Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Interim Budget for 2024-25 . It is critical for CAT interview preparation that you are aware of these highlights brought to you by IIMantra.
Taxes: There is currently no proposition to modify the rates of direct and indirect taxes. The Finance Minister announced that the decision has been made to maintain the existing tax rates for both direct and indirect taxes, including import charges.
Direct-tax demands that were imposed before the fiscal year 2009-10 and are up to ₹25,000 would be dropped. Additionally, demands up to ₹10,000 for the fiscal years 2010-11 to 2014-15 will also be withdrawn. As to revenue secretary Sanjay Malhotra, this will result in the resolution of 1.1 crore outstanding requests totaling ₹3,500 crore, leading to their closure.
Capital Expenditure (Crucial for your CAT Interview preparation ): Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced a conservative 11% rise in capital expenditure (capex) to Rs 11.11 lakh crore for the upcoming fiscal year, in response to the growing private investment. The government has increased capital expenditure (capex) by 37.5 percent to Rs 10 lakh crore for the current fiscal year. In contrast, the government anticipates allocating Rs 9.5 lakh crore for the fiscal year concluding in March 2024.
Fiscal Deficit Situation : Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the projected budget deficit for the fiscal year 2023-2024 is 5.8 percent at the presentation of the Interim Budget 2024-2025. "The Revised Estimate of the fiscal deficit stands at 5.8 per cent of GDP, showing improvement compared to the Budget Estimate, despite a decrease in the projected nominal growth," stated Sitharaman. She stated that the government is dedicated to decreasing the budget deficit to less than 4.5 percent by 2025-26. Additionally, she mentioned that the projected fiscal deficit for 2024-25 is 5.1 percent of GDP. (You can get a question on what is Fiscal Deficit)
Sectors that received a major push:
Auto sector PLI allocation hiked to 3.5 Cr
The budget for the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for vehicles and auto components in the upcoming financial year starting in March has been increased to ₹3,500 crore, compared to a revised estimate of ₹483.77 crore in the current fiscal year.
Semi-Conductor and related Research
The government has earmarked Rs 15,500 crore for several electronics manufacturing initiatives, encompassing the semiconductor mission and the mobile and IT hardware PLI project for the fiscal year 2025. The government has suggested offering incentives of Rs 4,203 crore for assembly, test, and packaging factories. These incentives can be advantageous for projects such as the ones established by Micron in Gujarat, the planned facility by Foxconn and HCL joint venture, Tata Group, and others.
Department of School Education receives record budget allocation
The Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL) of the Education Ministry has been assigned a budget of ₹73,498 crore for the fiscal year 2024-25. The Ministry of Education has stated that this budget is the largest ever allocated to the Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL).
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