plans to enhance urban infrastructure and expand the PM SVANidhi Scheme to support street food hubs.

Tax Reforms: Salaried individuals and pensioners benefit from an increased standard deduction of ₹75,000 and enhanced family pension deductions. Angel tax for startups is abolished, and the corporate tax rate for foreign companies is reduced from 40% to 35%, encouraging foreign investment.

Innovation and Infrastructure: The budget includes the Anusandhan National Research Fund with ₹1 lakh crores for research and a ₹1,000 crore venture capital fund to boost the space economy. Infrastructure investment is set at ₹11.11 lakh crores, 3.4% of GDP, to drive economic growth.

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