Ahead Of Union Budget 2024, A Look At Highlights Of The Interim Budget

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Interim budget 2024 on February 1, ahead of the general elections and will present the full budget on July 23. Here's a look at the highlights of the interim budget.

Interim budget 2024-25: Highlights

Expenditure

The government was projected to spend Rs 47.65 lakh crore in 2024-25, marking a 6 per cent increase over the revised estimate of 2023-24. Interest payments alone constituted 25 per cent of this expenditure, accounting for 40 per cent of revenue receipts.

Receipts

Receipts, excluding borrowings, were expected to rise by 12 per cent to Rs 30.80 lakh crore in 2024-25. This increase was largely driven by a projected 12 per cent rise in tax revenue.

GDP Growth

The government anticipated a nominal GDP growth rate of 10.5 per cent for 2024-25, factoring in both real growth and inflation.

Deficits

• Revenue Deficit: Targeted at 2 per cent of GDP, down from the revised estimate of 2.8 per cent in 2023-24.
• Fiscal Deficit: Set at 5.1 per cent of GDP, a decrease from the revised 5.8 per cent of GDP in 2023-24.

New Schemes

The Department of Economic Affairs was allocated Rs 70,449 crore for new schemes, focusing on capital expenditure. This allocation represented 7.5 per cent of the total capital outlay.

Tax Proposals

• Tax Rates: No changes were made to direct or indirect tax rates.
• Extended Benefits: Direct tax benefits for startups, sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, and some IFSC units were extended to March 2025.

Policy Highlights

• Railways: Implementation of three major economic railway corridor programmes and upgrading 40,000 rail bogies to Vande Bharat standards.
• Housing: Construction of an additional two crore houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin. A new scheme to help middle-class families in buying or building homes.
• Health: The government encouraged cervical cancer vaccinations for girls aged 9-14, rolled out the U-WIN platform for immunisation management, and extended healthcare cover for ASHA and Anganwadi workers under Ayushman Bharat.
• Energy: The government aimed to achieve rooftop solarisation of one crore households, blend biogas with CNG/PNG and generate 100 metric tonnes of coal gasification and liquefaction capacity by 2030.
• Environment: Strengthening EV manufacturing and charging infrastructure, adoption of E-buses, the launch of Blue Economy 2.0, and introduction of eco-friendly alternatives like biodegradable polymers and bioplastics.
• Agriculture: Promotion of public and private investment in post-harvest activities, expanded application of Nano DAP fertiliser, and extension of PM Matsya Sampada Yojana to improve aquaculture productivity and seafood exports.
• Demographic Changes: A high-powered committee was formed to address population growth and demographic issues.
• Research: A Rs 1 lakh crore corpus was established to support private-sector research and innovation through low-interest loans.
• Tourism: The government encouraged states to develop and market tourist centres globally and planned long-term interest-free loans for tourism projects.
• Jewellery: Jewellery stocks fell as the government kept the import tax on gold at 15 per cent, disappointing the industry, which wanted a tax reduction to boost demand and reduce illegal imports.