Introduction

        1.   The Indian economy has witnessed profound
positive transformation in the last ten years. The people of India are looking
ahead to the future
with hope and optimism. INTERIM BUDGET 2024-2025.

2.      With the blessings of the people,
when our Government under the
visionary and dynamic leadership of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi assumed office in 2014, the country was facing enormous
challenges. With ‘Sabka Saath,
Sabka Vikas’ as its ‘mantra’, the Government overcame
those challenges in right earnest.
Structural reforms were undertaken. Pro-people programmes were formulated and implemented promptly. Conditions were created for more
opportunities for employment and entrepreneurship. The economy got a new vigour. INTERIM BUDGET 2024-2025.
The fruits of development started reaching the people at scale. The country
got a new sense of purpose and hope. Naturally, the people blessed
the Government with a bigger mandate.

3. In the second term, our Government
under the leadership of Hon’ble Prime
Minister doubled down on its responsibilities to build a prosperous country with comprehensive development of all people and all regions.
Our Government strengthened its ‘mantra’ to ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, and Sabka Vishwas’. Our development philosophy covered all elements of inclusivity, namely,

· INTERIM BUDGET 2024-2025.
social inclusivity through coverage
of all strata of the society, and

· INTERIM BUDGET 2024-2025.
geographical inclusivity through development of all regions
of the country.

4. With the ‘whole of nation’ approach
of ‘Sabka Prayas’, the country
overcame the challenge
of a once-in-a-century pandemic, took long strides
towards ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’, committed to ‘Panch Pran’, and laid solid foundations for the ‘Amrit
Kaal’. As a result, our young country has high aspirations, pride in its present, and hope and
confidence for a bright future. We
expect that our Government, based on its stupendous work, will be blessed again by the people
with a resounding mandate.

Inclusive Development and Growth

5. Our humane and inclusive approach
to development is a marked and
deliberate departure from the earlier approach of ‘provisioning up-to-village level’. Development programmes, in the last ten years, have targeted each and
every household and individual, through
‘housing for all’, ‘har ghar jal’,
electricity for

all, cooking gas for all, bank accounts
and financial services
for all, in record time.

6. The worries about food have been
eliminated through free ration for 80 crore people. Minimum
support prices for the produce of ‘Annadata’ are
periodically increased appropriately. These
and the provision of basic necessities have enhanced real income in the rural areas. Their economic
needs could be addressed, thus spurring growth
and generating jobs. INTERIM BUDGET 2024-2025.

Social justice

7. Our Government is working with an approach
to development that is all-round, all-pervasive and all-inclusive (सर्वांगीण,  सर्वस्पर्शी  और  सर्वसमवर्ेर्शी).  It  covers   all
 castes  and
people at all levels. We are working
to make India a ‘Viksit Bharat’ by 2047. For achieving that goal, we need to improve people’s
capability and empower
them.

8. Previously, social justice was mostly a political slogan. For our Government, social justice is an effective
and necessary governance model. The saturation approach of covering
all eligible people is the
true and comprehensive achievement of social justice.
This is secularism in action,
reduces corruption, and
 prevents
 nepotism
 (भवई–भतीजवर्वद).  There  is  transparency
and assurance that benefits are delivered to all eligible people. The resources are distributed fairly. All,
regardless of their social standing, get access to opportunities. We are addressing systemic inequalities that had plagued
our society. We focus on

9.As our Prime Minister firmly
believes, we need to focus on four major castes. They are, ‘Garib’ (Poor), ‘Mahilayen’ (Women), ‘Yuva’ (Youth) and ‘Annadata’ (Farmer). Their needs, their aspirations, and their welfare are
our highest priority. The country progresses, when they progress.
All four require
and receive government
support in their quest to better their lives.
Their empowerment and well-being will drive the country forward.

INTERIM BUDGET 2024-2025.

Garib Kalyan, Desh ka Kalyan

10.We believe in empowering the poor.
The earlier approach of tackling poverty through entitlements had resulted in very modest outcomes. When the poor become
empowered partners in the development
process, government’s power to assist them also
increases manifold. With the pursuit of ‘Sabka
ka Saath’ in these 10 years, the
Government has assisted 25 crore people to get
freedom from multi-dimensional poverty. Our Government’s efforts are now getting synergized with energy and passion of such empowered people.
This is truly elevating them from poverty.

