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REFERENCE NEWS:
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented her seventh consecutive Budget on July 23, 2024, for the fiscal year 2024-25. This achievement surpasses the record of former Prime Minister Morarji Desai, who presented six Budgets. This is also the first Budget by the BJP-led NDA government since it was re-elected in June 2024.
BUDGET:
The budget is a statement of the estimated receipts and expenditure of the Government of India in a financial year, which begins on 1st April and ends on 31st March of the following year.
The Indian Constitution refers to the budget as the ‘Annual financial statement’ (Article 112). In other words, the term ‘budget’ has nowhere been used in the Constitution.
It gives item wise details of government receipts and expenditure for three consecutive years:
Actuals for the preceding year
Revised estimates for the current year and
Budget estimates for the ensuing (coming) year
The Budget is presented in Parliament on adate fixed by the President.
MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS OF THE UNION BUDGET 2024-25
FOCUS AREAS:
The Finance Minister said that as mentioned in the interim budget, the focus is on 4 major castes, namely ‘Garib’ (Poor), ‘Mahilayen’ (Women), ‘Yuva’ (Youth) and ‘Annadata’ (Farmer).
BUDGET THEME
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman emphasized the focus on employment, skilling, MSMEs, and the middle class. She announced the Prime Minister's package of 5 schemes, aimed at creating opportunities for 4.1 crore youth over five years, with a central outlay of ?2 lakh crore. This year, ?1.48 lakh crore has been allocated for education, employment, and skilling.
BUDGET PRIORITIES:
The budget focuses on sustained efforts in nine key priorities:
Priority 1: Productivity and Resilience in Agriculture
Agriculture Research Setup: Comprehensive review to focus on raising productivity.
High-Yielding Varieties: Release of 109 new high-yielding and climate-resilient varieties of 32 field and horticulture crops.
Natural Farming: Initiating 1 crore farmers into natural farming within two years, supported by certification and branding.
Bio-Input Resource Centres: Establishment of 10,000 need-based centres.
Self-Sufficiency in Pulses and Oilseeds: Strengthening production, storage, and marketing of pulses and oilseeds to achieve ‘atmanirbharta’ for oilseeds.
Digital Public Infrastructure: Implementation in agriculture to cover farmers and their lands in three years.
Financial Provision: ?1.52 lakh crore allocated for agriculture and allied sectors.
Priority 2: Employment & Skilling
Employment Linked Incentive Schemes: Implementation of 3 schemes based on EPFO enrollment.
Women Workforce Participation: Setting up working women hostels and creches in collaboration with industry.
Skilling Programme: New centrally sponsored scheme to skill 20 lakh youth over five years and upgrade 1,000 Industrial Training Institutes.
Model Skill Loan Scheme: Revised to facilitate loans up to ?7.5 lakh, expected to help 25,000 students annually.
Higher Education Loans: Financial support for loans up to ?10 lakh for higher education in domestic institutions with e-vouchers for 1 lakh students annually.
Priority 3: Inclusive Human Resource Development and Social Justice
Support for Economic Activities: Implementation of schemes for craftsmen, artisans, self-help groups, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, women entrepreneurs, and street vendors.
Purvodaya: Development plan for Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh, covering human resource development, infrastructure, and economic opportunities.
Banking Services Expansion: Over 100 branches of India Post Payment Bank to be set up in the North East region.
Financial Provision: ?2.66 lakh crore allocated for rural development including rural infrastructure.
Priority 4: Manufacturing & Services
MSME Support: Special attention with a self-financing guarantee fund providing cover up to ?100 crore for MSMEs.
Mudra Loans: Enhanced limit to ?20 lakh.
Food Irradiation and Safety Testing: Financial support for 50 multi-product food irradiation units and 100 food quality and safety testing labs.
E-Commerce Export Hubs: Establishment in PPP mode.
Internship Scheme: Comprehensive scheme for internships in 500 top companies for 1 crore youth over five years.
Priority 5: Urban Development
Urban Housing: PM Awas Yojana Urban 2.0: Investment of ?10 lakh crore to address housing needs of 1 crore urban poor and middle-class families.
Water Supply and Sanitation: Promotion of projects for 100 large cities in partnership with state governments and multilateral development banks.
PM SVANidhi Scheme: Support for the development of 100 weekly ‘haats’ or street food hubs annually.
Priority 6: Energy Security
PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana: Installation of rooftop solar plants for 1 crore households, providing free electricity up to 300 units monthly.
Nuclear Energy: Significant role in the energy mix for Viksit Bharat.
Priority 7: Infrastructure
Capital Expenditure: ?11,11,111 crore allocated, 3.4% of GDP.
Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY): Phase IV to provide all-weather connectivity to 25,000 rural habitations.
Irrigation and Flood Mitigation: Financial support for projects in Bihar and other states.
Priority 8: Innovation, Research & Development
Anusandhan National Research Fund: Operationalization for basic research and prototype development with a financing pool of ?1 lakh crore.
Space Economy: Venture capital fund of ?1,000 crore to expand the space economy by five times in the next 10 years.
Priority 9: Next Generation Reforms
Economic Policy Framework: To delineate the overarching approach to economic development and set the scope of next-generation reforms.
Labour Reforms: Comprehensive integration of e-shram portal with other portals, and revamping of Shram Suvidha and Samadhan portals.
Climate Finance Taxonomy: Development to enhance the availability of capital for climate adaptation and mitigation.
FDI and Overseas Investments: Simplification of rules and regulations to facilitate foreign direct investments and promote opportunities for using the Indian Rupee as a currency for overseas investments.
NPS Vatsalya: Plan for contributions by parents and guardians for minors, convertible into a normal NPS account upon attaining majority.
New Pension Scheme (NPS): Review and evolution of solutions addressing relevant issues while maintaining fiscal prudence.
MACRO-ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS OF THE BUDGET 2024-25
PRACTICE QUESTION:
Q. How does the Union Budget 2024-25, through its nine priority areas, aim to lay the foundation for Viksit Bharat@2047 ? (15 marks, 250 words)
