Finance Minister Nirmala Sithraman announced the budget for 2024-25 today (23 July 2024). Several key areas are under the main focus in the budget with the maximum amount for defence expenditure (Rs. 4,54,773 Crores). The second highest amount will be spent on Rural Development (Rs. 2,65,808 Crores) followed by Agriculture and Allied Activities (Rs. 1,51,851 Crores), Home Affairs (Rs. 1,50,983 Crores), Education (Rs. 1,25,638 Crores), IT and Telecom, Health, Energy, Social Welfare, and Commerce & Industry. The budget will focus on farmers, the lower class, women, and youth.
Top 5 Budget 2024 Highlights:
1. Agriculture: The government will support 1 crore farmers for natural farming. It aims to provide certification and branding to them within 2 years. NABARD will support the financing of shrimp forming, processing, and export. The budget will release 109 new high-yielding and climate-resilient varieties to support crop production. The heatwaves and the other climatic changes affected the production a lot leading to inflation. The eligible farmers will get Jan Samarth-based Kissan Credit Cards.
2. Employee Benefit And UpSkiiling: The budget will continue the skilling programme that comes under PM’s Package (4th Scheme). The scheme focuses on providing skills to 20 Lakh youth in five years. The courses will be re-designed according to the current needs of the market. The budget is also promoting women’s workforce. There will be hostels for the working women to support their safety and enhance their quality of work. The new scheme for the new workforce provides wages to new entrants in all formal sectors in 3 instalments up to Rs. 15,000. Approximately 1 Crore youth will get the chance to work with top companies on an internship basis. These internships will offer the intern Rs. 5,000 per month with one-time assistance of Rs. 6,000 through CSR funds.
3. Social Welfare: The government will allocate more than Rs. 3 Lakhs Crore to women and girls through different schemes for their growth and benefit. The northeast region will have 100 branches set up for India Post Payment Bank.
4. MSMEs: The MSMEs will benefit from the budget a lot. It announced the Credit Guarantee Scheme for MSMEs in the manufacturing sector. Apart from that, there will be a new assessment model for the MSME Credit. The ‘Tarun’ category Mudra loan scheme limit reaches to Rs. 20 Lakhs from Rs. 10 Lakhs previously. More efforts are for the MSMEs to get credit support during the stress period.
5. Energy And Infrastructure: The PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana aims to provide 1 crore households with free electricity, Around 1.28 Crore people already registered and 14 Lakhs applications have already been received. Nalanda University will also revive as a tourist spot for the people along with its stature. Vishnupad Temple Corridor work will also start along with the Mahabodhi Temple Corridor.