Budget 2024 Highlights and Key Announcements: FM Nirmala Sitharaman says fiscal deficit brought down despite very challenging times

It is not interim budget, but 'antim' (last) budget of BJP government at Centre: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday dubbed the interim budget for 2024-25 as the BJP government's "antim" (last) budget at the Centre. This assertion suggests her anticipation of the saffron party facing defeat in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls later this year. Banerjee conveyed this sentiment during a dharna in Kolkata, initiated earlier in the day to demand the Centre to fulfill the state's "dues" related to various social welfare schemes.

Indians who pay income tax are a rare breed. In 2021-22, there were 20.9 million — or just over 2 crore — taxpayers. Population estimates for the same year pegged the Indian adult population at 943.5 million — that’s 94-crore-plus Indian voters. So, taxpayers accounted for only 2.2% of the voting population. If you compare this with some developed countries, you will realise how low this is.

Budget sheds light on govt’s feats in last 10 years: Shah

Home minister Amit Shah said the interim Budget sheds light on the milestones achieved by the Modi govt in the last 10 years on its journey to make “Bharat the foremost nation in every sector during Amrit Kaal”.
“On the very foundation of these feats, the magnificent edifice of a Viksit Bharat is being built. My heartfelt gratitude to Modi ji for leading the
nation through this journey of excellence and to FM Nirmala Sitharaman ji for the insightful Budget speech,” Shah said on X.
The minister said the Budget was a document that brought to the fore PM Modi’s role as a statesman par excellence, who was leading the nation on the path of greatness while bolstering the values of cooperative federalism and had set the stage for a paradigm shift in the technological revolution in the country.
Shah said the Modi govt was providing financial assistance to 11.8 crore farmers and protection through crop insurance to 4 crore farmers.

'Everything is for 2047, what is there for today?': TMC's Shatrughan Sinha terms interim Budget 2024 'futuristic'

Expressing scepticism about the budget presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, TMC MP Shatrughan Sinha asserted on Thursday that the budget is 'futuristic' and there is nothing for today and everything is for 2047.

"The budget is futuristic. Everything is for 2047 but what is there for today? You talk about four sections: women, poor, farmers, and the youth. What have you done for them? Does this budget say anything about increasing employment or doubling farmer's income?" the Asansol MP asked.

Expressing satisfaction with the healthcare budget and the vaccination initiative for girls, Sinha remarked that "it is good that girls aged 9-14 years will receive free vaccination to prevent cervical cancer". However, he questioned whether there was any provision for health insurance for everyone, expressing concern about broader healthcare coverage.

Disappointing, empty budget: TN Chief minister M K Stalin

Chief minister M KStalin termed the interim budget presented by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday an “empty budget” which had “deliberately disregarded and neglected” Tamil Nadu.
Stalin said DMK members would hold a protest on Parliament’s premises against the neglect of TN in the budget. They would also raise the issue in Parliament, he said.
In a statement on Thursday, the CM, who is in Spain to woo investors, said the interim budget had disappointed people, who were expecting announcements on fuel price cut, revision of Income tax slabs and reduction of tax rate for various commodities. There are no announcements for welfare of poor and middle class, he said. “The budget is an empty report, with nothing in it to weigh,” Stalin said.
Even as the finance minister prides herself for higher GST collection, it’s disappointing that there is no mention of paying GST compensation to states this year, he said.
“What is the reason for not constructing AIIMS in Tamil Nadu which was announced in 2015, when AIIMS in other places have been set up,’’ he asked.
Stalin condemned Nirmala for terming poor, women, youth, and farmers “four major castes” in her speech. “It is highly con-demnable to insert a regressive concept of varnashrama into the country’s budget report,” he said.

Budget focuses on next 25 yrs: Goa Chief minister Pramod Sawant

Chief minister Pramod Sawant on Thursday said that the Union govt’s interim Budget 2024 focuses on making the country Viksit Bharat by 2047. He said that the Budget is defined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to strengthen the four pillars of society — Garib (poor), Mahila (women), Yuva (youth), and Annadata (Kisan).“I welcome the interim Budget presented by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The Budget has laid the foundation stone for the next 25 years,” Sawant said. He added that the Budget is forward-looking though it is an interim plan.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah calls budget ‘most disappointing’

Calling the interim budget 2024 as “most disappointing”, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday said there are things that are not disclosed in the budget, and the economic situation of the country has not been revealed clearly.
The CM, who has presented a record 14 budgets in Karnataka Assembly, also said, the interim union budget presented today by Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is not for the developed India, but it is “disastrous” for the country.
“This is an interim budget and it is an election budget. This is the most disappointing budget... new projects and programmes have not been mentioned in this budget. Karnataka is not getting any new projects in the next financial year 2024-25,” Siddaramaiah said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, “the new budget’s size is Rs 47,65,768 crore, while this financial year’s (2023-24) budget size was Rs 45,03,097 crores. Only Rs 2,62,671 crore has been added, so the budget size for next year has been increased by 5.8 per cent compared to this year.” He also described the budget as ‘anti-poor, anti-farmer, and anti-people.’

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar: Budget positive, Bihar's progress will gain momentum

Back in NDA fold, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar heaped praise on the interim Budget presented by Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and said it was "positive" and "deserved to be welcomed". "The amount of loan for higher education has been increased in the Budget, which will facilitate the youth. Besides, with the opening of three new railway corridors, the country's economic development will be possible at a faster pace," the JD(U) president said on X.

Budget sheds light on government's feats in last 10 years: Amit Shah

Home minister Amit Shah said the interim Budget sheds light on the milestones achieved by the Modi govt in the last 10 years on its journey to make "Bharat the foremost nation in every sector during Amrit Kaal".

The FM on Thursday said that while the world faced a crisis of food, fertilizer, fuel and finances in the aftermath of the pandemic, "India successfully navigated its way. What's more, the country showed the way forward and built consensus on solutions for those global problems."

The defence budget saw only a modest hike despite the continuing confrontation along the frontier with China, though the government announced an ambitious new scheme to bolster "deep-tech" technologies for the armed forces.

Despite the turbulence in bilateral ties with the Maldives, Delhi will continue to prioritise development projects in the Indian Ocean archipelago. In terms of assistance to foreign governments, India revised its budget allocation for the Maldives in 2023-24 from Rs 400 crore to Rs 770 crore. And for 2024-25, it has earmarked Rs 600 crore for the Maldives, which is next only to Bhutan and Nepal.

Budgets, especially the pre-poll vote-on-account version, have long been leveraged to send politically-loaded signals through their tax proposals and welfare schemes. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s, on Thursday, also sent out a loud message – even though she steered clear of electoral overtures in the form of tax sweeteners as well as sops.

Interim Budget 2024: “The provision made by government to promote agriculture sector is the best thing in this budget,” says RP Patel, president of Vishv UMIYA Foundation.

Union Budget 2024-25: Union Ministers laud 'inclusive Budget', Opposition terms it 'election Budget'

Even as Union Ministers hailed the Union Budget tabled by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday as an 'inclusive budget', it drew sharp criticism from Opposition leaders who dubbed it as an 'election budget'. The government presented the interim budget with a focus on economic policies that foster growth, facilitate inclusive development, improve productivity, and create opportunities for various sections while noting that it will pay utmost attention to the eastern region including states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and West Bengal to make them growth engines as part of a goal to make India a developed country by 2047.

Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin said on Thursday that ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, people were expecting a price reduction of petrol and diesel in the interim budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman but were "fooled."

Ministry of Defence has received a robust budget of Rs 6,500 crore for Border Roads Organisation in the financial year 2024-25, marking a 30% increase from the previous fiscal year: Defence Ministry

Indian Coast Guard budgetary allocation increased this year by 6.31 per cent to Rs 7,651 crore. Rs 3,500 crore has been provided for capital expenditure for modernisation: Defence Ministry

Interim budget builds on economic momentum: Sudarshan Venu

The interim budget presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday is one that builds on the economic momentum and growth of the last few years, TVS Motor Company MD Sudarshan Venu said. It was also very clear that the government was committed to developing infrastructure at an unprecedented pace through measures such as the economic railway corridors, he said."It is also promoting greener mobility through the push on the entire EV (Electric Vehicle) ecosystem from charging stations to manufacturing in India in line with AtmaNirbhar Bharat. This will give our industry a greater fillip. Overall, it is a budget that builds on the economic momentum and the growth of the last few years," Venu added.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharam on Thursday announced that the government will formulate a strategy to make the country self-reliant on edible oils by boosting domestic output of oilseeds, come out with a comprehensive programme to support dairy farmers, and set up five integrated aqua parks and launch new climate resilient scheme for blue economy 2.0 for fisheries development.