11.‘Direct Benefit Transfer’ of ` 34 lakh crore from the Government using PM-Jan Dhan accounts has led to savings of

` 2.7 lakh crore for the Government. This has been realized through avoidance of leakages prevalent earlier. The savings

have helped in providing more funds for ‘Garib Kalyan’.

12.PM-SVANidhi has provided credit assistance to 78 lakh street
vendors. From that total, 2.3 lakh
have received credit for the third time.

13.PM-JANMAN Yojana reaches out to the particularly vulnerable tribal groups, who have remained outside the realm of development so far. PM-Vishwakarma
Yojana provides end-to- end support
to artisans and craftspeople engaged in 18 trades. The schemes for empowerment of Divyangs and Transgender persons reflect firm resolve of our
Government to leave no one behind.

Welfare of Annadata

14.Farmers are our ‘Annadata’. Every year, under PM-KISAN SAMMAN Yojana, direct
financial assistance is provided to

11.8 crore farmers, including marginal and small farmers. Crop insurance is given to 4 crore farmers under PM Fasal Bima Yojana. These, besides several other
programmes, are assisting ‘Annadata’ in producing food for the country
and the world.

15.Electronic National Agriculture Market has integrated 1361 mandis, and is providing services to 1.8 crore farmers with trading
volume of ` 3 lakh
crore.

16.The sector is poised for inclusive,
balanced, higher growth and productivity. These are facilitated from farmer-centric policies, income support, coverage
of risks through
price and insurance support, promotion of technologies and innovations through start-ups.INTERIM BUDGET 2024-2025.

Empowering Amrit Peedhi, the Yuva

17.Our prosperity depends on adequately equipping
and empowering the youth. The
National Education Policy 2020 is ushering
in transformational reforms. PM ScHools for Rising India (PM SHRI) are delivering quality teaching, and nurturing
holistic and well-rounded individuals.

18.The Skill India Mission
has trained 1.4 crore youth, upskilled
and reskilled 54 lakh youth, and established 3000 new ITIs. A large number of new institutions of higher learning,
namely 7 IITs, 16 IIITs, 7 IIMs, 15 AIIMS and 390 universities have been set up.

19.PM INTERIM BUDGET 2024-2025.
Mudra Yojana has sanctioned 43 crore loans aggregating to ` 22.5 lakh crore for entrepreneurial aspirations of our youth. Besides that, Fund of
Funds, Start Up India, and Start Up
Credit Guarantee schemes are assisting our youth. They are also becoming ‘rozgardata’.

20.The country is proud of our youth
scaling new heights in sports. The
highest ever medal tally in Asian Games and Asian Para Games in 2023 reflects
a high confidence level. Chess prodigy
and our Number-One ranked player Praggnanandhaa put up a stiff fight against
the reigning World Champion Magnus
Carlsson in 2023. Today, India has over 80 chess grandmasters compared
to little over 20 in 2010. INTERIM BUDGET 2024-2025.

 21.The empowerment of women through
entrepreneurship, ease of living, and
dignity for them has gained momentum in these ten years.

22.Thirty crore Mudra Yojana loans have been given to women entrepreneurs. Female enrolment in higher education has gone up by twenty-eight per cent in ten years. In STEM courses, girls and women constitute forty-three per cent of enrolment
– one of the highest in the world. All these measures are getting reflected in the increasing participation of women
in workforce.

23.Making ‘Triple Talaq’ illegal,
reservation of one-third seats for
women in the Lok Sabha and State legislative assemblies, and giving over seventy per cent houses under
PM Awas Yojana in rural areas to women as sole or
joint owners have enhanced their
dignity. INTERIM BUDGET 2024-2025.

Exemplary Track Record of Governance, Development and Performance (GDP)

24.Besides delivering on high growth in terms of Gross Domestic Product, the Government is
equally focused on a more comprehensive ‘GDP’, i.e., ’Governance, Development and Performance’.

25.Our Government has provided
transparent, accountable, people-centric and prompt trust-based administration with ‘citizen-first’ and ‘minimum government, maximum governance’ approach.

