The Finance Minister unveiled Interim Budget 2024-2025, She made statements about green energy, housing, trains, tourism, healthcare, technology, aviation, and aquaculture, among other topics. Regarding taxes, no alterations to the import charges and direct and indirect tax structures were declared. A longer tax exemption was granted to startups and investments made by sovereign wealth or pension funds through March 31, 2025.
Sector-specific highlights in Interim Budget 2024-2025
Infrastructure:
- Three significant rail corridor projects aimed at increasing the effectiveness of logistics and cutting costs will be executed as part of the PM Gati Scheme.
- The UDAN Scheme aims to expand existing airports and develop new ones.
- Promote urban transformation through Metro rail and NaMo Bharat,
- Assist states in developing aspirational districts and blocks that will create employment opportunities, and decongest high traffic corridors to improve passenger train operations and increase safety and travel speed for passengers.
- Forty thousand normal rail bogies will be converted to the Vande Bharat standards to enhance safety, convenience, and comfort of passengers.
Healthcare :
- Establishing additional medical colleges by utilizing the infrastructure that already exists and appointing a group to discuss the concerns with such medical infrastructure and provide pertinent suggestions.
- Promoting vaccination against cervical cancer in girls between the ages of 9 and 14.
- Quickly updating Anganwadi centers under “Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0” to enhance early childhood development, nutrition, and care.
- Implementing the U-WIN platform to streamline immunization administration and accelerate initiatives related to Mission Indradhanush.
- Ayushman Bharat insurance coverage would be given to all ASHA workers, Anganwadi workers, and assistants.
MSMEs
Ensuring timely and sufficient funding, pertinent technologies, and suitable training for Micro, Small, and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSME) to enable their growth and global competitiveness is a top policy objective for our government.
This policy mix will include orienting the regulatory environment to support their growth.
Retaliation
To bolster the military industry, a new plan utilizing deep tech technology will be unveiled. The goal for defense spending is 6.2 lakh crore.
Empowerment of Women
The INR 2 Crore target for Lakhpati Didi, a self-reliance and empowerment program designed to help women develop their business abilities and secure a steady income, has been raised to INR 3 Crore.
Agriculture and Related Sectors:
- Advancing both public and private investment in post-harvest operations, such as aggregation, supply chain efficiency, modern storage systems, primary and secondary processing, branding, and marketing.
- Expanding the use of Nano DAP on a variety of crops across all agroclimatic zones;
- Developing the Atmanirbhar Oilseeds Abhiyaan, a plan to attain “atmanirbharta” with regard to oil seeds, namely mustard, groundnut, soybean, sesame, and sunflower; this plan will involve research on high-yielding seed varieties; creating connections with markets;
- Implementing modern farming techniques; adding value; and providing crop insurance.
- Building on the achievements of previous initiatives like the Rashtriya Gokul Mission,
- National Livestock Mission, and Infrastructure Development Funds for animal husbandry and dairy processing; and developing a comprehensive program to assist dairy farmers.
Other Key Highlights from Interim Budget 2024-2025
- The Pradhanmantri Suryodaya Yojana is an extension of the rooftop solarization initiative that has been in place for a minimum of ten years. Rooftop systems were intended to account for about 40%, or 40 gigawatt (GW), of the government’s initial goal of installing 100 GW of solar capacity by 2022. Nevertheless, by the end of 2023, the nation’s total solar capacity was 73.3 GW, of which only roughly 11 GW, or 15%, came from grid-connected rooftop systems.
- Sitharaman also unveiled a one-time small savings plan for women with the aim of empowering them financially. Mahila Samman Saving Certificate is the name of the project, which will run until March 2025. According to the minister, the program will give a fixed rate of interest at 7% for a two-year period.
- Sitharaman announced the ‘Dekho Apna Desh’ scheme. In this new plan, the Finance Minister said that a total of 50 destinations in the country will be selected to be developed as a whole package in tourism with a challenging mode. The ‘Dekho Apna Desh’ scheme presented in the 2023 Budget aims to encourage people to witness and experience the rich heritage and vivid culture of India.
Direct Taxes:
No tax rate changes for FY 2024–2025; TCS rates in accordance with CBDT circular on Overseas Tour Package Remittance and Liberalized Remittance Scheme now legislated.
- The sunset provision exempting
- IFSC banking units (with regard to designated banking funds);
- aircraft and ship leasing companies from royalties and interest;
- eligible infrastructure entities such as retirement funds and SWFs; and
- incorporated eligible startups has been extended until March 31, 2025.
- In keeping with the government’s goal of facilitating commercial transactions and enhancing living standards while also relieving a great deal of minor, unsubstantiated, unresolved, or contested direct tax claims.
Indirect taxes
No adjustments to the Customs Rate or the Goods and Services Tax
The Central Goods and Services Tax Act’s S 2(61) definition of an input service distributor (ISD),
The CGST Act, 2017 has been amended to encompass the receipt of invoices that are subject to reverse charge mechanism GST payable.
Essential modifications will also be implemented in accordance with Section 20 of the CGST Act, 2017, which regulates the credit distribution process by an ISD. If not, this indicates that the idea of ISD is now required.
