Union Budget 2024 favours middle class, youth | Highlights

New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman created history by presenting her seventh straight budget on Tuesday for the fiscal year 2024-25, surpassing the record of former prime minister Morarji Desai. It was also the first budget of Narendra Modi-led government’s third term in office.

Presenting the Budget in the Lok Sabha, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said it will focus on employment, skilling, MSMEs and the middle class.

The nine priorities
Sitharaman has announced nine priorities in the Union Budget 2024-25 for generating ample opportunities in the economy. They are,
1. Productivity and resilience in agriculture
2. Employement & skilling
3. Inclusive human resource development and social justice
4. Manufacturing & services
5. Urban development
6. Energy security
7. Infrastructure
8. Innovation and Research & Development
9. Next-generation reforms

Focus
1. Poor
2. Youth
3. Women
4. Farmers

Education
» 1,000 ITIs will be upgraded on the hub-and-spoke model.
» Financial support for loans up to Rs 10 lakh for higher education in domestic institutions.
» New centrally-sponsored scheme in collaboration with states and industry to train 20 lakh youth over a period of five years.

Employment
» The Union government will launch three employment-linked schemes. They will be based on enrolment in Employees' Provident Fund Organization (EPFO).
Scheme A – It will provide one month's wage to those entering the workforce in all sectors.
Scheme B - Incentivise additional employment into the manufacturing sector linked to the employment of first-time employees.
Scheme C – This will cover additional employment in all sectors. All additional employment within a salary of Rs 1 lakh per month will be counted.
» Model skilling loan scheme will be revised to facilitate loans up to Rs 7.5 lakh.

Health
» Three cancer drugs exempted from Customs duty.
» The drugs are Trastuzumab deruxtecan (for breast cancer or gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma), Osimertinib (for lung cancers with specific mutations) and Durvalumab (for lung and biliary tract cancers)

Food, poverty
» Extended PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana for five years. It is a food security welfare scheme announced on March 26 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. It has at least 80 crore people as beneficiaries in the country.

Agriculture
» Funds to the private sector, domain experts and others for developing climate-resilient seeds.
» An already existing scheme -- MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee) -- aims to provide 100 days of wage employment in a particular fiscal year to at least one member of every household whose adult members seek manual work.
» In the next two years, one crore farmers will be initiated in natural farming.
» Large-scale vegetable production clusters would be promoted to increase output.
» Government to release new 109 high-yielding, climate-resilient seeds for 32 field and horticulture crops.

Banks
» Centre to set up 100 branches of India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) in the Northeastern states. IPPB has crores of accounts at present and operates through lakhs of branches.

Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME)
» Credit guarantee scheme for MSMEs to facilitate term loans without collateral or third party guarantee.
» The turnover threshold of MSME buyers for mandatory onboarding on TReDs platform reduced from Rs 500 crore to Rs 250 crore. TReDS is an online platform to help MSMEs.
» SIDBI will open 24 new branches to serve MSMEs clusters.
» Loan limit under the MUDRA scheme will be doubled to Rs 20 lakh.

Rural development
» Rs 2.66 lakh crore for rural development.

Urban development
» Rs 2.2 lakh crore for urban housing
» Interest subsidy scheme to facilitate loans at affordable rates for urban housing works.
» Proposed transit-oriented development plans for large cities having a population of over 30 lakh.
» 100 weekly haat or street food hubs in select cities.

Schemes benefiting women, girls
» More than Rs 3 lakh crore for schemes benefitting women and girls.
» Working women hostels will be set up to promote female participation in the workforce.

Tribal development
» Pradhan Mantri Janjatiya Unnat Gram Abhiyan for improving the socio-economic conditions of tribal communities in the country. The programme will cover 63,000 tribal villages, benefitting 5 crore tribals, she said.

Aviation, shipping
» Rs 2,357.14 crore for civil aviation ministry and Rs 502 for air connectivity scheme.
» Period for export of goods imported for repairs extented from six months to one year.
» Time-limit for re-import of goods for repairs under warranty extended from three to five years.
» Revival of 22 airports as well as commencement of 124 RCS routes.
* Viability Gap Funding for North East Connectivity.

Tech, gadgets
» Import duty of motherboards, technically called printed circuit boards, increased by 5 per cent.
» Exempted 25 minerals, such as lithium, copper, cobalt and rare earth elements, which are critical for sectors like nuclear energy, renewable energy, space, defence, telecommunications, and high-tech electronics from customs duties

Home Affairs
» Rs 2,19,643.31 crore in total to the Ministry of Home Affairs.
» Among this, Rs 1,43,275.90 crore will be given to central police forces like the CRPF, BSF, and CISF which are responsible for internal security, border guarding, and security of vital installations.

Space sector
» The government will set up a venture capital fund of Rs 1,000 crore to promote space technology.

Salaries of ministers, entertainment of guests, ex-governors
» Rs 1,248.91 for expenses incurred by the Council of Ministers, the Cabinet Secretariat and the Prime Minister's Office, and for hospitality and entertainment of State guests.