26.The impact of all-round development
is discernible in all sectors. There is macro-economic stability, including in the external sector. Investments are robust.
The economy is doing well.

27.People are living better and earning
better, with even greater
aspirations for the future. Average real income of the people has increased
by fifty per cent. Inflation
is moderate. People are getting empowered, equipped
and enabled to pursue their aspirations. There is effective
and timely delivery
of programmes and of large projects. INTERIM BUDGET 2024-2025.

Economic Management

28.The multipronged economic management over the past ten years has complemented people-centric inclusive development. Following are some of the
major elements.

(1)All forms of infrastructure,
physical, digital or social, are being built in record time.

(2)All parts of the country are becoming active participants in economic growth.

(3)Digital Public Infrastructure, a new ‘factor
of production’ in the 21^st century, is instrumental in formalization of the
economy.

(4)Goods and Services Tax has enabled ‘One Nation, One Market, One Tax’. Tax reforms have led to deepening and widening of tax base.

(5)Strengthening of the financial
sector has helped in making savings,
credit and investments more efficient.

(6)GIFT IFSC and the unified
regulatory authority, IFSCA are
creating a robust gateway for global capital and financial services for the economy.

(7)Proactive inflation management has helped keep inflation within the
policy band.

Global
Context

29.Geopolitically, global affairs are
becoming more complex and challenging
with wars and conflicts. Globalization is being redefined with reshoring
and friend-shoring, disruption and fragmentation of supply chains,
and competition for critical minerals and technologies. A new world
order is emerging after the Covid pandemic.

30.India assumed G20 Presidency during
very difficult times for the world. The global economy
was going through
high inflation, high interest
rates, low growth, very high public debt, low
trade growth, and climate challenges. The pandemic had led to a crisis of food, fertilizer, fuel and
finances for the world, while India successfully navigated its way. The
country showed the way forward and built consensus on solutions for those global problems.

31.The recently announced India-Middle East-Europe Economic
Corridor is a strategic and economic game changer for India and others. In the words of Hon’ble Prime Minister, the corridor “will become the basis of world trade for hundreds of years to come, and history will remember
that this corridor was initiated on Indian soil”.

Vision for ‘Viksit Bharat’ INTERIM BUDGET 2024-2025.

32.Our vision for ‘Viksit Bharat’ is that of “Prosperous Bharat in harmony with nature, with modern infrastructure, and providing
opportunities for all citizens and all regions to reach their potential”.

33.With confidence arising from strong
and exemplary track- record of
performance and progress earning ‘Sabka
Vishwas’, the next five years
will be years of unprecedented development, and golden moments to realize the dream of developed India @ 2047. The trinity
of demography, democracy
and diversity backed by ‘Sabka Prayas’ has the potential to fulfill aspirations of every
Indian.

34.As Hon’ble Prime Minister
in his Independence Day address
to the nation mentioned, “There is no dearth of opportunities; as many opportunities as we want. The country is capable of creating
more opportunities. Sky’s the limit”.

 35.Our Government will adopt economic
policies that foster and sustain
growth, facilitate inclusive
and sustainable development, improve productivity, create
opportunities for all, help them enhance their capabilities, and contribute to generation of resources to power investments and fulfil aspirations.

36.Guided by the principle ‘Reform,
Perform, and Transform’, the
Government will take up next generation reforms, and build consensus
with the states and stakeholders for effective implementation.

37.It is an important policy priority
for our Government to ensure timely
and adequate finances, relevant technologies and appropriate training for the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) to grow and also
compete globally. Orienting the
regulatory environment to facilitate their growth will be an important
element of this policy mix.

38.Aligning with the ‘Panchamrit’ goals, our Government will facilitate sustaining high and more
resource-efficient economic growth. This will work towards energy security in terms of availability, accessibility and affordability.

39.For meeting the investment needs
our Government will prepare the
financial sector in terms of size, capacity, skills and regulatory framework.

Programme

40.Our Government stands ready to
assist the states in faster development of aspirational districts
and blocks, including
generation of ample economic
opportunities.

Development of the East

 41.Our Government will pay utmost
attention to make the eastern region and its people
a powerful driver of India’s growth.

