Credit Guarantee Scheme for MSMEs expands collateral-free term loan support and strengthens credit during stress periods.
A package of measures strengthens MSME finance and market access by establishing a self-financing credit guarantee scheme for collateral-free term loans in manufacturing, a government-promoted guarantee fund to sustain credit during stress periods, and expansion of bank and SIDBI credit outreach. PSBs will develop in-house digital-footprint based credit assessment models to include enterprises without formal accounts, Mudra loan limits for repeat creditworthy entrepreneurs are increased, buyer onboarding thresholds on trade receivables platforms are reduced to improve working capital access, and infrastructure for food safety and e-commerce export hubs will be supported.

Government internship scheme offers year long placements with monthly allowance and employer CSR contribution requirement for a nationwide youth cohort.
A national internship programme will place a large youth cohort in 500 top companies over five years for twelve month industry placements. Participants will receive a monthly internship allowance and a one time assistance payment to support living costs. Host companies are expected to bear training costs and to contribute a portion of internship costs from their Corporate Social Responsibility funds, embedding private sector financing and training obligations into the scheme.

Model Skill Loan revision expands government backed trainee financing to improve access to industry aligned vocational training.
A new Centrally Sponsored Scheme announced as the fourth scheme under the Prime Minister's package will expand vocational skilling in partnership with State governments and industry, upgrade Industrial Training Institutes in a hub and spoke model oriented to measurable outcomes, and align course content to industry and emerging needs. The Model Skill Loan Scheme will be revised to enable larger trainee loans backed by a government promoted fund guarantee to widen access to skilling finance.

Employment-linked incentives to boost formal hiring via EPFO enrolment, wage support for first-time hires and employer contribution subsidies.
Implementation of three schemes creates an incentive framework tied to EPFO enrolment to promote formal employment: Scheme A provides a one-month wage via direct benefit transfer to first-time EPFO registrants within a specified salary ceiling; Scheme B subsidises EPFO contributions for both first-time employees and employers in manufacturing during the initial four years of employment on a prescribed scale; Scheme C reimburses employers a fixed monthly portion of EPFO contribution for additional employees across sectors within a salary ceiling for two years. Eligibility depends on EPFO registration and incremental job creation.

GST amendments ease compliance and appeals, exclude extra neutral alcohol from central tax and relax input tax credit rules.
Amendments simplify GST compliance and dispute resolution: Extra Neutral Alcohol is excluded from central tax with parallel IGST/UTGST changes; a new regularisation power covers non-levy or short-levy due to prevailing trade practice; input tax credit time limits are relaxed and a common deadline for demand notices and orders is set; the window to secure reduced penalties by paying tax with interest is extended. Pre-deposit requirements for appeals are lowered and Tribunal filing timelines adjusted, while the government may notify the Appellate Tribunal for anti-profiteering cases.

Reassessment rules tightened, tax services digitalized and a new dispute resolution scheme announced to curb litigation.
A statutory simplification program includes a comprehensive six month review of the Income tax Act, tightened reassessment and search time limits, and full digitalization of remaining GST, Customs and Income tax services within two years. Compliance changes merge charitable exemption regimes, rationalize and reduce multiple TDS rates, permit TCS credit against salary TDS, and decriminalize TDS delay until statement filing. The Vivad se Vishwas Scheme, 2024 is announced for pending appeals, monetary appeal thresholds are raised, and safe harbor and transfer pricing procedures will be expanded and streamlined.

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.