Why in news?

Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2024-25 in Parliament.

What’s in today’s article:

• Union Budget/ 'Annual Financial Statement'
• Key highlights of Union Budget 2024-2025 – Part I

Union Budget/ 'Annual Financial Statement'

• Article 112 of the Constitution requires the government to present to Parliament a statement of estimated receipts and expenditure in respect of every financial year, from April 1 to March 31.
  • This statement is called the annual financial statement.
• It is divided into three parts - Consolidated Fund, Contingency Fund and Public Account.
  • For each of these funds, the government has to present a statement of receipts and expenditure.

Key highlights of Union Budget 2024-2025 – Part I

• Focus
  • As mentioned in the interim budget, the focus is on 4 major groups, namely ‘Garib’ (Poor), ‘Mahilayen’ (Women), ‘Yuva’ (Youth) and ‘Annadata’ (Farmer).
• Theme
  • Focus was given on employment, skilling, MSMEs, and the middle class.
  • FM announced the Prime Minister’s package of 5 schemes and initiatives to facilitate employment, skilling and other opportunities for 4.1 crore youth over a 5-year period with a central outlay of ₹2 lakh crore.
  • This year, ₹1.48 lakh crore has been allocated for education, employment and skilling.
• 9 Priorities in pursuit of Viksit Bharat
  • 
• Priority 1: Productivity and resilience in Agriculture
  • New 109 high-yielding and climate-resilient varieties of 32 field and horticulture crops will be released for cultivation by farmers.
  • In the next two years, 1 crore farmers across the country will be initiated into natural farming supported by certification and branding.
  • 10,000 need-based bio-input resource centres will be established.
  • For achieving self-sufficiency in pulses and oilseeds, government will strengthen their production, storage and marketing and to achieve ‘atmanirbharta’ for oil seeds such as mustard, groundnut, sesame, soybean, and sunflower.
  • Government, in partnership with the states, will facilitate the implementation of the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) in agriculture for coverage of farmers and their lands in 3 years.
  • A provision of ₹1.52 lakh crore for agriculture and allied sector was announced this year.
  • Other announcements
    • Issuance of Jan Samarth based Kisan Credit Cards in 5 states
    • Financial support for setting up a network of Nucleus Breeding Centres for Shrimp Broodstocks
    • National Cooperation Policy to be framed with an objective to Fast-tracking growth of rural economy
• Priority 2: Employment & Skilling
• The government will implement 3 schemes for ‘Employment Linked Incentive’, as part of the Prime Minister’s package.
• These will be based on enrolment in the EPFO, and focus on recognition of first-time employees, and support to employees and employers.
• 
• Higher participation of women in the workforce through setting up of working women hostels in collaboration with industry, and establishing creches.
• FM announced a new centrally sponsored scheme, as the 4th scheme under the Prime Minister’s package, for skilling.
  • 20 lakh youth will be skilled over a 5-year period and 1,000 Industrial Training Institutes will be upgraded in hub and spoke arrangements with outcome orientation.
• The Model Skill Loan Scheme will be revised to facilitate loans up to ₹7.5 lakh with a guarantee from a government promoted Fund.
  • This is expected to help 25,000 students every year.
• For helping the youth, who have not been eligible for any benefit under government schemes and policies, she announced a financial support for loans upto ₹10 lakh for higher education in domestic institutions.
• E-vouchers for this purpose will be given directly to 1 lakh students every year for annual interest subvention of 3 per cent of the loan amount.
• Priority 3: Inclusive Human Resource Development and Social Justice
  • Purvodaya
    • Government will formulate a plan, Purvodaya, for the all-round development of the eastern region of the country covering Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.
    • This will cover human resource development, infrastructure, and generation of economic opportunities to make the region an engine to attain Viksit Bharat.
  • Pradhan Mantri Janjatiya Unnat Gram Abhiyan
    • For improving the socio-economic condition of tribal communities
    • It will be launched by adopting saturation coverage for tribal families in tribal-majority villages and aspirational districts covering 63,000 villages and benefitting 5 crore tribal people.
  • Oher announcements
    • More than 100 branches of India Post Payment Bank will be set up in the North East region to expand the banking services.
    • A provision of ₹2.66 lakh crore for rural development including rural infrastructure was made this year.
    • ₹3 lakh crore for schemes benefitting women and girls.
• Priority 4: Manufacturing & Services
  • Support for promotion of MSMEs
    • A separately constituted self-financing guarantee fund will provide, to each applicant, guarantee cover up to ₹100 crore, while the loan amount may be larger.
    • Similarly, Public sector banks will build their in-house capability to assess MSMEs for credit, instead of relying on external assessment.
    • A new mechanism was announced for facilitating continuation of bank credit to MSMEs during their stress period.
  • Mudra Loans
    • The limit of Mudra loans will be enhanced to ₹ 20 lakh from the current ₹ 10 lakh for those entrepreneurs who have availed and successfully repaid previous loans under the ‘Tarun’ category.
  • MSME Units for Food Irradiation, Quality & Safety Testing
    • Financial support for setting up of 50 multi-product food irradiation units in the MSME sector will be provided.
    • Setting up of 100 food quality and safety testing labs with NABL accreditation will also be facilitated.
    • To enable MSMEs and traditional artisans to sell their products in international markets, E-Commerce Export Hubs will be set up in public-private-partnership (PPP) mode.
  • Internship in Top Companies
    • As the 5th scheme under the Prime Minister’s package, government will launch a comprehensive scheme for providing internship opportunities in 500 top companies to 1 crore youth in 5 years.
    • 12-month Prime Minister’s Internship with monthly allowance of Rs 5000.
• Priority 5: Urban Development
  • Urban Housing
    • Under the PM Awas Yojana Urban 2.0, housing needs of 1 crore urban poor and middle-class families will be addressed with an investment of ₹ 10 lakh crore.
    • This will include the central assistance of ₹ 2.2 lakh crore in next 5 years.
  • Water Supply and Sanitation
    • Government will promote water supply, sewage treatment and solid waste management projects and services for 100 large cities through bankable projects.
  • PM SVANidhi
    • This was lauched to transform the lives of street vendors.
    • Now, Govt envisions a scheme to support each year, over the next five years, the development of 100 weekly ‘haats’ or street food hubs in select cities.