Parliament Budget Session Highlights: Rahul Gandhi meets farmers in Parliament complex, demands legal guarantee for MSP (2024)

Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the methodology used by organisations attempting to evaluate press freedom across the world is questionable and not reliable.

In a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha, Vaishnaw said some organisations have attempted evaluation of press freedom using very low sample size and with little or no understanding of the country and its vibrant democracy. "Such organisations and their methodology are questionable and not reliable," the minister said.

An international organisation had ranked India 159th out of the 180 nations considered in the 2024 edition of the press freedom index this year.

The 15th Finance Commission had examined states' request to expand the list of notified disasters to include heatwaves but did not find merit in it, the government informed the Lok Sabha.

Replying to a question by Congress MP Sukhdeo Bhagat, Union Earth Sciences Minister Jitendra Singh said that extreme heat and sunstroke claimed 10,635 lives in India during the 10-year period starting from 2013.

However, he said that steps taken by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) to improve monitoring and early warning systems have helped minimise the loss of life and property during extreme weather events, including heatwaves.

Bhagat asked whether the government proposes to declare heatwaves a national calamity. Singh replied that the 15th Finance Commission had considered the issue of including more calamities in the existing notified list.

Ladakh MP Mohammad Haneefa raised in the Lok Sabha the Union Territory's demands for safeguards under the sixth schedule and statehood.

During the Zero Hour, the Ladakh MP highlighted the key demands of the Leh Apex Body and Kargil Democratic Alliance -- the two groups from Buddhist-dominated Leh and Shia Muslim-dominated Kargil -- which have been negotiating with the Union home ministry.

"Ladakh is the biggest (Lok Sabha) constituency, it is strategically important as it shares borders with both China and Pakistan. The people of Ladakh are peace-loving, and true patriots. They have made sacrifices for the nation," Haneefa said. "In 2019, Ladakh was carved out as a Union Territory, even though half of the population was against it," said the MP.

He said even those who supported the decision wanted the UT to have a legislature and were opposed to the present set-up.

A Congress MP from Maharashtra made a demand in Lok Sabha that the government should start negotiations with Manoj Jarange-Patil to find a solution to the Maratha-Dhangar reservation issue at the earliest.

Raising the issue of reservation for Maratha and Dhangar communities in Lok Sabha, Congress' Praniti Shinde also made a strong demand for conducting a caste census to ensure reservation to women.

"The government is adding to the existing tensions in Maharashtra. The BJP is in the government in Maharashtra and at the Centre. Why can't there be a negotiation to find a solution to it? Why is there a delay? It is my demand that the government enter into talks on the Maratha-Dhangar reservation issue and find a solution to the problem," Shinde said.

• "Sab ka saath, sab ka vikas become jo hamare saath, hum unke saath."
• "Modiji ki teesri baar, yuvak abhi bhi berozgar."
• "Modiji ki teesri baar, geerbo ke upar lagatar atyachar."
• “This Budget was planned by two individuals to keep another two in good faith, neglecting the aspirations of 140 crore people.”
• "BUDGET: B for Betrayal, U for Unemployment, D for Deprived, G for Guarantee with zero warranty, E for Eccentric, T for Tragedy"
• "No mention of burning Manipur in Budget."
• “Under this Budget, one thing is clear. The only thing that is growing faster than price rise and inflation is BJP’s list of broken promises and guarantees."
• “On June 4, 2024, people of the country decisively rejected the Modi-led government and what we have now in place is a shaky coalition.”
• “Nobody is calling this government Modi 3.0. Not even the Finance Minister when she presented the Budget.”
• "Teesri baar, Modi sarkar kho gaya hai Shiksha ka adhikar."
• “This government is depriving its students. The inability to conduct NEET is the biggest failure of this government and is jeopardising the future of almost 33 lakh students. INDIA demanded a discussion on this, but hardly a word on this from PM on this issue."

In response to an unstarred question by MPs Kanimozhi and Dr Rani Sukumar, the government informed the Lok Sabha that funds to the tune of Rs 1,216.77 crore have been spent on works pertaining to Kavach, the automatic train protection system.

