Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the 7th consecutive budget on Tuesday i.e. 23rd July. There is a possibility of many special announcements in this budget, because this time BJP has formed the government in alliance. In such a situation, the focus of the NDA government will be to please all sections. Special announcements are expected for the middle class, poor families, women, youth and farmers.
Before the budget, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also said that this time we are going to present a strong budget, which will focus on presenting India as a developed nation by the year 2047. He said that the coming 5 years are going to be very special for us. Talking about the Indian economy, he said that India continues to be the fastest growing country in the world and we are moving ahead on the path of development with 8 percent growth for the third consecutive time.
Actually, BJP has not been able to achieve majority on its own in the Lok Sabha elections. In such a situation, before the assembly elections of Haryana, Maharashtra and Jharkhand to be held this year, many big announcements are expected to be made through this budget to win the trust of the people. New governments usually do not present populist budgets. But after the setback in the Lok Sabha elections, this time a middle class friendly budget can be presented.
The middle class will get relief from the budget
First of all, it is believed that in this budget, the government can give the gift of tax exemption to attract the scattered middle class towards itself in the elections. It is estimated that the government may increase the income tax exemption limit to Rs 5 lakh. Apart from this, increasing the tax slabs can also bring more money into people’s pockets.
With this step, the government will reduce the tax burden so that people can get relief from inflation. To make the new tax system attractive, the tax deduction limit can be increased and other necessary deductions can be included. Increasing it will provide relief to taxpayers and will encourage them to switch from the old tax regime.
Focus will be on rural employment!
After this, the government can announce schemes in the budget to increase employment for the purpose of empowering the youth. To increase employment, announcements related to promoting rural economy can also be made. Experts had also expressed concern about agricultural development to PM Modi. At the same time, lack of employment in rural areas and slowness in credit growth despite small loans given under the Mudra scheme to boost production were also highlighted. By solving this problem, the government will also help many other sectors because the growth of FMCG to consumer durables is dependent on the rural markets of the country. Similarly, many announcements can be made in the budget for the agriculture sector also.
How big will the budget be this time?
This time the government can present a big budget to create a developed nation and strengthen the country’s economy. In such a situation, it is expected that this time’s budget may be around the interim budget presented in February. While presenting the interim budget on February 1, 2024, Nirmala Sitharaman had estimated to spend Rs 47,65,768 crore in the financial year 2024-25, which is 6 percent more than last year’s budget. In such a situation, this time also the budget can be bigger than Rs 47,65,768 crore.
GDP growth was estimated at 10.5%
In the interim budget 2024, Nirmala Sitharaman had estimated an income of Rs 30,80,274 crore in the financial year 2024-25, which is 12 percent more than the previous financial year. The government had estimated a growth of 10.5% in 2024-25. The revenue deficit was targeted at 2% of GDP in the financial year 2024-25. This was lower than the revised estimate of 2.8% in 2023-24. In the interim budget, the government had allocated Rs 70,449 crore to the Department of Economic Affairs for new schemes.
Let us tell you, the country’s general budget (Budget 2024) will be presented on 23 July, before this the interim budget was presented on 1 February due to it being an election year. This will be the first budget of the new government formed under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi for the third consecutive time in the country. This time BJP has not got a clear majority and there is an NDA coalition government in the country and people have high expectations from this government in the budget this time.