July 23, 2024

Highlights of Budget 2024-25.

In this Budget, Govt has focused on employment, skilling, MSMEs, and the middle class. Prime Minister’s package of 5 schemes and initiatives for 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, provision of ₹ 1.48 lakh crore has been made for education, employment and skilling.

1st Scheme is for First Timers will provide one-month wage to all persons newly entering the workforce in all formal sectors.

2nd Scheme is for Job Creation in manufacturing where an incentive will be provided at specified scale directly both to the employee and the employer with respect to their EPFO contribution in the first 4 years of employment. 3rd Scheme will cover additional employment in all sectors. All additional employment within a salary of ₹1 lakh per month will be counted. The government will reimburse to employers up to ₹ 3,000 per month for 2 years towards their EPFO contribution for each additional employee.

The 4th scheme under the Prime Minister’s package, for skilling in collaboration with state governments and Industry. 20 lakh youth will be skilled over a 5-year period. 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.

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For helping our youth who have not been benefitted under any government initiatives, financial support for loans upto ₹ 10 lakh for higher education in domestic institutions will be provided.

E-vouchers for this purpose will be given directly to 1 lakh students every year for annual interest subvention of 3% of the loan amount. For promoting women-led development, the budget carries an allocation of more than ₹ 3 lakh crore for schemes benefitting women and girls.

More than 100 branches of India Post Payment Bank will be set up in the North East region to expand the banking services. This year, a provision of ₹ 2.66 lakh crore for rural development including rural infrastructure has been made.

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. Govt will facilitate development of investment-ready “plug and play” industrial parks with complete infrastructure in or near 100 cities.

12 industrial parks under the National Industrial Corridor Development Programme also will be sanctioned.

Phase IV of PMGSY will be launched to provide all-weather connectivity to 25,000 rural habitations which have become eligible in view of their population increase. To bolster the Indian start-up eco-system, boost the entrepreneurial spirit and support innovation, the so-called angel tax for all classes of investors has been abolished.

Monetary limits for filing appeals related to direct taxes, excise and service tax in the Tax Tribunals, High Courts and Supreme Court has been increased to ₹ 60 lakh, ₹ 2 crore and ₹ 5 crore respectively.

To improve social security benefits, deduction of expenditure by employers towards NPS is proposed to be increased from 10 to 14 % of the employee’s salary.

Under the new tax regime. the standard deduction for salaried employees is proposed to be increased from ₹50,000/- to ₹75,000/-.

Similarly, deduction on family pension for pensioners is proposed to be enhanced from ₹ 15,000/- to ₹ 25,000/-. This will provide relief to about 4 crore salaried individuals and pensioners. As a result of these changes, a salaried employee in the new tax regime stands to save up to ₹ 17,500/- in income tax.