Further, the reply stated that the system has been deployed on routes of 1,456 kilometres and 144 locomotives in the South Central Railway division so far.

The INDIA bloc will put pressure on the government and ensure that the farmers get a legal guarantee for MSP, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said on Wednesday after he met a delegation of farmer leaders in Parliament House complex.

(Photos: ANI)

A delegation of farmer leaders from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka met Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi in Parliament House complex on Wednesday and apprised him of the issues being faced by the tillers.

"In our manifesto, we have mentioned MSP with a legal guarantee. We have done the assessment and it can be implemented. We had a meeting right now where were decided that we will talk to the other leader of the INDIA alliance to put pressure on the Govt that MSP legal guarantee should be given to the farmers of the country," said Gandhi after the meeting.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said that he had called the farmer leaders to the parliament today, but they weren't allowed to come inside the parliament premises.

"I had called farmer leaders here, permission was granted but they are not being allowed inside. India's farmers are not being allowed in Parliament in today's times, what to do? This is the issue. There may be a technical issue too, will see," he said.

The Opposition on Wednesday staged aprotestinside and outside the Parliament over alleged discrimination against non-National Democratic Alliance (NDA) states in the Union Budget 2024, presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday.

Members of the INDIA bloc first protested outside the Makar Dwar of the Parliament building. Then, during Question Hour in the Lok Sabha, they raised slogans about alleged injustice to Opposition-ruled states. (Deeptiman Tiwary writes)

On Opposition’s protest against ‘discriminatory’ Budget, FM Nirmala Sitharaman in Rajya Sabha said that in every budget “one does not get an opportunity to name every state of the country.”

”In every Budget, you don’t get an opportunity to name every state of this country...The Cabinet had taken a decision to set up a port on Vadavan. But Maharashtra’s name was not taken in the Budget yesterday. Does this mean that Maharashtra feels ignored? If a particular state is named in the speech, does it mean that programs of the government don't go to these states? This is a deliberate attempt of the Opposition led by Congress to give the impression to people that nothing has been given to our states. This is an outrageous allegation...” she said.

Commenting on the Union Budget, RJD MP Misa Bharti said that JD(U) was unable to get the special status for Bihar in the budget and that CM Nitish Kumar has just been given a 'jhunjhuna' and 'lollipop' by the ruling dispensation.

"CM Nitish Kumar and JDU had a demand that Bihar should get the status of a special state, what did they get? He has just been given a 'jhunjhuna' and 'lollipop' by the Prime Minister so that he continues to be the Prime Minister... There is nothing for the youth and the middle class. There was no mention of employment. It is a copy-pasted and repackaged budget... Bihar Legislative elections are coming up and this budget allocation is just an electoral announcement..." she said.

The Opposition in Rajya Sabha walked out on Wednesday, just a few minutes after the session began, in protest against the ‘discriminatory’ Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman the previous day. Congress president and Rajya Sabha LoP Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that the budget was crafted solely to appease a select few.

"I want to emphasize that the budget presented yesterday did not benefit any state. The plates of all states remained empty except for two. Neither Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana, nor Delhi received anything. This budget has been made only to please some people and to save the chair,” he said.

We have received nothing, and therefore, the India bloc, from Kanyakumari to Kashmir will protest against it.”

Congress President & LoP Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge today said that the Union budget has only served BJP allies' interests.

"This budget is just to satisfy their allies... They have given nothing to anyone."

Joining the INDIA bloc’s protest against the Union Budget, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said that there is very little it offers to most states in the country.

"There is very little for most states. There were a few expectations for Kerala, especially in the health sector, but all of them have not been fulfilled. Each state has its own issue to point to,” he said.

- As the Parliament session resumes on Wednesday, MPs from the INDIA bloc staged a protest against what they called a “discriminatory” Budget presented by the Narendra Modi government.

- Stating that it was a ‘deceptive’ Budget, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that they were fighting for justice.

- Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav took a dig at the ruling dispensation, saying that they could not take any concrete step regarding inflation and instead of giving MSP to farmers, “support price was given to the alliance partners who are saving their government.”

- Congress leader Randeep Surjewala said "more than 90% people of the country have been isolated with this budget." He accused Modi of being focussed on only on saving the BJP government.

- Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi said that despite Maharashtra being the highest tax-paying state, they "didn't get their share in return."

The leaders of INDIA bloc including Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and Akhilesh Yadav have began their protest in the Parliament complex against the “discriminatory” Budget presented by the Narendra Modi government.

#WATCH | Delhi | Leaders of INDIA bloc protest against 'discriminatory' Union Budget 2024, demand equal treatment to all States, in Parliament pic.twitter.com/c6uOyF1TQr

— ANI (@ANI) July 24, 2024

-- Congress leader Manickam Tagore termed the Union Budget as 'Kursi Bachao Budget’. He said it has only thought over how to save this government and punished middle-class people, farmers and workers. “It is against the federal principles of this country. Many states have been left without any kind of help from the Union government,” he said.

-- Calling it an unfair budget, Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi said that the government does not care what the local needs of the states are. “ This is a desperate budget by a desperate government only to save its existence,” he said.

-- Jharkhand Mukti Morcha MP Mahua Maji said that her state is also a backward state, but nothing special has been given for Jharkhand in the budget. “There were a lot of expectations, a lot of money was also needed for the railways. In this budget, an attempt has been made to please only those people with whose help the government has been formed at the centre,” she said.

Congress leader K Suresh has accused the Finance Minister of discriminating against Opposition party-ruled states in the Union Budget presented yesterday.

It is because of this reason, he said, Chief Ministers of many states choose not to attend the NITI Aayog meeting.

"We took the decision to not attend the Niti Aayog meeting because the government and Finance Minister totally discriminated against the Opposition Party-ruled states. There was too much discrimination. Only two states benefitted. NDA just want to save their government. Party will respond to the SC verdict on NEET. We will stage a demonstration to protest against the discrimination in the Budget," he said.

Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Sagarika Ghose on Wednesday accused the government of “discriminatory federalism”, saying that Andhra Pradesh and Bihar were allotted the major chunk of financial packages.

"In this Budget, the NDA government did not follow cooperative and competitive federalism. The government has done discriminatory federalism in the Budget as only two states - Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, who are coalition partners of the Centre, have been given everything... infrastructure projects, financial package. Other states like West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra Kerala have not been given anything. They all are protesting. This Budget is 'Modi Bachao Budget, Kursi Bachao Budget," she said,

Earlier, West Bengal CM and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjeealso criticised theUnion Budgetas “anti-poor and politically biased,” accusing the central government of neglecting the state’s interests.

The Budget presented by Nirmala Sitharaman allocated Rs 6.22 lakh crore for defence, in a meagre increase of 4.79 percent over the previous fiscal's budgetary allocation.

This comes amid the lingering border row with China in eastern Ladakh and concerns over frequent Chinese forays into the Indian Ocean Region.

The overall defence outlay works out to around just 1.9 per cent of projected GDP for 2024-25.

Here is how the money will be divided:

- Rs 1.72 lakh crore to be set aside for the military for capital expenditure that largely includes purchasing new weapons, aircraft, warships and other military hardware.

- Rs 1,05,518 crore (Rs 1.05 lakh crore) has been earmarked for domestic capital procurement

- Day-to-day operating costs and salaries pegged at Rs 2.82 lakh crore while Rs 1,41,205 crore has been set aside for defence pensions.

- Rs 92,088 crore has been set aside for sustenance and operational readiness.

- Rs 23,855 crore for Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)

- The budgetary allocation to Border Roads Organisations (BRO) under capital head has been proposed at Rs 6,500 crore.

A venture capital fund of Rs 1,000 crore to promote space technology will be set up by the government as announced in the Union Budget.

According to IN-SPACe chairperson Pawan Goenka, the move will give a major boost to new entrepreneurs and non-government entities (NGEs) in the space sector.

