The Interim Union Budget 2024, laid out by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1, 2024, introduced several inclusive and growth-oriented measures that will foster sustainable and all-round development of the country.
With a focus on delivering governance, development and performance, the Interim Budget focused on ensuring continuity of earlier reforms while also laying down further steps for building a stronger India.
Several schemes and initiatives are rightly aimed at supporting and empowering India’s women, youth, farmers, and other vulnerable sections. Particularly noteworthy are the announcements including the extension of healthcare coverage to all ASHA, Anganwadi workers and helpers and various maternal and childcare schemes, which are expected to enhance women productivity.
Significant measures were also introduced to strengthen India’s rural economy, such as the application of Nano DAP on various crops across agro-climatic zones, which will help promote the overall growth and productivity of farming while also boosting farmer incomes.
The focus on technology and innovation in the Budget will act as a strong catalyst for R&D. The announcement of a significant corpus for fifty-year interest-free loans for long-term financing or refinancing will help the private sector in scaling up research and innovation in sunrise domains.
The expansion of the capital expenditure outlay by 11.1% for FY25 will greatly bolster economic growth and boost job creation by powering the infrastructure sector further. CII is happy to note the government’s continued thrust on capital expenditure, which will maintain a high multiplier effect on the economy by strengthening the physical and social infrastructure of the country. Several projects identified under the PM Gati Shakti programme will accelerate the country’s GDP growth by bringing down logistics costs and enabling multi-modal connectivity.
Sustainable growth emerged as a clear priority for the government as several measures were announced. Measures to strengthen the electric vehicle ecosystem, including the greater adoption of e-buses for public transport networks through a payment security mechanism that is very welcome, a new scheme on bio-manufacturing and bio-foundry for promoting environment friendly alternatives, and scheme for restoration and adaptation measures for promoting the Blue Economy are all welcome measures that will help facilitate India’s green transition.
In a move to improve taxpayer services, and in line with the vision of promoting ease of living and ease of doing business, the move to withdraw outstanding direct tax demands up to ₹25,000 until FY 2009-10 and up to ₹10,000 for FY 2010-11 and 2014-15 is very welcome.
The Interim Budget also laid strong emphasis for continuing on a path of fiscal consolidation, with the aim of reaching a fiscal deficit below 4.5% of GDP by 2025-26. The fiscal deficit target for 2024-25 was set at 5.1%, in contrast to the revised estimate of 5.8% for 2023-24.
All these measures together are reflective of a prudent, equitable and development-oriented budget that will have a significant impact in transforming India and help in realising the vision of ‘Viksit Bharat’ by ensuring economic progress and opportunities for all.
(president, Confederation of Indian Industry, and Chairman, TVS Supply Chain Solutions Ltd.)
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