Union Budget 2024 LIVE Updates: FM Nirmala Sitharaman reaches Parliament to present her 7th straight Budget

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to create history when she presents her seventh straight budget on Tuesday for 2024-25, surpassing the record of former prime minister Morarji Desai.

Setting the tone for the third term of the Modi government, its focus areas may be boosting consumption by giving tax benefits to the middle class. Other priority areas may include agriculture, capex and infra spending and manufacturing push..

With India emerging as the biggest sweet spot in global growth, the budget is expected to address three major trends: global offshoring, digitalization, and energy transition.

Sitharaman, who will turn 65 next month, was in 2019 appointed as India’s first full-time woman finance minister when Prime Minister Narendra Modi won a decisive second term. Since then, she has presented six straight budgets, including an interim one in February this year.

-PTI

A total of 39 shipyards have registered, and 18 shipyards utilised the benefits under the Centre’s scheme to provide financial support to Indian shipyards for shipbuilding contracts signed between April 1, 2016, and March 31, 2026, according to the Economic Survey. 

“India’s Maritime Vision 2030 outlines over 150 initiatives to improve ports, shipping, and inland waterways and envisions investments of ₹3-3.5 lakh crore. The Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047 outlines over 300 initiatives across 11 key areas to drive growth and development in India’s coastal regions,” according to the Economic Survey 2023-24 tabled in the Parliament on Monday.

“Its vision aims to reduce the average vessel turnaround time (containers) from 25 hours in 2020 to less than 20 hours in 2030. Likewise, it also aims to increase the average ship daily output (gross tonnage) from 16,000 in 2020 to more than 30,000 in 2030.”

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the estimated receipts and expenditure (2024-25) of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir (with legislature) in Parliament today.

“I hope that the Budget will face the country’s economic realities. The biggest economic reality is that unemployment rate in 9.2% in the country, inflation is at all time high. Food inflation is particularly very high. Private sector investment is falling. I hope that the government and the Budget will project ways to improve this situation,” TMC MP Saugata Roy.

-PTI

Indian shares opened higher on July 23, led by financials and public sector companies, as investors brace for policy announcements in the Union Budget due at 11 a.m., which could have a huge bearing on the trajectory of markets.

The NSE Nifty 50 rose 0.24% to 24,568.9, while the S&P BSE Sensex added 0.28% to 80,724.3, as of 9:15 a.m. IST.

The Nifty has hit multiple all-time highs through its roughly 13% rally this year, despite a near 6% slide on June 4 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party returned to power but by unexpectedly having to rely on allies. Still, the index has risen in each of the seven weeks since.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday again took a digital tablet wrapped in a traditional ‘bahi-khata’ style pouch as she headed for Parliament to present the full Budget 2024-25 in a paperless format just like the previous years.

Draped in a white silk saree with magenta border, she posed for the traditional ‘briefcase’ picture outside her office, along with her team of officials, before heading to meet the President.

With the tablet carefully kept inside a red cover with a golden-coloured national emblem embossed on it instead of the briefcase, Parliament will be her next destination after the call on President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhawan.

Sitharaman, India’s first full-time woman Finance Minister, had in July 2019 ditched the colonial legacy of a Budget briefcase for the traditional ‘bahi-khata’ to carry Union Budget papers. She used the same in the following year, and in a pandemic-hit 2021, she swapped traditional papers with a digital tablet for carrying her speech and other Budget documents.

“There is no direction in the Budgets presented in the last 10 years. Inflation is skyrocketing, unemployment is high, the growth rate is declining fundamentally. This indicates that the economy isn’t in a healthy situation,” says AAP MP Sandeep Pathak says. 

The government’s steps such as mandatory quality norms and increase in customs duties have significantly helped the domestic toy players to boost exports and reduce dependence on Chinese imports, Economic Survey said on July 22.

It said that India’s emergence as a toy exporting nation can also be attributed to its integration into the global value chain and zero-duty market access for domestically manufactured toys in critical countries such as the UAE and Australia.

The industry has long faced challenges in the global trade landscape, consistently being a net importer of toys for many years.

“Rising exports, coupled with declining imports, transformed India from a deficit to a surplus nation in the trade of toys,” it said.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman arrived at the Ministry of Finance ahead of the Union Budget presentation on Tuesday.

