Budget 2025-26: Key Features

• Key features of the Budget for 2025-2026, from the Ministry of Finance, Budget Division

Journey of Development

• Agriculture, MSME (Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises), Investment, and Exports are development engines
• Reforms are the fuel
• The guiding spirit is inclusivity
• The destination is Viksit Bharat (Developed India)
• A country is defined by its people

Aspiration for Viksit Bharat

• Accelerate growth
• Secure inclusive development
• Enhance the spending power of India's rising middle class
• Invigorate private sector investments
• Uplift household sentiments

Focus on Garib, Youth, Annadata and Nari

• Development measures focus on the poor, youth and women
• Plans to spur agricultural growth and rural prosperity

Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana

• Developing Agri (Agriculture) Districts Programme will cover 100 districts
• The initiative is likely to help 17 million farmers

Enhanced Credit through KCC (Kisan Credit Card)

• Short-term loans for 77 million farmers, fishermen, and dairy farmers
• Loan enhancement of ₹5 lakh (0.5 million Rupees)

Mission for Cotton Productivity

• A 5-year mission to facilitate improvements in productivity and sustainability of cotton farming

National Mission on High Yielding Seeds

• Targeted development and propagation of seeds with high yield, pest resistance, and climate resilience

Makhana Board in Bihar

• Focus on improving production, processing, value addition, marketing, and organization of Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs)

Aatmanirbharta in Pulses

• Six-year mission focusing on Tur, Urad, and Masoor (types of pulses)
• Emphasis on developing and commercially providing climate-resilient seeds
• Enhance protein content
• Increase productivity
• Improve post-harvest storage and management
• Assure remunerative prices to farmers

India Post as a Catalyst for the Rural Economy

• Rural community hub co-location
• Institutional account services like DBT (Direct Benefit Transfer), cash out, and EMI pick-up
• Credit services to micro-enterprises
• Insurance and assisted digital services

Focus on Labour Intensive Sectors

• Focusing on manufacturing with considerations for ease and cost of doing business
• Future ready workforce for in-demand jobs

Credit Cards for Micro Enterprises

• Credit Cards with a ₹5 lakh limit for micro enterprises registered on Udyam portal
• Issue of 10 lakh cards in the first year

Measures for Labour Intensive Sectors

• Focus Product Scheme for Footwear & Leather Sectors
• Generate employment for 22 lakh people
• Generate turnover of ₹4 lakh crore
• Generate exports of over ₹1.1 lakh crore
• Measures for the Toy Sector
• Development of clusters, skills, and a manufacturing ecosystem
• Create high-quality, unique, innovative, and sustainable toys to represent the 'Made in India' brand
• Support for Food Processing
• Establishment of a National Institute of Food Technology in Bihar
• Enhanced income for the farmers and enhanced skilling, entrepreneurship, and employment opportunities for the youth

Scheme for first time Entrepreneurs

• The scheme provides ₹2 crore loan for first-time entrepreneurs, including women, Scheduled Castes and Tribes

Revision in classification criteria for MSMEs

• Micro Enterprises: Investment revised to ₹2.5 crore, Turnover revised to ₹10 crore
• Small Enterprises: Investment revised to ₹25 crore, Turnover revised to ₹100 crore
• Medium Enterprises: Investment revised to ₹125 crore, Turnover revised to ₹500 crore

Investing in people, economy and innovation

• Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0
• Expansion of capacity in IITs
• Day Care Cancer Centres in all District Hospitals
• Bharatiya Bhasha Pustak Scheme provides digital Indian language books for school and higher education

Education and Skilling

• Five National Centres of Excellence for skilling to be set up with global expertise and partnerships
• Fifty thousand Atal Tinkering Labs to be set up in government schools in the next 5 years
• Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence for education with a total outlay of ₹500 crore
• Broadband connectivity will be provided to all government secondary schools and primary health centres in rural areas

Medical Education

• Expansion of medical education
• 10,000 additional seats and a goal of adding 75,000 seats in the next 5 years

PM SVANidhi and Welfare

• PM SVANidhi revamped with enhanced loans from banks, UPI linked credit cards, and assistance with capacity building
• Welfare of Online Platform Workers: Registration on the e-Shram portal & healthcare under PM Jan Arogya Yojana

Support for States and infrastructure

• Support to States for Infrastructure with an outlay of ₹1.5 lakh crore
• 50-year interest-free loans to states for capital expenditure and incentives for reforms