The Department of Space received an 18 per cent hike in the budgetary allocations for 2024-25 over its expenditure in the 2023-24 Budget.

Sitharaman allocated Rs 13,042.75 crore, the bulk of which— Rs 10,087.52 crore -- will be under the head of space technology that includes activities of various ISRO centres.

In the 2024-25 Union Budget, the culture sector has been allocated Rs 3,260.93 crore as compared to Rs 3,399.65 crore allocated to it in the last budget.

In her Budget speech on Tuesday, Nirmala Sitharaman underlined the government's emphasis on both 'vikas' (development) and 'virasat' (heritage) in the country's growth trajectory.

The Finance Minister also announced that comprehensive development of Vishnupad Temple corridor at Gaya and the Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya in Bihar will be supported by the government to transform them into "world-class pilgrim and tourist destinations".

These corridors will be modelled on the successful Kashi Vishwanath Temple Corridor, she said.

The Union Budget has opened up the nuclear power sector for private investments to boost the share of atomic energy production. This comes in the backdrop of the government’s aim to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2070.

The Finance Minister has announced that the government will partner with the private sector to set up Bharat Small Reactors and in the research and development of small modular reactors.

She said the government will also partner with the private sector for research and development of newer technologies for nuclear energy.

Sitharaman said the Rs 1 trillion research and development funding, announced in the interim budget in February, will be made available for the nuclear sector.

According to a PTI report, iPhone maker Apple is believed to be the biggest beneficiary of a 5 per cent reduction in import duty on mobile phones, a move announced in the Budget yesterday.

It could lead to savings of as much as USD 35 to 50 million for the tech titan, market experts were quoted saying by the news agency.

Industry watchers also believe that the latest proposals could result in Rs 2,000-4,000 reduction in prices of some of the premium handsets, including iPhone Pro and Google Pixel, if the companies indeed decide to pass on the benefit of cut in levy to customers.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee criticized the Union Budget on Tuesday, labeling it "anti-poor and politically biased."

She accused the central government of neglecting the state's interests and expressed disappointment with what she perceived as a budget geared towards pleasing NDA allies rather than prioritising the welfare of the masses.

Banerjee vowed that the people of Bengal would protest if their demands continued to be ignored by the central government.

Ahead of her scheduled attendance at the NITI Aayog meeting, she mentioned being asked by the agency to share details of her speech, noting that she plans to highlight Bengal's grievances and outstanding dues during the meeting.

Senior Congress leader and former finance minister P Chidambaram stated that having two income tax regimes is a "bad idea," as it could lead to tax disputes and confusion among taxpayers about which one to use.

Here is what he said:

- "If you want to introduce a new tax regime, you should announce it well in advance and say that from this financial year on, everybody has to move to a new tax regime. Two tax regimes are unacceptable and a bad idea," he said.

- It will lead to tax arbitration and people will be confused if they should to remain in the old regime or switch over to the new one, Chidambaram said during a press conference at the AICC headquarters.

- "I'm told... you can switch once and switch back, but if you switch for the second time, you can't switch back. I am thoroughly confused.

- "I don't think they have given great incentives to switch over to the new tax regime in this budget. They did it in the earlier budget. This time, they only reduced the tax effect by enlarging the slabs. But that will only benefit people in the 0-?20 per cent tax bracket," he said.

The budgetary allocation for the Ministry of Minority Affairs has been increased by Rs 574.31 crore to reach Rs 3,183.24 crore for the fiscal year 2024-25, up from the revised estimate of Rs 2,608.93 crore in 2023-24.

Of the total proposed allocation:

- Allocation for education empowerment:

- Rs 1,575.72 crore.

- Allocation for Pre-Matric Scholarship for Minorities:

- Rs 326.16 crore.

- Allocation for Post-Matric Scholarship for Minorities:

- Rs 1,145.38 crore.

- Total provision for major schemes and projects:

- Rs 2,120.72 crore.

