Nirmala Sitharaman Announces Budget Shortly: Will There Be Tax Incentives?

Nirmala Sitharaman, in her seventh Union Budget presentation, is likely to give tax incentives for new manufacturing facilities and encourage local procurement across sectors to create jobs.

Discontent over job opportunities was seen as a key reason for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party, the BJP, failing to win a majority on its own in the general elections, and returning to power only with the support of allies.

Whether Ms Sitharaman will announce tax relief for the middle class will be the most anticipated part of her Budget speech. The middle class got little in the pre-election interim Budget, so their expectations are high.

The budgeted fiscal deficit is 4.5 per cent, against 5.8 per cent in the last fiscal. The full Budget is expected to provide better-than-earlier fiscal deficit projections. Fiscal deficit is the difference between the government's expenditure and income.

The Modi government has put a lot of focus on developing infrastructure. The government's planned capital expenditure (capex) is at Rs 11.1 lakh crore, higher than Rs 9.5 lakh crore in the last fiscal. The government has been pushing infrastructure creation and also incentivising states to step up capex.

Ms Sitharaman has indicated she would announce steps to boost micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) which form a chunk of the country's growth engine. MSMEs have room for growth in defence, electronics, and electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing. This is in line with the Modi government's Make In India push. 

The Union Budget 2024 is likely to be passed on July 30. Opposition leaders, in their discussions on what issues to raise, have decided to corner the government on price rise, unemployment, lack of growth in key sectors, and agrarian distress, sources said.

Congress party chief Mallikarjun Kharge has called the Economic Survey an exercise in cherry-picking. "...Your government has crushed the aspirations of 140 crore Indians in 10 years. The Economic Survey is like a shiny hollow envelope to gloss over the failures of the Modi government," he posted on X.

PM Modi had said the Economic Survey highlighted the strengths of the Indian economy and showcased the outcomes of his government's reforms. "It also identifies areas for further growth and progress as we move towards building a Viksit Bharat (developed India)," PM Modi said.

India is slated to have one of the strongest-growing economies in the Asia-Pacific region in 2024 and 2025. This is primarily due to government spending, rather than domestic consumption or exports.