The Jal Jeevan Mission

• Achieve 100% coverage and extended till 2028 with an enhanced total outlay

Power Sector Reforms:

• Intended to incentivize distribution reforms and augmentation of intra-state transmission
• Additional borrowing of 0.5% of GSDP to states, contingent on these reforms

Asset Monetization and Maritime Development

• Asset Monetization Plan 2025-30: Launched to plough back capital of ₹10 lakh crore in new projects
• Maritime Development Fund with a corpus of ₹25,000 crore for long-term financing with up to 49% contribution by the government
• A nuclear Energy Mission promotes active partnership with the private sector through amendments to related acts

Goals and connectivity

• Regional connectivity to 120 new destinations with the goal of transporting another four crore passengers over the next 10 years
• SWAMIH Fund-2: ₹15,000 crore for expeditious completion of one lakh dwelling units through blended finance

Tourism and Skill Development

• Promoting tourism for employment-led growth
• Developing the top 50 tourist destination sites in partnership with states
• Introducing streamlined e-visa facilities and implementing intensive skill-development programs for the youth

PM Research Fellowship

• Provide 10,000 fellowships for technological research in IITs and IISc

Research, Development & Innovation

• Allocating ₹20,000 crore to implement private sector driven Research, Development, and Innovation initiatives

Gene Bank and Gyan Bharatam Mission

• The 2nd Gene Bank with 10 lakh germplasm lines to be set up for future food and nutritional security
• Gyan Bharatam Mission is for documentation and conservation of manuscript heritage to cover more than 1 crore manuscripts

National Geospatial Mission

• Develop Foundational Geospatial Infrastructure and Data
• Uses PM Gati Shakti facilitating modernization of land records, urban planning, and design of infrastructure projects.
• Export Promotion Mission with sectoral and ministerial targets to facilitate easy access to export credit, cross-border factoring support, and tackle non-tariff measures in overseas markets

Promoting Exports with BharatTradeNet

• BharatTradeNet (BTN) is a digital public infrastructure set up as a unified platform for trade documentation and financing solutions
• Support for integration with Global Supply Chains
• National Framework for GCC as guidance to states for promoting Global Capability Centres in emerging tier 2 cities

Warehousing and Reforms

• Upgrade of infrastructure and warehousing for air cargo including high value perishable horticulture produce

Grameen Credit Score

• 'Grameen Credit Score' framework to serve the credit needs of SHG members and people in rural areas
• NaBFID will set up a 'Partial Credit Enhancement Facility' for corporate bonds for infrastructure

Key Changes

• Central KYC registry in 2025 and rationalizing speedy company merger approvals
• FDI limit for the insurance sector to rise from 74% to 100%
• Changes in direct taxes and proposal to introduced the New Income Tax Bill

Regulatory Changes

• A light-touch regulatory framework based on principles and trust will unleash productivity and employment.

Committees and Mechanisms

• Aim to improve the efficiency and responsiveness of financial regulations and subsidiary instructions

Rationalizing Tax Structures

• Rationalisation of Customs Tariff Structure for Industrial Goods
• Removing 07 tariff rates and not applying more than one cess or surcharge
• Applying equivalent cess to maintain effective duty incidence on most items and lower cess on certain items

Specific Exemptions

• Exemptions for open cell for LED/LCD TV, looms for textiles, capital goods for lithium ion battery of mobile phones, and EVs aiming to Make in India
• Promotion of MRO and extension of time limit for the export of railway goods imported for repairs

Trade and Medicine

• Trade Facilitation by fixing time limits for finalisation of provisional assessment and new provision for voluntary declaration of material facts post clearance and duty payment with interest but without penalty
• 36 lifesaving drugs/medicines in exempted list with 6 medicines in 5% duty list
• Include 37 medicines and 13 new patient assistance programs in the exempt list

Direct Tax simplification

• Introduction of a scheme for determining arm's length price of international transaction for a block period of three years
• Expansion of scope of safe harbour rules to reduce litigation and provide certainty in international taxation.

Changes to Tax

• Reduces compliance for small charitable trusts/institutions and allows tax payers to claim the annual value of 02 self occupied properties without any conditions
• Certainty of taxation to Category I and category II AIFs, undertaking investments in infrastructure and other such sectors, on the gains from securities

Income Tax and TDS Reforms

• Personal Income Tax reforms with a special focus on the middle class
• Tax deduction limit for senior citizens doubled from ₹ 50,000 to ₹ 1 lakh
• The annual limit of ₹2.40 lakh for TDS on rent increased to ₹ 6 lakh