- Allocation for 'Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram':

- Rs 910.90 crore.

- Allocation towards equity contribution to National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation:

- Rs 800 crore.

UNION FINANCE MINISTERNirmala Sitharaman’s record seventh Budgetwas more about coming to terms with the compulsion of coalition politics and calming frayed sentiments over jobs than about big ideas or bold reforms that could shape the five-year course for a government in its third term.

In her 82-minuteBudgetspeech, Sitharaman announced a slew of initiatives, from internships for 1 crore youth to credit guarantees for small and medium enterprises and tweaking of personal income tax rates, but these didn’t quite add up to what the economy needs today: a big push for consumption demand that could trigger private sector investment, expand opportunities and create jobs.

But if the Budget is to be judged by just one number, Sitharaman shines through by keeping a tight leash over the fisc, which has been the one steady theme across the two terms of the NDA government. (Click here to read the full report)

The Narendra Modi government’s first Budget after returning to power for a third consecutive term reflects the changed political dynamics after the Lok Sabha polls – including the BJP’s reliance on coalition partners for lack of a majority, and the realisation that unemployment and rural distress likely played a role in the party’s Lok Sabha tally dropping from 303 to 240 this time.

Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi highlighted this in his reaction to the Budget. Congress leaders also pointed to the Budget’s big announcements as bearing a close resemblance to the party’s Lok Sabha election manifesto.

Gandhi posted: “Kursi Bachao Budget. Appease Allies: Hollow promises to them at the cost of other states. Appease Cronies: Benefits to AA with no relief for the common Indian. Copy and Paste: Congress manifesto and previous budgets. Read Full Report

THE SLUGGISH PACE of investments by Corporate India has been possibly the biggest policy conundrum leading up to the first Budget of the NDA government’s third term under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

However, the Union Budget speech for 2024-25 is silent on why private sector investments haven’t quite commenced despite the corporate tax breaks in 2019, the significant ramping up of government’s capex over the last few years, the improving profitability of India Inc, and healthy bank balance sheets.

On Monday, the Economic Survey, authored by Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran, sought to answer if “the corporate sector had responded” to the cut in taxes in September 2019 to facilitate capital formation. Read Full Report

Amid a spike in terror attacks in J&K and the ongoing military standoff with China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, India’s defence budget for 2024-25 saw a minor hike of Rs 500 crore over the interim budget figures of Rs 6,21,540 crore announced in February this year.

The total defence budget earmarked at ‘6,21,940 crore, including defence pensions of Rs 1.41 lakh crore, is 4.79% higher than Rs 5.94 lakh crore allocated in the previous fiscal. The allocation is approximately 12.9% of the total budget outlay for 2024-25.

The defence budget saw a hike of over 44% from 2019-20 when the Narendra Modi government assumed its second term in office, and an increase of over 171% from Rs 2.29 lakh crore allocated in 2014-15 during the Modi government’s first term in office. Read Full Report

Even though the general consensus across the industry about the government’s announcement to create internship opportunities for a crore individuals at hundreds of top companies in the country was largely one of optimism, a number of questions around how the scheme would actually be operationalised on the ground has tempered the sanguine mood.

The scheme is part of the central government’s larger focus in the Union Budget 2024 on creating employment avenues for the country’s youth, and comes after the issue became a hot button during the Lok Sabha polls held earlier this year.

To fill the talent void and also generate initial employment for young people, the government will launch a scheme for providing internship opportunities in 500 top companies for one crore youth in five years, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said. An internship “allowance” of Rs 5,000 per month along with a one-time assistance of Rs 6,000 will be provided. Companies will be expected to bear the training cost and 10 per cent of the internship cost from their corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds. Read Full Report

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has allocated Rs 2,19,643.31 crore to the Ministry of Home Affairs, with the majority of it – Rs 1,43,275.90 crore – being given to central armed police forces (CAPFs) that are responsible for internal security, border guarding, and security of vital installations.