PM Awas Yojana
(Grameen)

 42.Despite the challenges due to
COVID, implementation of PM Awas Yojana (Grameen)
continued and we are close to achieving
the target of three crore houses. Two crore more houses will be taken up in the next five years to meet the requirement arising from increase in the number of families.

Rooftop solarization and muft bijli

 43.Through rooftop solarization, one
crore households will be enabled to
obtain up to 300 units free electricity every month. This scheme follows the resolve of Hon’ble Prime Minister on
the historic day of consecration of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
Following benefits are expected.

a.Savings up to fifteen
to eighteen thousand
rupees annually for households
from free solar electricity and selling
the surplus to the distribution companies;

b.     Charging of electric vehicles;

number of vendors
for supply and installation;

d.Employment opportunities for the youth
with technical skills in manufacturing, installation and maintenance;

Housing for middle class

 44.Our Government will launch a scheme
to help deserving sections of the
middle class “living in rented houses, or slums, or chawls and unauthorized colonies” to buy or build their own houses.

Medical Colleges

 45.Several youth are ambitious to get
qualified as doctors. They aim to serve our people through improved
healthcare services. Our
Government plans to set up more medical colleges by utilizing the existing hospital
infrastructure under various
departments. A committee
for this purpose
will be set-up to examine
the issues and make relevant
recommendations.

Cervical Cancer Vaccination

 46.Our Government will encourage
vaccination for girls in age group of 9 to 14
years for prevention of cervical
cancer.

Maternal and child health
care

 47.Various schemes for maternal
and child care will be brought under one comprehensive programme for synergy
in implementation. Upgradation of anganwadi centres
under “Saksham Anganwadi
and Poshan 2.0” will be expedited for improved nutrition delivery, early childhood care and development.

48.The newly designed U-WIN platform for managing immunization and intensified efforts
of Mission Indradhanush will be rolled
out expeditiously throughout the country.

Ayushman Bharat

 49.Healthcare cover under Ayushman
Bharat scheme will be extended to all ASHA workers, Anganwadi
Workers and Helpers.

Agriculture and food processing

 50.The efforts for value addition in agricultural sector and boosting farmers’ income will be stepped
up. Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada
Yojana has benefitted 38 lakh farmers
and generated 10 lakh
employment. Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of
Micro Food Processing Enterprises Yojana has assisted 2.4 lakh SHGs and sixty thousand individuals with
credit linkages. Other schemes are complementing the efforts for reducing post- harvest losses,
and improving productivity and incomes.

51.For ensuring faster growth of the
sector, our Government will further
promote private and public investment in post-harvest activities including aggregation, modern storage, efficient supply chains, primary and
secondary processing and marketing and branding.

 52.After the successful adoption of
Nano Urea, application of Nano DAP on
various crops will be expanded in all agro-climatic zones.

Atmanirbhar Oil Seeds Abhiyan

 53.Building on the initiative announced in 2022, a strategy will be formulated to achieve ‘atmanirbharta’ for oil seeds such as mustard, groundnut, sesame, soybean, and sunflower. This will cover research for high-yielding varieties, widespread adoption of modern farming
techniques, market linkages,
procurement, value addition, and crop insurance.

Dairy Development

 54.A comprehensive programme for
supporting dairy farmers will be
formulated. Efforts are already on to control foot and mouth disease. India is the world’s largest milk producer but with low
productivity of milch-animals. The programme will be built on the success of existing schemes such Rashtriya Gokul Mission,
National Livestock Mission,
and Infrastructure Development Funds for dairy processing and animal husbandry.

Matsya Sampada

 55.It was our Government which set up a separate Department for Fisheries realizing
the importance of assisting fishermen. This has resulted
in doubling of both inland and aquaculture production. Seafood export
since 2013-14 has also doubled.    Implementation of Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) will be stepped

up to:

(1)enhance aquaculture productivity from existing 3 to 5 tons per hectare,

(2)double exports
to ` 1 lakh crore
and

(3)generate 55 lakh employment opportunities in near future.

Five integrated aquaparks will be setup.

