Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday unveiled the Union Budget for 2024-25, proposing to lift spending to create jobs and making several changes in taxation rules.
The government will allocate Rs 2 trillion ($24 billion) for job creation over the next five years, Sitharaman said in her speech while presenting the first post-election budget.
Here are the highlights of the budget:
Taxation
• Proposes to reduce the rate of income tax chargeable on foreign companies to 35% from 40%
• Short-term gains tax on select assets raised to 20% from 15%
• Long-term capital gains tax on all assets raised to 12.5% from 10%
• Classification of long-term tweaked – listed assets held for over one year to be long-term and unlisted to be held for two years for being classified as long-term
• Personal income tax slabs revised – Rs 7-10 lakh bracket subject to 10% tax; Rs 10-12 lakh will pay 15% and income of or above Rs 15 lakh to pay 30%
• TDS on e-commerce operators to be cut to 0.1% from 1%
• Customs duties on gold, silver cut to 6% from 15%
Startups
• Angel tax for all asset classes abolished
• Rs 1,000 crore venture capital fund for spacetech sector
Job creation
• Budget proposes to allocate Rs 2 trillion for job creation over 5 years
• Allocates Rs 1.52 trillion for agriculture and allied sectors
• To launch three schemes for employment-linked incentives
Economy
• Fiscal deficit lowered to 4.9% from 5.1% (interim budget); govt aiming to hit the 4.5% mark by next year
• FY25 capex continues to be pegged at Rs 11.11 trillion (3.4% of GDP)
• FY25 tax receipts seen at Rs 32 trillion
• Credit support to small and medium businesses during the stress period
• Proposal to build 12 industrial parks under National Industrial Corridor Development Programme
• Proposes to increase small Mudra loans to Rs 20 lakh for small and medium businesses
• To allocate Rs 15,000 crore as special financial support through multilateral development agencies to Andhra Pradesh
Rural Development
• Provision of Rs 2.66 trillion ($32 billion) for rural development
• Proposes state aid for 30 million affordable housing units in urban and rural areas