H M R R & Associates

1. Interim Budget 2024 - Key Highlights

The interim Budget was recently presented by FM Nirmala Sitharaman in the Lok Sabha. It envisions 'Viksit Bharat' by 2047, with all-round, all-pervasive, and all-inclusive development.

2024 general elections are coming up in May, however, since our FY starts in April, the incumbent government has to ensure the continuity of government expenditure and essential services until the new government can present a full-fledged budget after taking office. Hence, the Interim budget 2024 comes into picture!

Let’s dive into the key highlights –

Taxation: The Interim Budget maintains the existing rates for direct and indirect taxes, including import duties. Certain tax benefits for Start-Ups and investments extended by one year up to March 31, 2025.
GST Collections: Reached ₹1.65 lakh crore in December 2023, crossing the ₹1.6 lakh crore benchmark for the seventh time.
Housing Sector: Government plans to subsidize the construction of 30 million affordable houses in rural areas.
Research & Innovation: Establishment of a corpus of Rs 1 lakh crore with a fifty-year interest-free loan to encourage research and innovation in sunrise domains. Also, aiming to boost private sector participation in research and innovation.
Health: The Centre will encourage cervical cancer vaccination and combine maternal and child health care schemes into one comprehensive programme.
Railways: Three major economic railway corridor programmes will be implemented- energy, mineral & cement corridors, port connectivity corridors, and high traffic density corridors. Forty thousand normal rail bogies will be converted to Vande Bharat standards for enhanced safety, convenience, and passenger comfort.
Aviation: Expansion of existing airports and comprehensive development of new airports under the UDAN scheme.
Urban Transport: Promotion of urban transformation via Metro rail and NaMo Bharat.
Capital Expenditure: An 11.1% increase in the capital expenditure outlay for 2024-2025 was announced.
Inflation has moderated and is within the target band (2%-6%).
Emphasizing the focus on the Poor, Women, Youth and Farmer:

Poor:
- Successful movement of 25 crore people out of multidimensional poverty.
- Credit assistance was provided to 78 lakh street vendors under PM-SVANidhi.
Women:
- Disbursement of 30 crore Mudra Yojana loans to women entrepreneurs.
- 43% of female enrolment in STEM courses (one of the highest in the world)
- 28% increase in female enrolment in higher education over a decade.
Youth:
- Training of 1.4 crore youth under the Skill India Mission.
- Fostering entrepreneurial aspirations with 43 crore loans sanctioned under PM Mudra Yojana.
Farmers:
- Crop insurance extended to 4 crore farmers through Fasal Bima Yojana.
- Direct financial assistance was provided to 11.8 crore farmers under PM-KISAN.