The central government pegged its gross borrowings via market securities at Rs 14.82 lakh crore and net borrowings at Rs 11.54 lakh crore, FM Nirmala Sitharaman said while presenting the Budget. The gross borrowing was around 6% higher than FY25 due to more redemptions while net borrowings were largely flat. While the gross borrowing figures were largely in line with market expectations, a few were expecting it to be lower than Rs 14 lakh crore, said economists and treasury heads. “Since borrowings are in line with market expectations, the yield on the 10-year benchmark will remain largely stable. If the RBI cuts the repo rate by 50 or 75 basis points, the yield on the 10-year benchmark may drift downwards to 6.50-6.60%,” said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist, Bank of Baroda.

The reduction in customs duties in the Budget on certain inputs from sectors like marine, chemicals and critical minerals will help promote domestic manufacturing and enhance exports, according to the Commerce Ministry. It has also said that the announcement to revamp the Model Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) will provide better leverage during FTA (free trade agreement) negotiations. The duty on frozen fish paste (Surimi) and fish hydrolysate for aquatic feed has been reduced to 5 per cent on both these products from the current 30 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively. In the chemicals sector, the levy on pyrimidine and piperazine compounds was cut down to 7.5 per cent from the present 10 per cent; and reduced to 20 per cent on synthetic flavouring essences from 100 per cent.

Technology Broadband connectivity to all government secondary schools and primary health centres Bharatiya Bhasha Pustak Scheme for digital books Centre for Excellence in AI to be set up with an outlay of Rs 500 crore Deep-tech fund of funds to catalyse next generation start ups PM research fellowship scheme for technological research in IITs, IISc Bharat Trade Net for international trade to be setup National digital repository of Indian knowledge systems to be set up Updation of regulations for ease of doing business and to keep up with technological innovations Auto Support for clean tech manufacturing for EV batteries Duty exemption extended to additional capital goods for EV battery manufacturing Duty reforms introduced to boost manufacturing & local value addition

Falling short of the budgeted capital expenditure (capex) in the current financial year (FY25), the Union Budget FY26 has pegged capex at Rs 11.21 trillion — a growth of around 10 per cent over previous year’s revised estimates (RE) of Rs 10.18 trillion. The government had set a Budget Estimate (BE) for capex at Rs 11.11 trillion for FY25, against which it is expected to miss the target by Rs 93,000 crore. Compared to BE of FY25, the capex allocation for FY26 has seen an increase of less than 1 per cent. “There is no reduction in public spending on capital expenditure. We continue to place emphasis on capex, which has sustained us,” Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said during the post-Budget briefing.

Budget 2025 has made no changes to the taxation of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH). Hence the rules laid in the Finance Act, 2022 will continue to apply for taxation of virtual digital assets (VDAs) in FY 2025-26 (AY 2026-27). Taxation of gains from sale of cryptocurrencies According to a report in TOI, the Finance Act, 2022 introduced a framework to specifically tax VDAs, including cryptocurrencies, treating them as virtual digital assets (VDA). Income from transfer of VDAs is subject to a flat tax rate of 30%, along with any applicable surcharge and cess. The 2025 Budget proposals have widened the definition of VDAs to include any crypto-asset which is a digital representation of value that relies on cryptographically secured distributed ledger or similar technology to validate and secure transactions.

The finance minister has announced a hike in tax rebate under Section 87A. Due to this hike, resident individuals having net taxable income up to Rs 12 lakh will pay zero tax. Salaried individuals having standard deduction benefit of Rs 75,000 under the new tax regime will pay zero tax if gross taxable income does not exceed Rs 12.75 lakh. Current income tax laws allow zero tax on income up to Rs 7 lakh in the new tax regime. However, if the net taxable income exceeds Rs 12 lakh, then the income will be taxed as per the new or old tax regime depending on the tax regime chosen by him/her. The Finance Minister said in Budget 2025 speech: "I am now happy to announce that there will be no Income Tax Payable up to income of 12 lakh rupees.