2.02 lakh cr allocation for MHA in 2024-25 vote on account, up from 1.96 lakh cr last yr. Policing gets Rs 1.32 lakh cr, up from Rs 1.26 lakh cr in 2023-24. Notable rise in allocation for CRPF; CISF; SPG; police’ education, training & research’; CCTNS; Indian Cyber Coordination Centre (I4C); police modernisation; Vibrant Villages Programme. Census, survey & statistics allocated Rs 1,341 cr, up from Rs 578 cr (RE) for 2023-24.

Leveraging technology for catalyzing growth, employment and development, the government will set up a corpus of Rs 1 lakh crore with 50-year interest free loan that will provide necessary long-term finance to tech savvy youth and private sector for research and innovation.

Reaction on today’s Union Budget: Ms. Anitha Rangan, Economist, Equirus

With a new definition to GDP (Governance, Development and Performance), with a sharp focus on fiscal consolidation, the interim budget has demonstrated that the direction of the government is on long term growth. Fiscal deficit to GDP at 5.1% for FY25 along with outperformance in FY24 at 5.8% (versus 5.9% target) demonstrates government’s commitment to not go the populist way. But at the same time, focus on the four pillars of social governance viz. poor, women, youth and farmers, government’s direction in Amrit Kaal is towards an inclusive growth with is sustainable and non-inflationary. Capex growth estimated at 11.1% is reasonable. Market borrowing is lower for FY25 versus FY24. In the era where the global world is struggling to rein in fiscal deficit and borrowing, India adopting the path of consolidation and reduction in borrowing showcases its macro stability. FM has also reiterated the glide path of below 4.5% for FY26. As expected, despite being an election year, there was no touch of populism – Outcome versus Outlay. In summary, the interim budget has a stamp of finality that this government is focused on growth, but structural, sustainable and non-inflationary growth

Though the salaried class were left disappointed with no cuts in direct taxes, experts said that being an interim budget, one cannot expect much and the main focus was to maintain consistency and continuity of the policies.

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar says, "The budget is positive and should be welcomed..."

President's office gets Rs 144.18 crore in interim Budget, 47.5 per cent higher than FY24

The interim Budget on Thursday allocated Rs 144.18 crore for the staff, household and allowances of the president, a massive increase of Rs 46.49 crore (about 47.5 per cent) from Rs 97.69 crore earmarked in the revised estimates for FY24. In the announcements for the 2024-25 interim Budget by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Rs 90.87 crore was allocated for the president's secretariat and Rs 52.71 crore was sanctioned under the head 'other expenditures', which provides for the expenditure on the household establishment of the president, including staff salaries.

"This interim budget has no direction and no substance; it definitely is not for the common people. The life of middle class depends on the rate of tax, and we can see there is no change in the tax slabs. They (the central government) have nothing (in this budget) for the 140 crore people of this country,” says West Bengal MoS Chandrima Bhattacharya.

Delhi Police gets Rs 11,177 crore in interim Budget

The Delhi Police has been allocated Rs 11,397.98 crore in the interim Budget for 2024-25, a decrease of 4.47 per cent from the last fiscal, according to the official data released on Thursday. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday presented the interim Union Budget for 2024-25. The Delhi Police is responsible for maintaining and enforcing law and order in the National Capital Territory of Delhi. The responsibility also includes traffic management in the city.The provision is for routine expenses as well as for various schemes to be implemented by the Delhi Police such as developing traffic and communication networks in NCR mega cities and a model traffic system. Upgradation or expansion of communication infrastructure and training, induction of latest technology and installation of traffic signals, are some of the other works which come under the remit of the Delhi Police.

The government plans to release a White Paper on the mismanagement of the economy prior to 2014, aimed at learning from past mistakes. The NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi came into power in May 2014, following a 10-year rule by the UPA government.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav criticised the interim Budget presented by the BJP government, calling it a 'farewell budget'. He said that the BJP government has consistently presented anti-people budgets for a decade, and it is time for a positive government to take charge.