Capital gains taxation simplified; new separate short-term and long-term regimes and raised exemption for certain financial assets.
Capital gains taxation is restructured into distinct short-term and long-term regimes with clarified holding-period classifications: listed financial assets held over one year qualify as long term, unlisted financial assets and all non-financial assets require two years; specified instruments (unlisted bonds and debentures, debt mutual funds, market-linked debentures) are taxed at applicable rates regardless of holding period, and the annual exemption limit for long-term gains on certain financial assets is increased to benefit lower and middle-income taxpayers.

Comprehensive review of the Income-tax Act to simplify taxation, reduce disputes and reform reassessment and capital gains rules.
The Budget advances a policy package centred on nine priorities-agriculture productivity, employment and skilling, inclusive development, manufacturing & services, urban development, energy security, infrastructure, innovation and next-generation reforms-with detailed programs and financing. Key employment measures include five schemes tied to EPFO enrolment for first-time workers, manufacturing bulk hiring, employer reimbursement, skilling and internships. Tax reforms propose a comprehensive review of the Income-tax Act to simplify law and reduce litigation, merged charity exemptions, TDS/TCS rationalisation, limited reassessment windows, simplified capital gains taxation, and substantive customs and GST amendments to incentivise domestic value addition, ease trade and adjust appeal and demand procedures.

Angel tax abolition for all investors eases startup funding and simplifies foreign investment and tax regimes.
Abolition of the angel tax is proposed for all classes of investors to facilitate start up funding, alongside reduction of the corporate tax rate for foreign companies and simplification of Foreign Direct Investment and Overseas Investment rules to attract foreign capital.

Customs duty reform to boost domestic manufacturing and enhance export competitiveness through targeted exemptions and rate rationalisation.
Customs Duty reforms provide targeted duty exemptions and reductions to support domestic manufacturing, deepen local value addition and enhance export competitiveness. Measures include exemptions and cuts on specified medicines and medical equipment, critical minerals and selected electronic components; sectoral duty adjustments and exemptions for seafood, leather and textiles to boost exports; changes to precious metal and base metal duties to encourage domestic value addition and lower production costs; and a planned comprehensive review to rationalise and simplify the duty structure.

Fiscal consolidation remains central as the budget prioritises reducing the fiscal deficit and lowering market borrowings.
The Union Budget 2024-25 prioritises sustaining fiscal consolidation while promoting nine transformative areas including agriculture resilience, employment and skilling, human resource development, manufacturing and services, urban development, energy security, infrastructure, innovation and next generation reforms. The Government reiterates commitment to reduce the fiscal deficit further, lower market borrowings relative to the prior year, and to place Central Government debt on a declining path as a percentage of GDP from 2026-27, with an Economic Policy Framework to guide further formulation and implementation.

Standard deduction increase under new tax regime expands tax relief for salaried employees and pensioners.
The Finance Minister proposed raising the standard deduction for salaried employees and increasing the family pension deduction for pensioners under the new tax regime, alongside a revised tax-rate structure, to reduce taxable income and provide measurable annual tax savings for beneficiaries.

Employment Linked Incentive to subsidize wages and EPFO contributions, encouraging employer hiring and skilling of youth.
Three Employment Linked Incentive schemes linked to EPFO enrolment provide: a First Timers wage subsidy paid in instalments conditioned on online financial literacy training and refundable by employers if employment ends within twelve months; a manufacturing hire incentive supporting EPFO contributions in initial employment years with similar refund conditions; and an employer reimbursement covering EPFO contributions for additional hires for two years, applicable across sectors and not limited to new EPFO entrants.

Fiscal consolidation affirmed: budget projects narrowed deficit and prioritises increased capital expenditure and revenue mobilisation.
The Budget frames a path of fiscal consolidation for 2024 25 with a projected fiscal deficit of 4.9 percent of GDP and an aim to reduce it below 4.5 percent thereafter, while specifying BE aggregates for receipts, expenditure, gross and net market borrowings, capital expenditure including transfers to states, and projected gross tax and non tax revenues.

Affordable housing expansion with central support and PPP rental projects to strengthen urban development and services.
The Budget establishes an Affordable Housing Scheme for urban low- and middle-income families with central assistance and interest subsidy support, and promotes rental housing with dormitory-style accommodation for industrial workers in Public-Private Partnership mode with viability gap funding. It pairs housing measures with an urban development program that includes city-level growth hub planning, transit-oriented development strategies, bankable water and sanitation projects, support for weekly street-market hubs, and encouragement of state-level stamp duty moderation to be incorporated into urban schemes.

Tourism development: Budget backs temple corridor and regional heritage upgrades to boost jobs and investment.
The Budget commits to national tourism development by supporting comprehensive upgrades of Vishnupad and Mahabodhi Temple corridors modelled on the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor, undertaking place based initiatives for Rajgir and Nalanda (including revival of Nalanda University), and providing assistance for development of Odisha's cultural and natural tourism assets to generate jobs, stimulate investment and promote regional economic growth.