The government in its Budget for 2025-26 announced an increase in the FDI limit for the insurance sector from 74 per cent to a complete 100 per cent, a move that is aimed at boosting foreign direct investment (FDI) and enhance domestic financial services. This pivotal reform is aimed at attracting greater international investment into the Indian insurance market, seeking this move for a long time. Under the new framework, the enhanced FDI limit will be available specifically for companies that commit to investing the entirety of their premium income within India. In conjunction with this reform, the Insurance Amendment Bill was to be tabled during the winter session of Parliament, but this did not happen.

To further bolster the government's Make in India scheme, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the manufacturing mission will be strengthened, while presenting the budget for 2025-26. She stated, "Our government will establish a national manufacturing mission that will encompass small, medium, and large industries. This mission will provide policy support, execution roadmaps, and a governance and monitoring framework for both central ministries and states." As part of the government's commitment to climate-friendly development, the mission will also focus on clean technology manufacturing.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2025-26, outlining key priorities to accelerate economic growth, ensure inclusive development, support industries, and enhance household sentiment. The budget also emphasized increasing spending power for India's growing middle class. The central government has proposed changes in income tax slabs and rates across the board, announced the Finance Minister. Govt has implemented several reforms for convenience of taxpayers, said Sitharaman. "My tax proposals are guided by the spirit. The objectives of my proposals are as follows: Personal income tax reforms with special focus on middle class, rationalisation of TDS and TCS for easing difficulties, encouraging voluntary compliance, reducing compliance burden, ease of doing business, and employment and investment," Sitharaman added.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2025-26, outlining key priorities to accelerate economic growth, ensure inclusive development, support industries, and enhance household sentiment. The budget also emphasized increasing spending power for India's growing middle class. She said "Union Budget 2025-26 with an effort to a. Accelerate growth b. Secure inclusive development c. Invigorate society and industry d. Uplift household sentiment and e. Enhance spending on power of India's rising middle class. Last year, Sitharaman announced customs duty cuts on gold, silver, platinum, and other items.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced measures for the agriculture sector of India that will benefit 1.75 crore farmers of India. "Prime Minister Krishi Yojana is developing an Agri Districts Programme. Motivated by the success of the Aspirational Districts Programme, our government, in partnership with states, will launch the Prime Minister Krishi Yojana to enhance agricultural development," said Sitharaman. The government will undertake the Prime Minister Krishi Yojana in partnership with states through the convergence of existing schemes and specialized measures, said the FM. The program will cover 100 districts with low agricultural productivity, said Sitharaman.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has proposed to exempt withdrawals made from NSS by individuals on up after 29th August, 2024. The FM said "Many elderly and extremely elderly people have very old National Savings Scheme accounts. Since interest on these accounts is no longer due." NSS-87 was launched in 1987 and discontinued in 1992. A fresh series, NSS-92, was launched in 1992 but was discontinued in 2002. No other NSS schemes have been launched since then. NSS-87 allows one withdrawal in a year, but there is no limit on withdrawals from NSS-92. One should not confuse NSS with the National Savings Certificate (NSC), which is an entirely different small savings scheme. There is no change in NSC.

The new income tax slabs have been announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Union Budget 2025. The new income tax slabs under new tax regime are as follows: Apart from rejigging the income tax slabs, the government has increased the tax rebate available under Section 87A. Due to this, an individual having net taxable income up to Rs 12 lakh will not be required to pay any tax. The new income tax laws will be effective from the new FY 2025-26, starting from April 1, 2025, provided the proposals are passed by Parliament as presented. Latest features of the new tax regime The new tax regime is the default tax regime. This tax regime offers a basic exemption limit of Rs 3 lakh to all taxpayers, irrespective of their age.

The Finance Minister has hiked the tax collected at source limit from Rs 7 lakh currently to Rs 10 lakh in Budget 2025. Apart from hiking the threshold for TCS on foreign remittances, the government has proposed to remove TCS foreign remittances for education purposes. As per the announcement made in the Budget 2025, "The threshold to collect tax at source (TCS) on remittances under RBI's Liberalized Remittance Scheme (LRS) is proposed to be increased from Rs 7 lakh to Rs 10 lakh. I also propose to remove TCS on remittances for education purposes, where such remittance is out of a loan taken from a specified financial institution." TCS stands for tax collected at source. The relief has come after the Union Budget 2023-23 increased TCS on foreign remittances to 20% from 5% earlier, except in specified cases.

The finance minister has stated that TDS rates will be rationalised in the Budget 2025 giving much needed relief to taxpayers. The limit for tax deduction on interest for senior citizens is being doubled from the present Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh . The FM said, TDS on rent is being increased to Rs 6 lakh. Rationalise TDS by reducing the number of rates and thresholds above which TDS is deducted. The limit for TDS for senior citizens is being doubled from 50,000 to 1 lakh rupees. From October 1, 2024 the government has made it mandatory for employers to give benefits of TDS/TCS deducted on non-salary income while computing TDS to be deducted from salary. Adjustment of tax already paid through TDS/TCS on non salaried income while deducting TDS against salary can bring down TDS liability for a salaried employee.

The government in the Union Budget 2026 has enhanced credit guarantee cover for micro and small enterprises to Rs 10 crore from Rs 5 crore and also altered the Micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) classification. The former move is likely to improve credit access in the MSME sector with the government expecting to generate an additional Rs 1.5 lakh crore credit in the next five years. The MSME sector has a credit gap of Rs 20-25 lakh crore. The government has also modified how MSMEs are classified, enhancing the investment and turnover limit by 2.5 and 2 times respectively.

The top 500 companies by market capitalisation are likely to be included in the new scheme for internship for 10 million youth that was announced in the Union Budget 2024-25. “The objective is to get them trained at the top companies where these candidates can learn about the best management practices and international best practices,” said a person familiar with the development. These candidates would then be job ready and would be hired easily, even by smaller firms, where they can then take forward these management practices that they learnt during their internship, the person further said. As part of the Prime Minister’s package on employment and skilling in the Union Budget 2024-25, the finance minister had announced that internships would be provided to 1 crore youth by India’s top 500 companies.

The Union Budget 2024 delivered a prudent balance between capital expenditure, fiscal prudence and welfarism, said Suvodeep Rakshit, Senior Economist, Kotak Institutional Equities. As Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Budget FY25 on July 23, the government continued with its focus on spending in core infrastructure areas, while expenditure on certain social welfare schemes was under control. Per the analysis report by Kotak Institutional Equities, the Budget balanced well the priorities of elevated capital expenditure, employment generation, agriculture and rural development and fiscal consolidation. What were the key financial highlights of the Budget? (1) 16 per cent growth in receipts and 7 per cent growth in expenditure, leading to a fiscal deficit of Rs 16.1 trillion, (2) Rs 5.5 trillion of non-tax revenues, (3) Rs 500 billion of divestment-related revenues and (4) revenue expenditure growth of 6 per cent and capital expenditure growth of 17 per cent.

With a historic seventh Budget presentation, all eyes were on the FM to lay the tracks for the Indian growth engine to navigate the next five years, if not the next decade. On the investment and capex side, the outlay has been quite wide with a focus on job creation and infrastructure upgrade. The announcement on setting up of industrial parks around 100 cities, upskilling of youth, internships, stipend, one month salary for first time employees are all keeping in mind the youth of the country and focussing on the professionals entering the workforce. As has been the case for the last decade, manufacturing is the word of the day and therefore, a lot of the indirect tax proposals on the Customs side have been to support the manufacturing sector and create new opportunities and avenues for widening the same.

Union Budget 2024: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2024 in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. Here are the highlights of the Budget 2024. Standard deduction in new tax regime hiked to Rs 75,000 from Rs 50,000 Deduction on family pension for pensioners raised from Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000 Tax slabs under new tax regime tweaked: Rs 0-3 Lakh — 0% Rs 3-7 Lakh — 5% Rs 7-10 Lakh — 10% Rs 10-12 Lakh — 15% Rs 12-15 Lakh — 20% Over Rs 15 Lakh — 30%