Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the first Union Budget of the Modi 3.0 government and her seventh consecutive budget during the Monsoon Session of Parliament. She highlighted that this budget’s focus will be on employment, skilling, MSMEs, and the middle class. FM Sitharaman kept India’s FY25 capex outlay unchanged at ₹11.11 lakh crore, the same as was earmarked in February.
She also said that the government will launch a scheme to provide internship opportunities to 1 crore youth in 500 top companies over 5 years. She announced a new centrally-sponsored scheme for skilling in collaboration with states and industry, aiming to skill 20 lakh youth over 5 years.
The Interim Budget on February 1 featured no major policy changes or new benefits for the middle class. On Tuesday, Sitharaman met with President Droupadi Murmu before presenting the full Budget for 2024-25.
Following tradition, the finance minister visited the President at Rashtrapati Bhavan before heading to Parliament. President Murmu offered ‘dahi-chini’ (curd-sugar), considered auspicious, to Sitharaman before she left to present the Union Budget. The Union Cabinet met afterward to clear the Budget. Before the presentation in Parliament, the Cabinet, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the Budget for fiscal 2024-25 (April 2024 to March 2025).
Continuing the tradition she started in 2019, Sitharaman carried the budget speech in a ‘bahi-khata’, replacing the briefcase tradition. She used a digital tablet kept in a red ‘bahi-khata’ style pouch.
The economy is projected to grow by 6.5-7% in the current fiscal year, according to the Economic Survey tabled in Parliament on Monday
