Here are the latest updates on the Union Budget 2024
Budget Presentation: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has begun presenting the Union Budget 2024 in Lok Sabha.
Focus Areas: The budget will focus on employment, skilling, and MSMEs, with nine priority areas, including productivity, resilience, energy, security, infrastructure, manufacturing, land reforms, urban development, and next-generation reforms.
Expectations: The budget is expected to lay out the roadmap for transforming India into a developed nation by 2047, with a focus on job creation, capital expenditure, and rationalization of the income tax structure.
Economic Survey: The Economic Survey 2023-24, presented by Sitharaman on Monday, forecasted that the Indian economy has the potential to sustain a growth rate of 7% or more in the medium term.
Budget Discussion: The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are expected to have a 20-hour discussion on the Union Budget, with a focus on specific ministries such as railways, education, health, MSMEs and food processing.
Digital Budget: This year’s budget will be a digital one, with Sitharaman using a tablet to present the budget, instead of the traditional briefcase or “bahi khata”.
Key Announcements: The budget may include announcements on income tax rates, capital expenditure, agriculture sector, GDP growth rate, and fiscal deficit, among others.
Stock Market: The BSE Sensex and Nifty50 have opened in green ahead of the budget presentation, with a gain of 0.21% each.