Lakhpati Didi

56.Eighty-three lakh SHGs with nine crore women are transforming rural socio-economic landscape
with empowerment and self-reliance. Their success has assisted nearly one crore women to become Lakhpati
Didi already. They are an inspiration to others. Their achievements will be recognized through honouring them. Buoyed
by the success, it has been decided to enhance the target for Lakhpati Didi from 2 crore
to 3 crore.

Technological Changes

 57.New age technologies and data are
changing the lives of people and businesses. They are also enabling
new economic opportunities and
facilitating provision of high-quality services at affordable prices for all, including
those at ‘bottom
of the pyramid’. Opportunities for India at the global
level are

Research and Innovation for catalyzing growth,
employment and development

58.Prime Minister Shastri gave the
slogan of “Jai Jawan Jai Kisan”. Prime Minister Vajpayee made
that “Jai Jawan Jai Kisan Jai Vigyan”. Prime
Minister Modi has furthered that to “Jai Jawan Jai Kisan Jai Vigyan and Jai
Anusandhan”, as innovation is the foundation of development.

59.For our tech savvy youth, this
will   be   a
golden era. A corpus of rupees one lakh crore will be established with fifty-year
interest free loan. The corpus will provide long-term financing or refinancing with long tenors and low or nil
interest rates. This will encourage
the private sector to scale up research and
innovation significantly in sunrise domains. We need to have programmes that combine the powers of our youth and technology.

60.A new scheme will be launched
for strengthening deep-tech
technologies for defence
purposes and expediting ‘atmanirbharta’.

Infrastructure Development

 61.Building on the massive tripling of
the capital expenditure outlay in the
past 4 years resulting in huge multiplier impact on economic growth and employment creation, the outlay for the next year is being increased
by 11.1 per cent to eleven lakh, eleven    thousand,    one    hundred    and    eleven  crore rupees (` 11,11,111 crore).

This would be 3.4 per cent of
the GDP.

Railways

62.Three major economic railway corridor programmes will be implemented. These are:

(1)energy, mineral and cement corridors,

(2)port connectivity corridors, and

(3)high traffic density
corridors.

The projects have been identified under the PM Gati Shakti for enabling
multi-modal connectivity. They will improve
logistics efficiency and reduce cost.

63.The resultant decongestion of the
high-traffic corridors will also help in improving operations of passenger trains,
resulting in safety and higher travel speed for passengers. Together with dedicated freight corridors, these three economic corridor programmes will accelerate our
GDP growth and reduce logistic costs.

64.Forty thousand normal rail bogies
will be converted to the Vande Bharat standards to enhance safety,
convenience and comfort
of passengers.

Aviation Sector

 65.The aviation sector has been galvanized in the   past ten years.
Number of airports
have doubled to 149. Roll out of air connectivity to tier-two and tier-three cities under UDAN

hundred and seventeen new routes are carrying
1.3 crore passengers. Indian carriers
have pro-actively placed
orders for over 1000 new aircrafts. Expansion
of existing airports
and development of new airports
will continue expeditiously.

Metro and NaMo Bharat

 66.We have a fast-expanding middle class and rapid urbanization
is taking place. Metro Rail and NaMo
Bharat can be the catalyst for the
required urban transformation. Expansion of these systems
will be supported in large cities focusing
on transit-oriented development.

Green Energy

 67.Towards meeting our commitment for
‘net-zero’ by 2070, the following measures will be taken.

a.Viability gap funding will be
provided for harnessing offshore wind
energy potential for initial capacity of one giga-watt.

b.Coal gasification and liquefaction
capacity of 100 MT will be set up by
2030. This will also help in reducing imports of natural gas, methanol,
and ammonia.

c.Phased mandatory blending of compressed biogas (CBG)
in compressed natural gas (CNG) for transport
and piped natural gas (PNG) for domestic purposes will be mandated.

d.Financial assistance will be provided for procurement of biomass aggregation machinery to support
collection.

Electric Vehicle Ecosystem

68.Our Government will expand and
strengthen the e-vehicle ecosystem by supporting manufacturing and charging infrastructure. Greater adoption of
e-buses for public transport networks will be encouraged through payment security
mechanism.

