Budget 2024 Announcements: PM Awas Yojana to mega internship programme to new income tax slabs – Key schemes

Budget 2024-25 Full Announcements: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget for the fiscal year 2024-25 today. This budget marks the first full-year budget of the newly-elected government which marks Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s third consecutive term. This budget is billed to lay the roadmap for transforming India into ‘Viksit Bharat’ by 2047.

In her 1 hour 25 minutes long budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman pointed at Center’s focus on four sectors – poor, women, youth, and farmers. 

Here are the key announcements

• The Budget FY24-25 focuses on nine priority areas: 

1. productivity and resilience in agriculture, 
2. employment and skilling, 
3. inclusive HR development and social justice, 
4. manufacturing and services,
5. urban development, 
6. energy security, 
7. infrastructure, 
8. innovation R&D, and 
9. next-gen reforms. 

• Five schemes targeting skilling and employment will reach 4.1 crore youth over the next five years with a budget allocation of Rs 2 lakh crore. 

• A new scheme will offer one month’s wage up to ₹15,000 for those joining the formal sector, benefiting 2.1 crore youths. 

• Another scheme aims to provide internships in the top 500 companies to 1 crore youth over five years, offering ₹5,000 per month and a one-time assistance of ₹6,000. 

• The government will launch three schemes for employment-linked incentives.

• The finance minister has allocated Rs 1.52 lakh crore for agriculture and allied sectors, with plans for 1 crore farmers to adopt natural farming within two years and the release of 109 new crop varieties. 

• FDI rules will be simplified to facilitate more inflows, encourage prioritization, and promote rupee usage. 

• Inflation remains low and is moving toward the 4 per cent target. 

• The government will implement the Purvodaya initiative for the comprehensive development of Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh. 

• E-vouchers worth Rs 10 lakh will be given to 1 lakh students for interest subvention of 3 per cent.

• Rs 15,000 crore will be facilitated for Andhra Pradesh, with additional amounts in future years.

• Three crore additional houses in rural and urban areas have been announced, with the necessary allocation already made.

• The Finance Minister also announced financial support for loans up to Rs 10 lakh for higher education in domestic institutions.

• Additional 3 core houses have been announced under the PM Awas Yojana in rural and urban areas in the country.

• The budget promoted women-led development and was allocated more than Rs 3 lakh crore for schemes benefitting women and girls.

• More than 100 branches of India Post Payment Bank will be set up in the Northeast regions in order to expand banking services.

• PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana has been launched to install rooftop solar plants, providing 1 crore households with up to 300 units of free electricity each month. The scheme has received an overwhelming response, with over 1.28 crore registrations and 14 lakh applications. We will continue to encourage and support this initiative.

• Phase IV of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) will be launched to provide all-weather connectivity to 25,000 rural habitations.

• The government has identified Bihar, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand as states severely impacted by floods and landslides. A total of Rs 11,500 crore has been earmarked for flood control and relief efforts in these states.

• The standard deduction for salaried employees has been proposed to be increased from Rs 50,000 to Rs 75,000.

• Deduction on family pension for pensioners has been proposed to be enhanced from Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000.

• The tax rate structure is as follows: