Interim Budget 2024: Key highlights

The ‘Interim Budget 2024’ or #ViksitBharatBudget was presented today by the present finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman. She became the second finance minister to present the Union Budget for the 6th time in a row. Here are key highlights of what was highlighted during the announcement.

What is the Interim Budget?

Interim budget is one which is effective only for a short period of time. Whenever there is an upcoming election, the then acting Government cannot present a complete budget. They can however present the interim budget until the new Government comes into force. 

The Viksit Bharat Budget 2024 announced today focused on GYAN - Garib, Yuva, Annadata, Nari with the focus on these four pillars. 

Interim Budget 2024 Key Highlights

While the finance minister was presenting the budget, she highlighted the need to focus on the poor, women, farmers, and youth as their aspirations are crucial for the overall development. 

Listed below are some of the highlights of the Interim Budget 2024:

• Income Tax Slabs: The existing income tax slab remains unchanged. Nirmala Sitharaman announced that there will be no changes in the direct and indirect taxes. 

• Entrepreneurship: PM Mudra Yojana has sanctioned 43 crore loans amounting to INR 22.5 lakh crore for the entrepreneurial aspirations of the youth and 30 crore Mudra Yojana loans provided to Women Entrepreneurs.

• Healthcare: With a focus on making further advancements in the healthcare sector, the finance minister announced the extension of the Ayushman Bharat Scheme to all Asha and Anganwadi workers. She also announced that she would promote cervical cancer vaccination for girls aged between 9-14 years. Furthermore, the focus will also be to set up more medical colleges in India. The Indian Government’s mission will be to eradicate sickle cell anemia by 2047.

• Nutrition: Anganwadi to be upgraded under the ‘Saksham Anganwadi’ and ‘Poshan 2.0’ scheme. This will help in improving nutrition delivery and development of child care in all parts of the country.

• Railway: To expand the railway infrastructure, the finance minister said that the focus will be to introduce three railway corridors - energy, cement, and mineral corridors. Doing so will be helpful to improve the operation of trains, accelerate GDP growth, and reduce logistic costs. Further, she also added that 40,000+ trains will be converted to Vande Bharat to ensure more safety and convenience for passengers.

• Aviation: Touching upon the aviation sector, Sitharaman said that the total number of airports have now significantly increased to 149. She also shared that the existing airports will be expanded even more and the mission to increase connectivity to tier-2 and tier-3 cities under the Udaan scheme has also been successful.

• Tourism: In the tourism sector, Sitharaman indicated that new projects will be taken up to focus on tourism with a prime focus on Lakshadweep. The mission will also be to further accelerate ‘Spiritual Tourism’ and encourage more and more people to participate in taking religious detours.

• Training to MSMEs: During the announcement of Budget 2024, Sitharaman said that training assistance will be provided to MSMEs. This will help them compete globally and promote the overall economic development of the country. 

Take Away

Now that the Interim Indian Budget 2024 has been announced, all eyes will be on the complete Budget 2024 proposed to be out in the month of July 2024 post election.