The Union Budget 2025-26, presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, has brought major relief to India’s middle class with tax cuts, savings incentives, and increased spending on essential services. With a focus on boosting disposable income and improving the quality of life for average families, the budget is expected to reduce financial stress and encourage spending, saving, and investment.
Here are the salient features of the Budget:
- NO INCOME TAX ON AVERAGE MONTHLY INCOME OF UPTO RS 1 LAKH; TO BOOST MIDDLE CLASS HOUSEHOLD SAVINGS & CONSUMPTION
- SALARIED CLASS TO PAY NIL INCOME TAX UPTO ₹ 12.75 LAKH PER ANNUM IN NEW TAX REGIME
- UNION BUDGET RECOGNISES 4 ENGINES OF DEVELOPMENT – AGRICULTURE, MSME, INVESTMENT AND EXPORTS
- BENEFITTING 1.7 CRORE FARMERS, ‘PRIME MINISTER DHAN-DHAANYA KRISHI YOJANA’ TO COVER 100 LOW AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY DISTRICTS
- “MISSION FOR AATMANIRBHARTA IN PULSES” WITH A SPECIAL FOCUS ON TUR, URAD AND MASOOR TO BE LAUNCHED
- LOANS UPTO Rs. 5 LAKHS THROUGH KCC UNDER MODIFIED INTEREST SUBVENTION SCHEME
- FY-25 ESTIMATED TO END WITH FISCAL DEFICIT OF 4.8%, TARGET TO BRING IT DOWN TO 4.4% IN FY-26
- SIGNIFICANT ENHANCEMENT OF CREDIT WITH GUARANTEE COVER TO MSMEs FROM ₹ 5 CR TO ₹ 10 CR
- A NATIONAL MANUFACTURING MISSION COVERING SMALL, MEDIUM AND LARGE INDUSTRIES FOR FURTHERING “MAKE IN INDIA”
- 50,000 ATAL TINKERING LABS IN GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS IN NEXT 5 YEARS
- CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE FOR EDUCATION, WITH A TOTAL OUTLAY OF ₹ 500 CRORE
- PM SVANIDHI WITH ENHANCED LOANS FROM BANKS, AND UPI LINKED CREDIT CARDS WITH ₹ 30,000 LIMIT
- GIG WORKERS TO GET IDENTITY CARDS, REGISTRATION ON E-SHRAM PORTAL & HEALTHCARE UNDER PM JAN AROGYA YOJANA
- ₹ 1 LAKH CRORE URBAN CHALLENGE FUND FOR ‘CITIES AS GROWTH HUBS’
- NUCLEAR ENERGY MISSION FOR R&D OF SMALL MODULAR REACTORS WITH AN OUTLAY OF ₹ 20,000 CRORE
- MODIFIED UDAN SCHEME TO ENHANCE REGIONAL CONNECTIVITY TO 120 NEW DESTINATIONS
- ₹ 15,000 CRORE SWAMIH FUND TO BE ESTABLISHED FOR EXPEDITIOUS COMPLETION OF ANOTHER 1 LAKH STRESSED HOUSING UNITS
- ₹ 20,000 CRORE ALLOCATED FOR PRIVATE SECTOR DRIVEN RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT AND INNOVATION INITIATIVES
- GYAN BHARATAM MISSION FOR SURVEYAND CONSERVATION OF MANUSCRIPTS TO COVER MORE THAN ONE CRORE MANUSCRIPTS
- FDI LIMIT ENHANCED FOR INSURANCE FROM 74 TO 100 PER CENT
- JAN VISHWAS BILL 2.0 TO BE INTRODUCED FOR DECRIMINALISING MORE THAN 100 PROVISIONS IN VARIOUS LAWS
- UPDATED INCOME TAX RETURNS TIME LIMIT INCREASED FROM TWO TO FOUR YEARS
- DELAY IN TCS PAYMENT DECRIMINALISED
- TDS ON RENT INCREASED FROM ₹ 2.4 LAKH TO ₹ 6 LAKH
- BCD EXEMPTED ON 36 LIFESAVING DRUGS AND MEDICINES FOR TREATING CANCER, RARE AND CHRONIC DISEASES
- BCD ON IFPD INCREASED TO 20% AND ON OPEN CELLS REDUCED TO 5%
- BCD ON PARTS OF OPEN CELLS EXEMPTED TO PROMOTE DOMESTIC MANUFACTURING
- TO BOOST BATTERY PRODUCTION, ADDITIONAL CAPITAL GOODS FOR EV AND MOBILE BATTERY MANUFACTURING EXEMPTED
- BCD EXEMPTED FOR 10 YEARS ON RAW MATERIALS & COMPONENTS USED FOR SHIP BUILDING
- BCD REDUCED FROM 30% TO 5% ON FROZEN FISH PASTE AND 15% TO 5% ON FISH HYDROLYSATE
Quoting Telugu poet and playwright Shri Gurajada Appa Rao’s famous saying, ‘A country is not just its soil; a country is its people.’ – the Finance Minister presented the Union Budget 2025-26 with the theme “Sabka Vikas” stimulating balanced growth of all regions.
In line with this theme, the Finance Minister outlined the broad Principles of Viksit Bharat to encompass the following:
a) Zero-poverty;
b) Hundred per cent good quality school education;
c) Access to high-quality, affordable, and comprehensive healthcare;
d) Hundred per cent skilled labour with meaningful employment;
e) Seventy per cent women in economic activities; and
f) Farmers making our country the ‘food basket of the world’.
The Union Budget 2025-2026 promises to continue Government’s efforts to accelerate growth, secure inclusive development, invigorate private sector investments, uplift household sentiments, and enhance spending power of India’s rising middle class. The Budget proposes development measures focusing on poor (Garib), Youth, farmer (Annadata) and women (Nari).
The Budget aims to initiate transformative reforms in Taxation, Power Sector, Urban Development, Mining, Financial Sector, and Regulatory Reforms to augment India’s growth potential and global competitiveness.
Union Budget highlights that Agriculture, MSME, Investment, and Exports are engines in the journey to Viksit Bharat using reforms as fuel, guided by the spirit of inclusivity.