This time, Rs 1,309.46 cr have been allocated for census. This is a significant reduction from 2021-22 when Rs 3,768 cr was allocated for the decadal exercise. It was Rs 578.29 in 2023-24. Rs 42,277.74 cr has been allocated to Jammu and Kashmir.

Rs 5,985.82 cr has been given to Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Rs 5,862.62 cr to Chandigarh, Rs 5,958 cr to Ladakh, Rs 2,648.97 cr to Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu and Rs 1,490.10 cr to Lakshadweep. Read Full Report

The Centre Tuesday announced the extension of the New Central Sector scheme for Jammu and Kashmir up to 2037. However the budget allocation for the scheme—announced in 2021 for a period of 10 years following the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of the erstwhile state into two Union Territories—remains the same at Rs 28,400 crore.

Sources said the extension to the scheme, announced in the Union Budget, is to encourage more businesses to invest in Jammu and Kashmir. However, keeping the same budget allocation may come as a disappointment to the UT administration.

“The scheme for industrial Development of Jammu and Kashmir shall be effective from the date of issue of notification and up to 31.03.2037 with the total outlay of ` 28,400 crore during scheme period providing the following Incentives: i. capital investment incentive, ii. capital interest subvention, iii. Goods & Services tax linked incentive (GSTLI) and iv. working capital interest subvention,” announced Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Read Full Report

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Tuesday announced a Rs 1,000 crore venture capital fund to give a push to the space economy. “With our continued emphasis on expanding the space economy, by 5 times in the next 10 years, a venture capital fund of Rs 1,000 crore will be set up,” said Sitharaman.

This is the government’s vision is to increase India’s share in the global commercial space economy to 10% by 2030.

Despite being a major spacefaring nation, India currently accounts for only 2 per cent of the global space market.

While the government had been hand-holding the upcoming private players — providing policy support, technical assistance, and even sharing infrastructure — this is likely the first policy to provide financial assistance as well. Read Full Report

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced Phase IV of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) to connect 25,000 villages with all-weather roads, and allocated an outlay of Rs 19,000 crore for the financial year 2024-25.

She also announced three crore additional houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana in rural and urban areas. Of these, 2 crore homes will be constructed in villages under PMAY-Gramin (PMAY-G) with an allocation of Rs 54,500 crore.

The Jal Jeevan Mission has been allocated Rs 69,926.65 crore, Sitharaman said in her Budget speech.

While the overall outlay for rural development is Rs 2.66 lakh crore — up 11.2% from Rs 2.39 lakh crore in the last fiscal — the three announcements on PMGSY, PMAY and Jal Jeevan are a big push to capital expenditure that will spur investment and growth in rural areas.

Under PMGSY, which was launched in 2000 by the then NDA government headed by PM Vajpayee, over 7 lakh km road length of the sanctioned 8.25 lakh km has been completed — in three phases and a separate component for areas affected by Left Wing Extremism. Read Full Report

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has allocated Rs 500 crore for Namo Drone Didi scheme, an initiative aimed at providing drones to 15,000 selected women self-help groups (SHGs). She also announced support to one crore farmers for natural farming.

The Namo Drone Didi scheme aims to provide drones to 15,000 selected women SHGs during the period 2023-24 to 2025-2026 for providing rental services to farmers.

In her budget speech, the minister said, “In the next two years, 1 crore farmers across the country will be initiated into natural farming supported by certification and branding. Implementation will be through scientific institutions and willing gram panchayats. 10,000 need-based bio-input resource centres will be established.”

The Finance Ministry has allocated Rs 365.64 crore for National Mission on Natural Farming for 2024-25, which is lower than last year’s allocation of Rs 459 crore and higher than the revised estimate of Rs 100 crore. Read Full Report

Rs 15,000 crore to develop Amaravati, Rs 26,000 crore for four road projects, Rs 21,400 crore for a power plant — with 28 MPs between them, Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP and Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) managed to extract a lion’s share in the Union Budget for Andhra Pradesh and Bihar respectively.

Afterwards, Naidu said “happy days are here again”, while Nitish said the Centre had complied with their proposal for “special assistance”.

