New Delhi, July 30 (IANS) The Lok Sabha on Tuesday approved the Rs 48.21 lakh crore Union Budget for 2024-25 aimed at giving a major push to job creation with a focus on the country’s youth, empowering women and improving the incomes of farmers.

The Union Budget and the Budget for J&K, which was also tabled on Tuesday, were passed by a voice vote by the Lok Sabha. The relevant appropriation bills were also passed by the lower house.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has fixed the fiscal deficit at 4.9 per cent of GDP despite higher allocations for social welfare schemes due to robust tax collections in a fast-growing economy.

Replying to the debate on the budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the fiscal deficit would be brought down further to below 4.5 per cent by 2025-26 as the government would stick to the fiscal consolidation path.

The gross and net market borrowings through dated securities during 2024-25 are estimated at Rs 14.01 lakh crore and Rs 11.63 lakh crore respectively. Both will be less than that in 2023-24.

The reduced borrowings by the government will leave more money in the banking system for companies to borrow for investments which will help to spur growth and create more jobs.

FM Sitharaman said that for the year 2024-25, the total receipts other than borrowings and the total expenditure are estimated at Rs 32.07 lakh crore and Rs 48.21 lakh crore respectively. The net tax receipts are estimated at Rs 25.83 lakh crore.

–IANS

sps/dan

New Delhi, July 30 (IANS) The Union Budget aims to simplify tax provisions and reduce complexity and disputes, while ensuring that those more capable bear a burden than the lesser, Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra said here on Tuesday.

At a post-budget session at the leading industry chamber PHDCCI, Malhotra said the budget not only aims to adopt a collaborative, non-adversarial approach but also stimulate growth and employment, “with a significant shift from principal accounts to normative and presumptive methods”.

“This year’s budget is primarily focused on growth, development and inclusive progress. On the revenue side the goal is to support growth momentum as India stands out with a 7 per cent growth rate amid global economic challenges aiming for a ‘Viksit Bharat’ by 2047,” he emphasised.

On capital gains tax, the Revenue Secretary said the changes were driven by simplicity, fairness and equity. “Efforts were made to address various suggestions, including simplifying TDS, making appeal orders effective, rectifying cases, reducing the reassessment period, and merging charity schemes.”

Malhotra expressed gratitude to taxpayers, mentioning that 51 per cent of direct tax revenue comes from the TDS.

He also assured the full support of the government towards the upliftment of industry and trade.

According to PHDCCI President Sanjeev Agrawal, the steps announced for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), such as credit support during periods of stress, credit guarantee for manufacturing units and the new assessment model for public sector banks for providing credit to MSMEs, are going to provide a fillip to scores of small units.

“We are sure that the overall provisions of Budget 2024-25 would further boost the economy, attract investments and create employment opportunities for the growing youth population,” Agrawal told the gathering.

PHDCCI Executive Director, Dr Ranjeet Mehta, appreciated the government’s decision to eliminate the angel tax as a significant milestone for Indian startups, saying this will further boost innovation and investors’ confidence amid the funding challenges.

–IANS

na/vd

New Delhi, July 30 (IANS) In a bid to boost innovation and modernise the industry, the Patent Office has granted a record 1,03,057 patents in the last fiscal (FY24), the Parliament was informed on Tuesday.

Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Jitin Prasada, said that several steps have been taken by the government to further strengthen the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) ecosystem in India.

“Owing to fee concessions in patent applications, there has been a significant increase in Patent filings by startups, MSMEs and educational Institutes,” the minister told the Lok Sabha in a reply to a question.

Similarly, 75 per cent fee concessions at each stage of prosecution of design applications are extended to startups and MSMEs and 50 per cent to Trade Mark application filing.

The Centre launched the National Intellectual Property Awareness Mission (NIPAM) in December 2021 to impart IP awareness and basic training in educational institutes across the country.

Minister Prasada said that more than 2 million people have been trained about IPRs to date. The Scheme for Facilitating Start-Ups Intellectual Property Protection (SIPP) was launched in 2016 to support startups in safeguarding their IP rights (patents, trademarks and designs) by providing the opportunity “to avail pro bono facilitation by empanelled IP experts and facilitation fees of the IP experts to be borne by the government”.