Bio-manufacturing and Bio-foundry

 69.For promoting green growth,
a new scheme of bio-manufacturing and bio-foundry will be launched.
This will provide environment friendly
alternatives such as biodegradable polymers,
bio-plastics, bio-pharmaceuticals and bio-agri-inputs. This scheme will also help in transforming today’s consumptive manufacturing paradigm to the one based on regenerative principles.

Blue Economy 2.0

 70.For promoting climate resilient
activities for blue economy 2.0, a scheme for restoration and adaptation measures,
and coastal aquaculture and mariculture with integrated and multi-sectoral
approach will be launched.

71.The success of organizing G20 meetings in sixty places presented
diversity of India to global audience. Our economic strength has made the country
an attractive destination for business and conference tourism.
Our middle class also now aspires to travel and explore. Tourism,
including spiritual tourism,
has tremendous opportunities for local entrepreneurship.

72.States will be encouraged to take up comprehensive development of iconic tourist centres,
branding and marketing them at global
scale. A framework for rating of the centres based on quality of facilities and services will be established.
Long-term interest free loans will be
provided to States for financing such development on matching basis.

73.To address the emerging
fervour for domestic
tourism, projects for port connectivity, tourism infrastructure, and amenities will be taken up on our islands,
including Lakshadweep. This will help in generating employment also.

Promoting Investments

 74.The FDI inflow during 2014-23 was
USD 596 billion marking a golden
era.   That   is
twice   the   inflow
during   2005-14. For encouraging sustained
foreign investment, we are negotiating bilateral investment treaties
with our foreign
partners, in the spirit
of ‘first develop India’.

for ‘Viksit Bharat’

75.Many growth and development enabling reforms are needed in the states
for realizing the vision of ‘Viksit Bharat’. A provision of seventy-five thousand
crore rupees as fifty-year interest free loan is proposed this year to support those milestone-linked reforms
by the State Governments.

Societal Changes

76.The Government will form a
high-powered committee for an
extensive consideration of the challenges arising
from fast population growth and demographic changes. The committee will be mandated to make recommendations for addressing these challenges comprehensively in relation to the goal of ‘Viksit Bharat’.

Amrit Kaal as
Kartavya Kaal

 77.Our Government stands committed to
strengthening and expanding the economy with high growth and to create conditions for people to realize their
aspirations. Hon’ble Prime Minister in his Independence Day address
to the nation, in the 75th year of
our Republic said; we “commit ourselves
to national development, with new inspirations, new consciousness, new resolutions,
as the country opens up immense possibilities and opportunities”. It is our
‘Kartavya Kaal’.

78.Every challenge of the pre-2014 era was overcome
through our economic management and our governance. These have placed the country on a resolute
path of sustained
high growth. This has been

possible through our right policies, true intentions,
and appropriate decisions. In the full budget in July, our Government will present a detailed roadmap for our pursuit of ‘Viksit Bharat’.

Revised Estimates
2023-24

 79.The Revised Estimate of the total receipts other than borrowings is ` 27.56 lakh crore, of which the tax receipts
are

`
23.24 lakh crore. The Revised Estimate of the total
expenditure is ` 44.90 lakh
crore.

80.The revenue receipts at ` 30.03
lakh crore are expected to be higher than the Budget Estimate,
reflecting strong growth
momentum and formalization in the economy.

81.The Revised Estimate of the fiscal
deficit is 5.8 per cent of GDP, improving
on the Budget Estimate, notwithstanding moderation in the nominal
growth estimates.

Budget Estimates 2024-25

 82.Coming to 2024-25, the total receipts
other than borrowings and the total expenditure are
estimated at ` 30.80 and
47.66 lakh crore respectively. The tax receipts are estimated at ` 26.02 lakh crore.

83.The scheme of fifty-year interest free loan for capital
expenditure to states will be continued this year with total outlay of ` 1.3 lakh crore.

84.We continue on the path of fiscal consolidation, as announced in my
Budget Speech for 2021-22, to reduce fiscal deficit below 4.5 per cent by 2025-26. The fiscal deficit
in 2024-25 is estimated to be
5.1 per cent of GDP, adhering to that path.