These announcements, according to Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, came at the expense of other states. He called it a “kursi bachao Budget” which had made “hollow promises” even to BJP allies. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said “half-hearted rewadis (freebies)” had been distributed “to dupe coalition partners so the NDA survives”.

In her speech, acknowledging the “need” for Andhra Pradesh to have a capital, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the Centre will “facilitate special financial support” of Rs 15,000 crore in the current financial year. The amount will be key to developing Amaravati, Naidu’s dream project which was shelved when Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy came to power in 2019. Read Full Report

The Centre’s outgo on subsidies is budgeted to decline to a five-year-low in 2024-25, both in absolute terms and as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP). This is despite no increases in the prices of fertilisers for farmers or that of foodgrains sold through the public distribution system (PDS).

The subsidy bill peaked at Rs 758,165 crore (3.8 per cent of GDP) in 2020-21, which is expected to fall to Rs 428,423 crore (1.3 per cent) in the current year. The lower spend is on account of two factors.

The first is the discontinuation of the free, additional 5-kg grain allocation to the 80 acre-plus PDS beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana. The extra rice or wheat – over and above the regular 5 kg/person/month PDS quota – was given during the post-Covid period from April 2020 to December 2022. That ended from January 2023. Read Full Report

To rectify the inverted duty structure hurting manufacturing in various sectors, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday announced a reduction in customs duty on a range of input materials — from critical minerals, electronics and chemicals to precious metals such as gold, and silver among others effective from July 24.

Sitharaman said that the government is focused on boosting labour-intensive sectors and will undertake a comprehensive review of the rate structure over the next six months to rationalise and simplify it for ease of trade.

Inverted duty structure is a phenomenon caused by to the difference in tax rates applied on the production of a good which uses imported materials as inputs. Inverted duties refer to a situation where the import tariff on inputs is higher than the tax levied on the final output. Read Full Report

Several Central schemes saw considerable increases in allocation, including the PM Awas Yojana (PMAY) for rural and urban housing, in the Union Budget on Tuesday.

However, some of the major programmes of the Narendra Modi government, including PM Kisan Samman Nidhi (KISAN) and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), saw their outlays remain constant when compared to the revised estimates of the previous Budget. The free ration scheme, the PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), that was extended in late 2023 for another five years saw its allocation decline.

The biggest increase in allocation among the major Central schemes was for the PMAY rural and urban schemes. The rural scheme saw its outlay rise from Rs 32,000 crore in 2023-’24 to Rs 54,500 crore in 2024-’25, an increase of Rs 22,500 crore. The Centre set a target to build 40 lakh pucca homes in rural areas, reduce homelessness by 80% and enlist 24 lakh beneficiaries for the scheme from Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities over the remainder of the financial year.

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Highlighting urban development as one of the nine priorities of Budget 2024-2025, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday announced the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban 2.0, with Rs 2.2 lakh crore central assistance over five years, to construct one crore additional houses.

“Under the PM Awas Yojana Urban 2.0, housing needs of one crore urban poor and middle-class families will be addressed with an investment of Rs 10 lakh crore. This will include the central assistance of Rs 2.2 lakh crore in the next five years. A provision of interest subsidy to facilitate loans at affordable rates is also envisaged. In addition, enabling policies and regulations for efficient and transparent rental housing markets with enhanced availability will also be put in place,” the minister said.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu alleged the Union government of ignoring the state's interests in the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

“Why does Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman use the term ‘multilateral development assistance’ for Himachal Pradesh but one word, ‘assistance’, for other states such as Bihar, Assam, Uttarakhand and Sikkim? This is partiality. It would be good if the minister had announced financial assistance for the state. I have to understand the meaning of multilateral development assistance,” Sukhu told reporters.

“I fear the Central Government will announce minor developmental projects like construction of roads under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, construction of houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and will claim that the Centre did so much for Himachal Pradesh,” he added.