After the scheme, there has been a significant increase in IP applications by startups. As of June 23, 2024, the Office of Geographical Indications Registry has registered a total of 643 GI applications in the country, the government said.

–IANS

na/vd

New Delhi, July 30 (IANS) Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharman on Tuesday put the opposition on the mat for alleging that Budget 2024-25 had not made any allocation to states as their names were not mentioned in her speech on July 23.

The Finance Minister cited budget speeches of the Congress-led UPA government which in some years had not mentioned as many 26 states by name. In the other years of the UPA rule, she cited that 12 to 20 states were not mentioned in budget speeches.

“Does this mean that the UPA government ignored these states?” She asked to drive home her point that if the name of a state is not mentioned in the budget speech it does not mean that the state will not get any funds from the Centre.

She said the opposition was distorting facts to spread falsehoods among the people.

FM Sitharaman then cited data from the budget to show that the Budget had allocated funds to opposition-ruled states.

She pointed out random examples from the budget such as Congress-ruled Himachal Pradesh being allocated Rs 1,900 crore for a bulk drug plant and both Kerala and Telangana being allocated funds for setting up textile parks.

Similarly, large railway projects have been announced which will cover projects in opposition-ruled states such as West Bengal and Telangana, she added.

She also pointed out that another big railway project entailing an investment of Rs 12,314 crore for doubling railway lines in Telangana and Maharashtra has also been announced even though the names of the states had not been mentioned in her budget speech.

Citing more “random examples”, the Finance Minister said that Rs 9,667 crore had been allocated for a major highway project (NH 66) in Kerala even though the name of the state was not mentioned in her speech.

Similarly, the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra highway project with a massive allocation of Rs 18,274 crore would benefit Punjab, Haryana and J&K but the names of these states had not figured in her budget speech.

–IANS

sps/dan

New Delhi, July 30 (IANS) Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday reiterated her defence of the Union Budget 2024-2025 and said that the government didn’t ‘discriminate’ between BJP and non-BJP states, as claimed by the Opposition parties.

She also lashed out at the Opposition over a ‘motivated and misleading’ campaign and said that not naming any state didn’t mean that it was deprived of its right and revenue.

FM Sitharaman, who presented her seventh consecutive Budget this year, also sought to turn the tables on the Congress by recalling the financial documents of UPA eras, which didn’t mention all the states.

“In 2004-05, the Budget didn’t name 17 states, in 2005-06, there was no mention of 18 states, in 2006-07, 13 states were missed out, in 2009-10, a whopping number of 26 states were left out while the 2012-13 budget didn’t mention 13 states,” the FM pointed out.

“Does that mean no money was allotted to these states? Does that mean that these states were bereft of funds?” she asked.

Flagging statements of Opposition leaders on cooperative federalism, she said that a deliberate attempt was made to delude and mislead the public at large.

A misleading campaign is being run by the Opposition parties and as part of this gameplan, they are spreading canards and fake information. She added that they are trying to create fear in people’s minds by distorting the facts.

The Finance Minister also shared details of various allocations and outlays in the current Budget for the states, which were not named in her speech.

“Talking about Railway projects alone, the one in Bihar, Bengal and Jharkhand has been allocated Rs 12,000 crore while the one in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh will entail a cost of Rs 770 crore,” FM said, citing random figures.

“In terms of road highway projects, Kerala has been allocated Rs 9,600 crores while Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi together have been sanctioned Rs 18, 274 crores,” she added.

She further lambasted the Congress-led Opposition for keeping mum on years of ‘malpractice’ (of not naming states in the Budget) and said that an unnecessary controversy has been created because a chaiwala turned Prime Minister is running an efficient administration.

Notably, the INDIA bloc had raised questions over Budgetary allocations and also accused the Modi government of favouring two states Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, ruled by BJP and its allies. Protesting against the Budget 2024, they called it an “assault on the sanctity of the federal structure of India.”

–IANS

mr/dan