Minor pension scheme enables parent or guardian contributions with automatic conversion to standard NPS at majority.
A new contributory pension scheme named Vatsalya permits parents and guardians to contribute for minors; upon attainment of majority the minor account will convert seamlessly into a standard National Pension System account to preserve continuation of retirement savings.

Saturation coverage for tribal families adopted to deliver concentrated village-level socio-economic development and inclusive human resource support.
The Pradhan Mantri Janjatiya Unnat Gram Abhiyan adopts a Saturation Approach to improve tribal socio-economic conditions by providing saturation coverage for tribal families in tribal-majority villages and aspirational districts, using concentrated village-level interventions and coordination with district aspirational programmes to deliver inclusive human resource development and social justice.

Women's economic empowerment advanced through enhanced budget allocation, industry-collaborative hostels and creches supporting workforce participation.
The Budget commits substantial budgetary resources to women's economic empowerment and identifies operational measures to increase female workforce participation, including industry-collaborative working women hostels, creches, women-specific skilling programmes, and market access support for women's self-help group enterprises, using public-private partnership modalities to translate allocation into participation and enterprise development.

Higher education loan support expands access with targeted interest subvention and direct e voucher distribution to students.
Financial support for higher education loans up to ` 10 lakh is announced with an annual interest subvention of 3 percent delivered via e vouchers directly to 1 lakh students each year, targeting youth not eligible under existing government schemes. Separately, the Anusandhan National Research Fund will be operationalized for basic research and prototype development and a financing pool will be established to spur private sector led research and innovation at commercial scale.

Saturation Approach to inclusive human resource development and social justice covering eligible people through stepped-up livelihood schemes.
The Budget adopts a Saturation Approach to achieve inclusive human resource development and social justice by covering all eligible people through education, health and capability building programmes, with stepped up implementation of targeted livelihood and enterprise schemes such as PM Vishwakarma, PM SVANidhi, National Livelihood Missions and Stand Up India to empower farmers, youth, women, artisans, self help groups, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and street vendors.

Pumped storage policy to enable electricity storage and smooth integration of variable renewable energy into the grid.
A policy for promoting pumped storage projects will be issued to enable electricity storage and smooth integration of variable renewable energy. The Budget expands the list of exempted capital goods for solar cell and panel manufacture while discontinuing customs duty exemptions for solar glass and tinned copper interconnect. The Government will support R&D and private sector partnership for small nuclear reactors and fund indigenous deployment of Advanced Ultra Super Critical thermal technology through a public joint venture with fiscal support, alongside a roadmap to shift hard to abate industries from energy efficiency to emission targets and into the Indian Carbon Market.

Customs duty changes on electronics and PCBA reshape tariff incentives while a venture capital fund supports space economy expansion.
The budget lowers customs duty to 15 per cent on mobile phones, mobile PCBA and mobile chargers; removes customs duty, subject to conditions, on oxygen free copper for resistor manufacture and exempts certain parts for connector manufacture; and increases customs duty on PCBA of specified telecom equipment to 15 per cent. It also directs use of sectoral databases for improved data governance and proposes population scale DPI applications across multiple service areas, while establishing a venture capital fund to expand the space economy.

Land reform incentives will establish parcel identification and digitised records to enable credit flow and modern property administration.
The fiscal announcement incentivises land sector reforms to be completed within three years: rural actions include assigning a Unique Land Parcel Identification Number, digitising cadastral maps, surveying subdivisions to reflect current ownership, establishing a land registry and linking records to a farmers registry to facilitate credit and agricultural services; urban actions require digitisation of land records with GIS mapping and an IT based system for property record administration, updating and tax administration to improve the financial position of urban local bodies.

Critical Mineral Mission to boost domestic production, recycling and overseas acquisition of critical mineral assets with tech and workforce measures.
The Budget proposes twelve investment-ready "plug and play" industrial parks under the National Industrial Corridor Development Programme to provide complete infrastructure and attract investment. It also proposes a Critical Mineral Mission to promote domestic production, recycling and overseas acquisition of critical mineral assets, including technology development, workforce upskilling, an extended producer responsibility framework and financing, and to launch auctions for offshore mining blocks. Additionally, integration of the e-Shram portal and revamps of ShramSuvidha and Samadhan portals aim to streamline labour services and regulatory compliance.

Infrastructure capital allocation and interest free state loans to boost projects, plus rural connectivity and flood management support.
A major increase in capital spending prioritises infrastructure, including provision of long term interest free loans to states to support state infrastructure investment, measures to promote private investment through viability gap funding and a market based financing framework, launch of a new phase of the rural roads programme for additional habitations, and targeted irrigation, flood mitigation and disaster reconstruction assistance for affected states.