The Finance Minister was pictured wearing a white saree with a violet border as she arrived at the Ministry.

Nirmala Sitharaman is set to present the Union Budget 2024 in Parliament today, marking her seventh consecutive budget and eclipsing the late Moraji Desai’s record of six consecutive budgets, which is likely to focus on changes in the income tax structure and improving the ease of doing business in India.

Sitharaman tabled the Economic Survey 2023-24 along with the statistical appendix on Monday.

Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said that the first Union Budget of the third Modi government will be based on his mantra of “Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas”.

“This budget is based on PM Modi’s mantra of Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas,” MoS Chaudhary said.

Chaudhary was among the first from FM Nirmala Sitharaman’s team to reach the North Block offices of the Finance Ministry ahead of the Budget Presentation. Vivek Joshi, Secretary, of the Department of Financial Services and Chief Economic Advisor V. Anantha Nageswaran have also reached the ministry ahead of FM Sitharaman.

-ANI

Extreme weather, lower reservoir levels and crop damage have affected farm output and led to higher food prices over the past two years, the Economic Survey 2023-24 said on July 22.

Unfavourable weather conditions particularly impacted the production prospects of vegetables and pulses, it said.

“In FY23 and FY24, the agriculture sector was affected by extreme weather events, lower reservoir levels, and damaged crops that adversely affected farm output and food prices. So, food inflation based on the Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) increased from 3.8% in FY22 to 6.6% in FY23 and further to 7.5% in FY24,” read the consolidated report on the state of the economy in the previous year.

The fiscal deficit for FY 2023-24 was 5.63% of GDP with a target of 5.1% for FY 2024-25. Given the significant share of personal tax in overall direct-tax collections, the government is unlikely to introduce measures that would greatly reduce tax revenue. Here are key expectations from individual taxpayers and potential government changes to minimise fiscal deficit impact:

Changes in simplified tax regime

• Standard deduction
• NPS employee contribution deduction
• Reintroduction of deduction for investment in infrastructure bonds

Changes in old tax regime

• Affordable housing deduction for interest paid on loan
• Metro cities for HRA

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tabled the Economic Survey 2023-24 in both Houses of Parliament on July 22. The Economic Survey is a comprehensive review or annual report of Indian economy during the closed financial year, prepared by the Economics Division of the Department of Economic Affairs of the Finance Ministry under the guidance of the India’s Chief Economic Advisor (CEA).

Here are the charts that show key numbers from the Economic Survey 2023-24:

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to present the Budget for 2024-25 in the Lok Sabha on July 23. Parliament Session begins on July 22 and will conclude with the passage of the Finance Bill on August 12.

In this series, experts from various fields suggest what the focus of Narendra Modi-led NDA government’s third term should be. Read what the experts have told The Hindu.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tabled the Economic Survey of India 2023-24, along with a statistical appendix, in both Houses of Parliament on July 22. 

The survey said that the outlook for India’s financial sector appears bright, but it needs to brace for likely vulnerabilities. The Indian financial sector is at a “turnpike moment”, it said, adding that the dominance of banking support to credit is being reduced, and the role of capital markets is rising. 

According to the report, India’s GDP is likely to grow at 6.5 to 7% in the current fiscal year amid global challenges which may impact exports. The growth projected for 2024-25 is lower than the economic growth rate of 8.2% estimated for the previous financial year.

India saw 92 lakh foreign tourist arrivals in 2023, signifying a positive post-pandemic revival, the Chief Economic Advisor has said in the Economic Survey released on July 22.

The survey, which was tabled in Parliament, said India’s tourism industry showed positive signs of revival post-pandemic with an year-on-year increase of 43.5%. The hospitality industry has also met the needs of the increasing numbers of tourists successfully. “In 2023, the highest amount of new supply was created with the addition of 14,000 rooms, bringing the total inventory of chain-affiliated rooms to 183,000 in India,” the survey said.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget 2024 on July 23 at 11 a.m. It will be a record seventh consecutive Budget presentation for Ms. Sitharaman.

The Budget 2024 presentation will be streamed on various platforms. Viewers can watch the Budget 2024 speech by Nirmala Sitharaman live at The Hindu. Follow our liveblog for all the latest news, reactions, and analysis of Budget 2024. The Finance Minister’s address will also be available to stream live via the Sansad TV.