Finance Minister Nirmala Seetha Raman Presented the budget for the 8th time in 2025.
Key Announcements in Budget 2025
- Addressing underemployment in agriculture, benefiting 1.7 crore farmers.
- Launch of a National Mission for high-yielding seeds.
- 5-year program proposed to increase Cotton Productivity.
- India Post set to become a major public logistics organization.
- 10,000 additional medical seats to be added, with 75,000 new medical seats to be created in 5 years.
- Kisan Credit Cards for 7.7 crore farmers, with an enhanced loan limit of ₹5 lakh.
- MSMEs will receive term loans up to ₹20 crore.
- A modified UDAN scheme will introduce 120 new destinations.
- SWAMIH Fund will complete 40,000 additional housing units by 2025.
- 50 major tourism destinations to be developed.
- National Geospatial Mission announced.
- A second Gene Bank will be set up to ensure future food security.
- Greenfield airports to be developed in Bihar.
- Finance Minister Sitharaman to introduce a new income tax bill next week.
- Jan Vishwas Bill 2.0 to decriminalize 100 provisions.
- Revised fiscal deficit forecasted at 4.8% of GDP.
- Capital expenditure set at ₹10.18 lakh crore.
- Gross market borrowings pegged at ₹14.82 lakh crore.
- Social welfare surcharge waived on 82 tariff lines.
- 36 life-saving drugs to be fully exempt from customs duty.
- Nine handicraft items to be added to the list of duty-free inputs.
- Personal tax reforms focused on the middle class.
- TCS on education-related remittances removed.
- Compliance burden for small charitable trusts to be reduced.
- A new scheme to determine arms-length pricing in international transactions to be introduced.
- Digitalization of tax frameworks in progress.
- Startups: Incorporation benefits extended for 5 years.
- No income tax for earnings up to ₹12 lakh.
- Capital gains limit raised to ₹12.7 lakh.
- Income tax slabs revised; ₹70,000 tax benefit for ₹18 lakh income.
- Maximum 30% tax rate will apply at ₹24 lakh taxable income, up from ₹15 lakh earlier.