85.The gross and net market borrowings through dated securities during 2024-25 are estimated at ` 14.13 and

11.75 lakh crore respectively. Both will be less than that in 2023-24. Now that the private investments are happening at scale, the lower borrowings by the Central
Government will facilitate larger availability of credit for the
private sector.

Vote on Account

 86.I will be seeking ‘vote on account’ approval
of the Parliament through the Appropriation Bill for a part of the financial
year 2024-25.

I will, now, move to Part B.

Part B

Hon’ble Speaker Sir,

Direct taxes

87.Over the last ten years, the direct tax collections have
more than trebled
and the return
filers swelled to 2.4 times.
I would like to assure the taxpayers that their contributions have been used wisely for the development of the country
and welfare of its people.
I appreciate the tax payers for their support.

88.The Government has reduced and
rationalized tax rates. Under the new
tax scheme, there is now no tax liability for tax payers with income up to ₹ 7 lakh, up from ₹ 2.2 lakh in the financial year 2013-14. The threshold for
presumptive taxation for retail
businesses was increased from ₹ 2 crore to ₹ 3 crore. Similarly, the threshold for professionals eligible for
presumptive taxation was increased from ₹ 50 lakh to ₹ 75 Lakh. Also, corporate
tax rate was decreased from 30 per cent to 22 per cent for existing domestic companies and to 15 per cent for certain new manufacturing companies.

89.In the last five years, our focus has been to improve tax-payer
services. The age-old
jurisdiction-based assessment system was transformed with the introduction of Faceless Assessment and Appeal, thereby
imparting greater efficiency, transparency and accountability. Introduction of updated income tax returns, a new Form 26AS and prefilling of tax returns
have made filing of tax returns simpler and easier. Average processing time of returns

has been reduced
from 93 days in the year 2013-14 to a mere ten days this year,
thereby making refunds faster.

Indirect Taxes

 90.By unifying the highly fragmented
indirect tax regime in India, GST has reduced
the compliance burden on trade and industry. The industry has acknowledged the benefits of GST. According to a recent survey conducted by
a leading consulting firm, 94 per
cent of industry leaders view the transition to GST as largely positive. According to 80 per cent of the respondents,
it has led to supply chain optimisation, as elimination of tax arbitrage and octroi has resulted in
disbanding of check posts at state and city boundaries. At the same time, tax base of GST more than doubled
and the average monthly gross GST collection has almost doubled to ₹ 1.66
lakh crore, this year. States too have benefited. States’ SGST revenue,
including compensation released
to states, in the post-GST
period of 2017-18
to 2022-23, has achieved a buoyancy of 1.22. In contrast, the tax
buoyancy of State revenues
from subsumed taxes in the
pre-GST four-year period of 2012-13 to 2015-16 was a mere 0.72. The biggest
beneficiaries are the consumers, as reduction in logistics
costs and taxes have brought down prices
of most goods and
services.

91.We have taken a number of steps in

Customs to facilitate international
trade. As a result, the import release time declined by 47 per cent to 71 hours at Inland Container Depots, by 28 per cent to 44 hours at air cargo
complexes and by 27 per cent to 85
hours at sea ports, over the last four years since 2019, when the National
Time Release Studies were first
started.

Tax proposals

 92.As for tax proposals, in keeping
with the convention, I do not propose
to make any changes relating
to taxation and propose
to retain the same tax rates for direct taxes and indirect taxes including import duties. However,
certain tax benefits to start-ups and
investments made by sovereign wealth or pension funds as also tax exemption on certain income of some IFSC units are expiring on 31.03.2024. To provide continuity in taxation, I propose
to extend the date to 31.03.2025.

93.Moreover, in line with our
Government’s vision to improve ease of living and ease
of doing business, I wish to
make an announcement to improve tax
payer services. There are a large number
of petty, non-verified, non-reconciled or disputed direct tax demands, many of them dating as far
back as the year 1962, which continue
to remain on the books, causing anxiety
to honest tax payers and hindering refunds
of subsequent years.
I propose to withdraw such outstanding direct tax demands
up to twenty-five thousand rupees (₹ 25,000)
pertaining to the period up to financial
year 2009-10 and up to ten-thousand rupees (₹ 10,000) for financial years 2010-11 to 2014-15. This is expected to benefit about a crore tax-payers.