"How can individuals view this budget? It has looked only at the new income tax regime and not spoken of the old one. It has stated that two-thirds of taxpayers have opted for this alternative. Benefits have been given in terms of an increase in standard deduction and tax slabs have been tweaked. In effect, the FM stated that there would be a gain of Rs 25,000 as standard deduction and Rs 17,500 per annum on tax saved. This is a big plus as it will increase income and hence give people the option to either consume or save the amount. In the extreme case of adjusting for inflation, this will protect real disposable income. Therefore, there are benefits for the common man. It also gives the message that the government would like everyone to migrate to the new scheme."

Madan Sabnavis writes

Addressing a press conference after the Union Budget 2024 was presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Congress leader P Chidambaram said the government's response to tackle unemployment was "too little".

" Unemployment is the biggest challenge facing the country. For a few dozen vacancies or a few thousand posts, millions of candidates apply and write an examination or appear for an Interview. According to CMIE, the all India unemployment rate is 9.2 per cent," he said.

"The response of the government is too little and will have only little impact on the grave unemployment situation. The claim that the schemes announced by the FM will benefit 290 lakh persons is highly exaggerated," he added.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the BJP-led NDA government would develop a ‘climate finance taxonomy’ to enhance the availability of capital for climate adaptation and mitigation.

We take a look at what this means

THE CONGRESS was quick to draw parallels with promises made in its Lok Sabha election manifesto as Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled the first Budget of the third Narendra Modi government.

The most striking was the announcement made by the government about a scheme to provide internship opportunities to “1 crore youth in 500 top companies over five years”, apart from the Budget’s promise of three employment-linked schemes.

Find out more here

Addressing a press conference after presenting the Union Budget 2024, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the 12.5% tax on long-term capital gains was introduced with an aim to "simplify approach towards taxation". She added, "If anything, the average taxation has actually come down when we say it is 12.5%. We have worked out for each of the different asset classes...The point that we brought it down from below the average to 12.5% encourages investment in the markets".

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday lauded the Budget 2024 presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, saying that it focuses on infrastructure as well as manufacturing, and will speed up growth. He added that the Budget will empower the new middle class and work to uplift Dalits, adivasis and backward classes. With this Budget, the youth will get unlimited opportunities, and education and skill will attain new scales, PM Modi said.

In an attempt to counterbalance the variability of renewable energy and strengthen India’s base load power capacity, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced plans to set up the country’s first 800 MW advanced ultra supercritical (AUSC) thermal plant based on indigenous technology. In her budget speech, Sitharaman also unveiled plans to formulate a policy for energy storage focusing on promoting pumped storage projects and underscored the need for developing nuclear energy capacities through private sector collaboration.

“A joint venture between NTPC and BHEL will set up a full scale 800 MW commercial plant using AUSC technology. The government will provide the required fiscal support,” Sitharaman said. BHEL has completed an R&D project to develop indigenous technology for AUSC thermal plants, which boast higher efficiency and lower fuel consumption, with a project outlay of around Rs 900 crore. “In Phase-II, the world’s first 800 MW AUSC Technology Demonstration Plant (TDP) is planned under the aegis of the Ministry of Power (MoP) and NTPC,” BHEL says on its website.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a special package of Rs 15,000 crore for Andhra Pradesh in the Union Budget today, which would be key to developing Amaravati, the state’s capital city and Chief Minister Chandhababu Naidu’s dream project.

Talking about boost to growth and development of India-based startups including the abolishing of angel tax across all classes of investors, PM Modi lauds the specifics in the Budget for startups and even the space economy.

He also highlighted the expenditure for defence sector which is among the top sectors which found major allocation of funds.

Addressing the nation with his remarks on Budget 2024 presented in Parliament today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the scheme for providing internship opportunities to youths in about 500 top companies is meant to open a world of possibilties for them.

"We will make India the global manufacturing hub," he said about the boost for MSMEs in the budget.

After presenting the Budget 2024 in Lok Sabha earlier in the day, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tables the document in Rajya Sabha along with the Budget for Jammu and Kashmir.

The Upper House has been adjourned till 11 am tomorrow.