Vikrant Shekhawat : Feb 02, 2025, 07:40 PM
Indian Economy: India's Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, on Saturday presented the 2025 budget, making several important announcements to speed up the sluggish economic growth. While this budget gave a big relief to the middle class, steps have been taken towards next generation reforms, including increasing the FDI limit in the insurance sector. This budget is an important effort to give a new direction to India's economic progress.Big relief to the middle classThe most important announcement in Nirmala Sitharaman's budget was the tax exemption given to the middle class. She announced a tax exemption on annual income up to Rs 12 lakh, which will provide financial relief to crores of Indians. Vedanta Limited Chairman Anil Agarwal praised the decision, saying that this step has been taken in the right direction. He believes that this will boost consumption, and more money will flow into the market.Direction of reform in the insurance sectorThe insurance sector also got a new dimension in this budget. The Finance Minister proposed to increase the FDI limit, which will give foreign investors an opportunity to invest more in India's insurance sector. Apart from this, the Finance Minister proposed that the pace of reform in the insurance sector will be accelerated in the next few years, which will make the Indian insurance industry more competitive and modern.Four engines for the goal of developed IndiaThe government has identified four important engines for the goal of making India a developed nation—agriculture, MSME, investment and export. To improve these four sectors and promote investment, the government has proposed several schemes and incentives. From this point of view, the budget aims not only to increase national income, but also to encourage employment generation, production growth and export.Priority to economic progressKeeping in mind the fiscal deficit targets in the budget, emphasis has been laid on economic progress. Wipro Limited Chief Financial Officer Aparna Iyer described this budget as giving priority to economic development. She said that in this budget, important steps have been taken towards tax reform, promoting innovation and promoting skill development.Budget promoting businessThe Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has described this budget as one that will make business easier. The budget has taken several steps to promote domestic manufacturing, thereby establishing India as a competitive player in global trade. Television manufacturers in particular have praised the government's proposal to double customs duty on touchscreen display TVs and reduce duty on raw materials for open cell manufacturing as it will encourage domestic manufacturing.ConclusionThe budget for 2025 is going to give a new direction to the Indian economy. Tax exemptions to the middle class, reforms in the insurance sector, and efforts to promote investment, exports, and MSMEs in the next few years will accelerate the pace of the Indian economy. Through this budget, the government has not only prioritized economic progress, but has also presented it as an important step towards building a developed India in the coming years.