NEW DELHI (news agencies) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government presented an annual budget to Parliament on Saturday that focused on wooing the salaried middle class with tax cuts and spurring economic growth by boosting agriculture and manufacturing.
In her budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government is focused on boosting private investment to strengthen growth, increasing funding in the agriculture sector and enhancing the spending power of India’s middle class.
“The focus of the budget is taking everyone together on an inclusive path,” Sitharaman said, adding that the government is aiming for a fiscal deficit of 4.4% of India’s gross domestic product for the 2025-26 financial year.
The world’s fifth-largest economy is expected to post its slowest growth in four years due to a sluggish manufacturing sector, persistent food inflation, stagnant job growth and weak urban consumption. The country’s chief economic advisor, in a report released on Friday, forecast India’s economy would grow 6.3% to 6.8% in the next fiscal year.
Here are some takeaways from the budget:
Sitharaman said her government will initiate reforms in sectors like finance, power, urban development and mining, with “transformative reforms in taxation.” She raised the starting point for income tax to $14,800 from $8,074 and said the government will introduce a new income tax bill next week.
“The new structure will substantially reduce the taxes of the middle class and leave more money in their hands, boosting household consumption, savings and investment,” Sitharaman said.
Modi, who is now in his third term as the country’s prime minister, has been under pressure to allay discontent among the country’s middle class and generate more jobs to help sustain growth. Many economists had suggested his government make tax cuts on individuals’ income and implement job creation programs to mitigate rising unemployment.
According to the Center for Monitoring the Indian Economy, youth unemployment was at 7.5% in January, underscoring the challenge of delivering jobs in a country of more than 1.4 billion people.
To boost productivity across the agriculture sector, the Indian government will launch a nationwide program to push high-yielding crops, focusing on the cultivation of pulses and cotton production. Sitharaman said the program will target at least 17 million farmers and raise the limit for subsidized credit offered to them from $3,460 to $5,767.
The government also plans to formally register India’s gig workers and ease their access to health care. Sitharaman said the government will issue them identity cards and maintain a national registry that will ensure their inclusion in welfare initiatives.
India’s gig economy could employ more than 23 million people by 2030, according to estimates by government think tank NITI Aayog.
Sitharaman announced a new fund for startups and said the government will provide more money to promote innovation in partnership with the private sector and launch programs to push manufacturing and exports. The share of manufacturing in India’s economy is close to 17%, short of its aimed goal of 25%.
The government will infuse more money to increase tourism-led employment in several Indian states and help with building infrastructure and boosting air connectivity to 120 new destinations over 10 years, Sitharaman said.
She also announced the Nuclear Energy Mission to drive India’s transition toward clean energy, with a goal of developing at least 100 GW of nuclear power by 2047.
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