Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented her seventh straight Budget on July 23 for the fiscal 2024-25, surpassing the record of former Prime Minister Morarji Desai. This the first Budget by the BJP-led NDA government since it was re-elected in June. Read the Budget highlights here.
What are the most significant announcements?
Presenting the Budget, Ms. Sitharaman said the standard deduction for salaried employees will be hiked to ₹75,000, from ₹50,000 under the new income tax regime in FY25. The Union Budget 2024-25 identified nine priorities for generating ample opportunities — Productivity and Resilience in Agriculture, Employment and Skilling, Inclusive Human Resource Development and Social Justice, Manufacturing and Service, Urban Development, Energy Security, Infrastructure, Innovation, Research and Development and Next Generation Reforms.
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India-funded projects in the neighbourhood received the bulk of the allocation for the Ministry of External Affairs under the Union Budget. Nepal secured an allocation of ₹700 crore, which is a jump of ₹150 crore from previous year’s allocation of ₹550 crore. Sri Lanka, which has a number of India-funded projects, has received ₹245 crore, an improvement of ₹95 crore over last year’s funding of ₹150 crore.
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Benchmark Sensex and Nifty settled marginally lower in volatile trade on July 23 as the government proposed to hike securities transaction tax on futures & options in the Budget for 2024-25. Recovering most of its intra-day losses of over 1,200 points, the 30-share BSE Sensex settled lower by 73.04 points or 0.09% 80,429.04.
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