Key Highlights: Interim Union Budget 2024-25

1. Fiscal Targets and Macro-Economic Vision

• Fiscal Deficit: Target set at 5.1% of GDP for FY25 (Revised Estimate for FY24: 5.8%).
• Capex Outlay: Increased by 11.1% to ₹11,11,111 crore (approx. 3.4% of GDP).
• Viksit Bharat by 2047: Long-term vision for a "Prosperous Bharat in harmony with nature, modern infrastructure, and opportunities for all."

2. Focus Groups (GYAN: Poor, Youth, Women, Farmers)

• Garib (Poor):
  • Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) of ₹34 lakh crore via PM-Jan Dhan accounts.
  • 25 crore people moved out of multi-dimensional poverty in the last 10 years.
• Yuva (Youth):
  • Skill India Mission trained 1.4 crore youth and upskilled/reskilled 54 lakh.
  • PM Mudra Yojana sanctioned 43 crore loans for entrepreneurship.
• Annadata (Farmers):
  • PM-KISAN provided direct financial assistance to 11.8 crore farmers.
  • PM Fasal Bima Yojana provided crop insurance to 4 crore farmers.
• Nari Shakti (Women):
  • 30 crore Mudra Yojana loans provided to women entrepreneurs.
  • Target for 'Lakhpati Didi' increased from 2 crore to 3 crore.

3. Infrastructure and Connectivity

• Railway Corridors: Implementation of three major economic railway corridor programs:
  1. Energy, Mineral, and Cement corridor.
  2. Port connectivity corridor.
  3. High-traffic density corridor.
• Bogi Conversion: 40,000 normal rail bogies to be converted to Vande Bharat standards.
• Aviation: Expansion of existing airports and development of new ones under the UDAN scheme.

4. Energy and Environment

• PM-Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana:
  • 1 crore households to obtain 300 units of free electricity monthly through rooftop solarization.
  • Expected savings of ₹15,000–₹18,000 per household annually.
• Green Energy:
  • Viability Gap Funding (VGF) for 1 GW offshore wind energy.
  • Phased mandatory blending of Compressed Biogas (CBG) in CNG and PNG.

5. Technology and Innovation

• Innovation Fund: A corpus of ₹1 lakh crore established with 50-year interest-free loans to provide long-term financing for R&D in sunrise sectors.
• Deep-Tech: New scheme launched to strengthen deep-tech technologies for defense purposes and self-reliance (Aatmanirbharta).

6. Health and Housing

• Cervical Cancer: Government to encourage vaccination for girls aged 9–14 years.
• U-WIN Platform: To be rolled out for managing immunization efforts and Intensified Mission Indradhanush.
• Housing: Under PM Awas Yojana (Gramin), 2 crore additional houses to be built in the next 5 years to meet increased demand.

7. Taxation

Category	Change
Direct Tax Rates	No change.
Indirect Tax Rates	No change.
Startup Tax Benefits	Extended until March 31, 2025.
Outstanding Tax Demands	Withdrawal of demands up to ₹25,000 (pre-2010) and ₹10,000 (2010-2015).