Union Budget 2024-2025: Key Highlights and Priorities
24-07-2024
11:58 AM
1 min read
What’s in today’s article?
- Why in News?
- What is Union Budget/ 'Annual Financial Statement'?
- Key highlights of Union Budget 2024-2025 – Part I
Why in News?
Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2024 in Parliament.
What is Union Budget/ 'Annual Financial Statement'?
- Article 112 of the Constitution requires the government to present to Parliament a statement of estimated receipts and expenditure in respect of every financial year, from April 1 to March 31.
- This statement is called the annual financial statement.
- It is divided into three parts - Consolidated Fund, Contingency Fund and Public Account.
- For each of these funds, the government has to present a statement of receipts and expenditure.
Key highlights of Union Budget 2024-2025 – Part I
- Focus
- As mentioned in the interim budget, the focus is on 4 major castes, namely ‘Garib’ (Poor), ‘Mahilayen’ (Women), ‘Yuva’ (Youth) and ‘Annadata’ (Farmer).
- Theme
- In this budget, focus was given on employment, skilling, MSMEs, and the middle class.
- FM announced the Prime Minister’s package of 5 schemes and initiatives to facilitate employment, skilling and other opportunities for 4.1 crore youth over a 5-year period with a central outlay of ₹2 lakh crore.
- This year, ₹1.48 lakh crore has been allocated for education, employment and skilling.
- 9 Priorities in pursuit of Viksit Bharat
- Priority 1: Productivity and resilience in Agriculture
- New 109 high-yielding and climate-resilient varieties of 32 field and horticulture crops will be released for cultivation by farmers.
- In the next two years, 1 crore farmers across the country will be initiated into natural farming supported by certification and branding.
- 10,000 need-based bio-input resource centres will be established.
- For achieving self-sufficiency in pulses and oilseeds, government will strengthen their production, storage and marketing and to achieve ‘atmanirbharta’ for oil seeds such as mustard, groundnut, sesame, soybean, and sunflower.
- Government, in partnership with the states, will facilitate the implementation of the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) in agriculture for coverage of farmers and their lands in 3 years.
- A provision of ₹1.52 lakh crore for agriculture and allied sector was announced this year.
- Othe announcements
- Issuance of Jan Samarth based Kisan Credit Cards in 5 states
- Financial support for setting up a network of Nucleus Breeding Centres for Shrimp Broodstocks
- National Cooperation Policy to be framed with an objective to Fast-tracking growth of rural economy
- Priority 2: Employment & Skilling
- The government will implement 3 schemes for ‘Employment Linked Incentive’, as part of the Prime Minister’s package.
- These will be based on enrolment in the EPFO, and focus on recognition of first-time employees, and support to employees and employers.
- Higher participation of women in the workforce through setting up of working women hostels in collaboration with industry, and establishing creches.
- FM announced a new centrally sponsored scheme, as the 4th scheme under the Prime Minister’s package, for skilling.
- 20 lakh youth will be skilled over a 5-year period and 1,000 Industrial Training Institutes will be upgraded in hub and spoke arrangements with outcome orientation.
- The Model Skill Loan Scheme will be revised to facilitate loans up to ₹7.5 lakh with a guarantee from a government promoted Fund.
- This is expected to help 25,000 students every year.
- For helping the youth, who have not been eligible for any benefit under government schemes and policies, she announced a financial support for loans upto ₹10 lakh for higher education in domestic institutions.
- E-vouchers for this purpose will be given directly to 1 lakh students every year for annual interest subvention of 3 per cent of the loan amount.
- Priority 3: Inclusive Human Resource Development and Social Justice
- Purvodaya
- Government will formulate a plan, Purvodaya, for the all-round development of the eastern region of the country covering Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.
- This will cover human resource development, infrastructure, and generation of economic opportunities to make the region an engine to attain Viksit Bharat.
- Pradhan Mantri Janjatiya Unnat Gram Abhiyan
- For improving the socio-economic condition of tribal communities, government will launch the Pradhan Mantri Janjatiya Unnat Gram Abhiyan.
- It will be launched by adopting saturation coverage for tribal families in tribal-majority villages and aspirational districts covering 63,000 villages and benefitting 5 crore tribal people.
- Oher announcements
- More than 100 branches of India Post Payment Bank will be set up in the North East region to expand the banking services.
- A provision of ₹2.66 lakh crore for rural development including rural infrastructure was made this year.
- ₹3 lakh crore for schemes benefitting women and girls.
- Purvodaya
- Priority 4: Manufacturing & Services
- Support for promotion of MSMEs
- A separately constituted self-financing guarantee fund will provide, to each applicant, guarantee cover up to ₹100 crore, while the loan amount may be larger.
- Similarly, Public sector banks will build their in-house capability to assess MSMEs for credit, instead of relying on external assessment.
- A new mechanism was announced for facilitating continuation of bank credit to MSMEs during their stress period.
- Mudra Loans
- The limit of Mudra loans will be enhanced to ₹ 20 lakh from the current ₹ 10 lakh for those entrepreneurs who have availed and successfully repaid previous loans under the ‘Tarun’ category.
- MSME Units for Food Irradiation, Quality & Safety Testing
- Financial support for setting up of 50 multi-product food irradiation units in the MSME sector will be provided.
- Setting up of 100 food quality and safety testing labs with NABL accreditation will also be facilitated.
- To enable MSMEs and traditional artisans to sell their products in international markets, E-Commerce Export Hubs will be set up in public-private-partnership (PPP) mode .
- Internship in Top Companies
- As the 5th scheme under the Prime Minister’s package, government will launch a comprehensive scheme for providing internship opportunities in 500 top companies to 1 crore youth in 5 years.
- 12-month Prime Minister’s Internship with monthly allowance of Rs 5000.
- Priority 5: Urban Development
- Urban Housing
- Under the PM AwasYojana Urban 2.0, housing needs of 1 crore urban poor and middle-class families will be addressed with an investment of ₹ 10 lakh crore.
- This will include the central assistance of ₹ 2.2 lakh crore in the next 5 years.
- Water Supply and Sanitation
- Government will promote water supply, sewage treatment and solid waste management projects and services for 100 large cities through bankable projects.
- PM SVANidhi
- PM SVANidhi Scheme was lauched to transform the lives of street vendors.
- Now, Govt envisions a scheme to support each year, over the next five years, the development of 100 weekly ‘haats’ or street food hubs in select cities.
- Urban Housing
- Support for promotion of MSMEs
Q.1. What is Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI)?
Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) refers to the foundational digital systems and platforms that enable essential public services and functions. It includes components like digital identity, payment systems, and data exchange platforms, facilitating efficient service delivery, promoting innovation, and ensuring equitable access to technology for citizens and businesses.
Q.2. What is PM SVANidhi Scheme?
The PM SVANidhi Scheme, launched by the Government of India, provides microloans to street vendors to help them resume their businesses post-COVID-19 lockdowns. Vendors can avail of collateral-free working capital loans up to ₹10,000, with incentives for timely repayment, aiming to support their economic recovery and enhance livelihoods.
Source: SUMMARY OF THE UNION BUDGET 2024-2025 | PIB