Union Budget 2025 highlights: Nirmala Sitharaman bets on income tax breaks to spur growth

The Centre is expecting to collect more taxes from levies imposed on securities trading after Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget 2025 estimated over a 40% jump in such collection to cross $9 billion next year. READ MORE

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced a social security scheme for one crore gig workers engaged with online platforms and said the government will provide them identity cards and facilitate their registration on the e-Shram portal.

“The proposed AI Centre of Excellence in healthcare will drive advancements in diagnostics, treatment, and research, while broadband connectivity to primary health centres will boost telemedicine, improving rural healthcare access. We also appreciate the focus on medical tourism through ‘Heal in India,’ making India a more accessible destination for global patients,” said Dr Ashutosh Raghuvanshi.

Dr Ashutosh Raghuvanshi, MD & CEO, Fortis Healthcare praised how the Union Budget 2025 focused on the growth of the healthcare sector.

“The establishment of 200 day-care cancer centres and 10,000 additional medical seats, with a long-term goal of 75,000, will enhance early diagnosis and ease the burden on tertiary care,” Raghuvanshi said.

West Bengal real estate industry leaders welcomed the Union Budget 2025-26 for its growth-oriented measures for realty, particularly tax reliefs and a special fund for stalled projects, while also pointing out missed opportunities such as industry status for real estate and a national rental housing policy.

The Union Budget on Saturday allocated ₹141.83 crore for the staff, household and allowances of the president, a nominal increase of ₹8.22 crore from ₹133.61 crore earmarked in the revised estimates for ongoing fiscal.

The Opposition's INDIA bloc, including the Congress and TMC, criticised the Union Budget 2025 claiming that it has nothing to address the “illnesses” of stagnant real wages, lack of buoyancy in mass consumption, sluggish rates of private investment and a complicated GST system that the economy is suffering from. READ MORE

Real estate and coworking experts in Bengaluru feel that the Union Budget 2025 will be a "game changer" for the industry as a whole, reported PTI.

Ramani Sastri, Chairman & MD of Bengaluru-based Sterling Developers, in a statement, said that the government’s concentrated efforts on infrastructure development promise to significantly enhance housing demand.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday proposed to double the limit for TDS on interest income for senior citizens to ₹1 lakh, and also increase the threshold to ₹6 lakh on rent from the current ₹2.4 lakh.

Calling the Union Budget 2025 a “fiscal wizardry of the number,” Aurodeep Nandi, India economist, Nomura Holdings Inc approved of the government’s ability to cut fiscal deficit “while simultaneously announcing income tax concessions and retaining a decent public investment outlay.”

Union Budget 2025 LIVE: Airline operators have praised the Union Budget 2025-26, saying the government's increased focus on the growing domestic civil aviation sector.

Building on the success of the previous regional connectivity initiative, a revamped UDAN scheme will be introduced to expand regional connectivity to 120 new destinations and accommodate 4 crore passengers over the next decade.

The scheme will also support the development of helipads and smaller airports in remote, aspirational, and North East regions.

Since its launch in April 2017, UDAN has helped 1.5 crore middle-class people access faster travel options, connecting 88 airports and launching 619 new routes.

UDAN aims to enhance air access in underserved regions, contributing to India’s significant aviation growth, which has seen the number of operational airports double.

The government is working towards making India a global aviation hub by 2030.

Union Budget 2025 LIVE: All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) General Secretary and Lok Sabha MP Abhishek Banerjee criticised the Union Budget 2025 presented by Union Finance Minister in Parliament, stating that it lacked provisions for West Bengal. He further claimed that the budget was formulated with the upcoming Bihar elections in mind.

Banerjee said, "When there were 18 MPs from BJP in West Bengal then also nothing was given to West Bengal. Even now there are 12 MPs from West Bengal in BJP but nothing has been given. The 12 MPs will never say a word. There is nothing for the common man in the budget.

"Since there are elections in Bihar in November this year everything has been given to Bihar. They do nothing for poor people. When the budget was presented in July 2024, everything was done for Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. For the last 10 years, BJP has been in power at centre and Bengal has not got anything since 2014, it is sad and unfortunate," he said.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced that the Centre has allocated ₹74,226 crore for the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation in the Union Budget 2025-26.

Most of it has been allotted to the Jal Jeevan Mission which aims to provide tap water connections to rural households.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday lauded the Union Budget, stating that it would help in accelerating the development of the state.

