Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2025-26 in Parliament today. Here is the summary of her budget speech;
PART A
Quoting Telugu poet Shri Gurajada Appa Rao, the Finance Minister presented the Union Budget 2025-26 under the theme “Sabka Vikas”, promoting balanced regional growth. The Viksit Bharat principles include:
- Zero poverty
- 100% quality school education
- Affordable, high-quality healthcare
- 100% skilled workforce with meaningful jobs
- 70% women in economic activities
- Farmers transforming India into the ‘food basket of the world’
The Budget accelerates growth, inclusivity, private investment, and middle-class spending. It prioritizes poverty alleviation, youth, farmers, and women while reforming taxation, power, urban development, mining, and finance to boost India’s global competitiveness.
Agriculture: A Key Growth Engine
The Budget introduced the ‘Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana’, covering 100 districts to enhance productivity, crop diversification, storage, irrigation, and credit access. The ‘Rural Prosperity and Resilience’ program will tackle agricultural underemployment through skilling, investment, and technology, with a focus on women, young farmers, and small landholders.
The government launched a 6-year ‘Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses’, prioritizing Tur, Urad, and Masoor, with NAFED and NCCF set to procure farmers’ produce for four years. Other initiatives include:
- Comprehensive Vegetable & Fruit Program
- National Mission on High-Yielding Seeds
- Five-year Mission for Cotton Productivity
The Budget increased the Kisan Credit Card loan limit from INR3 lakh to INR5 lakh under a modified interest subvention scheme, strengthening financial support for farmers.
MSMEs: Powering Exports & Entrepreneurship
MSMEs contribute 45% of India’s exports, making them a crucial growth engine. To enhance scale, technology, and capital access, the government raised investment and turnover limits for MSME classification by 2.5x and 2x, respectively. Measures to increase credit availability with enhanced guarantee cover have also been introduced.
The government launched a new scheme for 5 lakh women, SC, and ST first-time entrepreneurs, offering term loans up to INR2 crore over five years. Additionally, a National Manufacturing Mission will support small, medium, and large industries under the ‘Make in India’ initiative, including a plan to make India a global toy hub.
Investment: Fueling Growth Across Sectors
People:
- 50,000 Atal Tinkering Labs to be established in government schools within five years.
- Broadband connectivity for all government secondary schools and rural primary health centers under Bharatnet.
- Bharatiya Bhasha Pustak Scheme to provide digital Indian language books for school and higher education.
- Five National Skilling Centres of Excellence with global partnerships to support “Make for India, Make for the World”.
- Centre of Excellence in AI for Education with a INR500 crore outlay.
- Gig workers to receive ID cards, e-Shram registration, and healthcare under PM Jan Arogya Yojana.
Economy:
- Infrastructure ministries to launch a three-year PPP project pipeline.
- INR1.5 lakh crore allocated for 50-year interest-free loans to states for capital expenditure and reforms.
- Asset Monetization Plan 2025-30 to reinvest INR10 lakh crore into new projects.
- Jal Jeevan Mission extended till 2028, prioritizing infrastructure quality and maintenance through Jan Bhagidari.
- Urban Challenge Fund of INR1 lakh crore for Cities as Growth Hubs, Creative Redevelopment, and Water & Sanitation.
Innovation:
- INR20,000 crore allocated for a private-sector-led R&D and Innovation initiative.
- National Geospatial Mission to build foundational geospatial infrastructure for urban planning.
- Gyan Bharatam Mission to survey, document, and preserve over 1 crore manuscripts, with a National Digital Repository of Indian Knowledge Systems.
There’s more!
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