Nirmala Sitharaman, India finance minister, center, and other members of finance ministry leave the ministry to present the budget at the parliament in New Delhi, India, on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. India’s government predicted the economy will expand 6.3%-6.8% in the coming fiscal year, significantly below the levels it says are needed for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to meet his ambitious economic goals. --Photographer: Prakash Singh/Bloomberg
NEW DELHI (Bernama): India announced a series of budget measures, including major investments in agriculture, manufacturing, infrastructure, and nuclear power, aimed at spurring economic growth.
The total receipts, excluding borrowings, in the national budget for 2025-26 are projected at 34.96 trillion rupees (US$403 billion), while the total expenditure is estimated at 50.65 trillion rupees (US$584.56 billion).
The Indian economy is projected to grow by 6.4 per cent in the financial year ending March 31 next year and the fiscal deficit is estimated at 4.4 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).
Presenting the budget in parliament, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced various incentives, including a reduction in personal income tax, to boost consumer demand and investments.
Several infrastructure development plans, including greenfield airports, have been proposed for the eastern state of Bihar, which is set to hold assembly elections in 2025.
An amount of 6.81 trillion rupees was allocated for military expenses, representing an increase of 9.5 per cent from the current financial year.
This includes 1.8 trillion rupees, or 26.4 per cent of total allocation, earmarked for capital expenditure as India undertakes significant modernisation of its armed forces.
Sitharaman said those with an income of 1.2 million rupees per year will pay no income tax, a move that will please the salaried middle-class Indians.
She announced the setting up of a new urea plant with an annual capacity of 1.27 million tonnes at Namrup in the northeastern state of Assam.
To boost development projects, the minister said each infrastructure-related ministry will come up with a three-year pipeline of projects that can be implemented in the public-private sector partnership mode.
An outlay of 1.5 trillion rupees has been proposed for the 50-year interest-free loans to states for capital expenditure and incentives for reforms, while the government will set up a fund of 1 trillion rupees to develop "cities as growth hubs".
As part of its long-term energy security, India will boost investment in nuclear power generation.
"Development of at least 100 GW of nuclear energy by 2047 is essential for our energy transition efforts. For an active partnership with the private sector towards this goal, amendments to the Atomic Energy Act and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act will be taken up," Sitharaman said.
The government has allocated 200 billion rupees to fund an initiative to develop small modular reactors (SMR).
"At least five indigenously developed SMRs will be operationalised by 2033," the minister said. - Bernama