Kumar said that announcements for the state, like a Makhana board and greenfield airports, did address the future needs of Bihar where assembly polls were due in less than a year.

Akhil Chandna, Partner, Grant Thornton Bharat, said, “As per provisions under the Income-tax Act, the tax return filing obligation arises based on Income level and not on actual tax liability payable.” READ MORE

The Indian Railways’ capital expenditure for 2025-26 has been kept unchanged at ₹2.52 lakh crore for the second year in a row, with a focus on safety and electrification. READ MORE

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday took a dig at the Centre over the Union Budget 2025, saying it's “a band-aid for bullet wounds”.

“Amid global uncertainty, solving our economic crisis demanded a paradigm shift. But this government is bankrupt of ideas,” Rahul Gandhi posted on X.

Budget 2025 LIVE: There is a great deal of credit support with credit cards from the government for Micro and Small enterprises (MSMEs), said Shridhar Kamath, partner and engineering & industrial products industry leader of Grant Thornton Bharat.

"Funding and credit have been in focus to help MSME’s set up and grow. We need to wait for details in the annexure D to understand support for access to technology , Efficiency and productivity improvements to ensure competitiveness. With all the focus on sectors like food processing, agri, fisheries and aquaculture, clean tech manufacturing etc. plus infrastructure, a lot of the equipment that goes into these manufacturing units will allow a significant amount of benefit to small and medium enterprises. This manufacturing mission should be beneficial small, and medium enterprises with policy support Overall the budget seems to be positive for manufacturing," Kamath said

Budget 2025 LIVE: On Union Budget 2025 focus on Bihar, state chief minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday said it “would help in accelerating development of the state.”

Nitish Kumar's JD(U) is a key constituent of the ruling BJP-led NDA at the Centre.

CM Nitish Kumar thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. In a statement, Bihar CM said the proposal for setting up a "Makhana board" will give a boost to cultivation of foxnuts, for which the state is known far and wide.

In the 2025 Budget, the strategic focus on empowering rural communities, youth, and women marks a pivotal step toward an inclusive and resilient economy, said Tarun Baijnath, partner, Grant Thornton Bharat.

“The Economic Survey's call to address the glaring gap in vocational education underscores a critical opportunity for robust public-private partnerships, essential in cultivating a skilled workforce,” Baijnath said.

"With initiatives like the Rural Prosperity Program, this budget aspires to create sustainable employment avenues, reducing migration and fostering local growth. To bridge the widening divide between academia and industry, the establishment of five Centres of Excellence is not just a necessity, but a cornerstone for aligning education with the evolving demands of the job market. The Budget marks a transformative shift in skill development, with the modernization of 1,000 ITIs to ensure training content and design are in direct alignment with industry needs. Additionally, with the establishment of 50,000 Tinkering Labs across schools, the focus on entrepreneurship and innovation will empower the next generation to think creatively, innovate fearlessly, and drive India’s future growth," he said.

Budget 2025 LIVE: While presenting the Union Budget 2025-26 in Parliament, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the government would arrange identity cards and facilitate registration on the e-Shram portal to assist one crore gig workers.

Reacting to the measure, a senior official of quick commerce portal Swiggy said, “It is very encouraging to note that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman considers platforms and gig workers an important part of India's urban landscape”.

Budget 2025 LIVE: A band-aid for bullet wounds, said Rahul Gandhi on the Union Budget 2025 presented by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday.

Amid global uncertainty, solving economic crisis demanded paradigm shift, Rahul Gandhi said, adding that the government “is bankrupt of ideas”.

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri called the Budget 2025 “outstanding” in every aspect. "I want to compliment the Finance Minister. It's her eighth budget, and this is a budget which caters to all sections of the economy. But more than that, it provides a kind of relief to the salaried middle class, which is very welcome and was anticipated partly...," Hardeep Singh Puri told news agency ANI.

In the Union Budget 2025, the government has proposed to establish a ‘Makhana Board’ in Bihar to improve production, processing, value addition, and marketing of fox nuts.

“The people engaged in these activities will be organized into FPOs. The Board will provide handholding and training support to makhana farmers and will also work to ensure they receive the benefits of all relevant Government schemes,” Union Budget 2025 says.

Budget 2025 LIVE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday lauded finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and team for delivering what he called was ‘people’s budget', which he said will fulfil the dreams of Indians. '

The budget will increase savings, investments, consumption and growth, PM Modi said, adding that this Union Budget 2025 focuses not on filling government's coffers but filling the pockets of the people of the country.