Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented her seventh Union Budget for the fiscal year 2024-2025, resulting in some items becoming cheaper and others more expensive for consumers.
Items That Have Become Cheaper
Mobile Phones and Chargers: Basic Customs Duty reduced to 15%.
Gold, Silver, and Platinum: Customs duty reduced to 6% for gold and silver, and 6.4% for platinum.
Cancer Treatment Medicines: Three medicines exempted from Basic Customs Duty.
Solar Panels: Expanded list of exempted capital goods used in manufacturing.
E-commerce: TDS rate reduced from 1% to 0.1%.
Ferronickel and Blister Copper: Basic Customs Duty removed.
Broodstock and Feed for Shrimp and Fish: Duty reduced to 5% or exempted.
Exports in Leather and Textiles: Reduced duty on real down filling material.
Ammonium Nitrate: Basic Customs Duty reduced from 7.5% to 10%.
Oxygen Free Copper: Duty removed for resistor manufacturing.
Critical Minerals: Full exemption and reduced duty on some inputs for sectors like nuclear energy and high-tech electronics.
Items That Have Become Costlier
Ammonium Nitrate: Customs duty increased to 10%.
Non-biodegradable Plastics: Duty increased to 25%.
Telecom Equipment: Duty increased to 15%.
Notified Goods: TCS of 1% on goods valued over ₹10 lakh.
Solar Glass: Customs duty not extended.
Tax Changes
Standard Deduction for Salaried Employees: Increased to ₹75,000 from ₹50,000 under the new tax regime.
Family Pension for Pensioners: Tax deduction increased to ₹25,000 from ₹15,000.
Previous Budget Measures
Mobile Phone Manufacturing: Reduced import taxes on components like camera lenses.
Lithium-Ion Batteries: Reduced tax rate to support manufacturing of phones and electric vehicles in India.
Economic Highlights
GDP Growth: Expected to grow between 6.5-7% this year.
Retail Inflation: Declined to 5.4% during 2023-24 from 6.7% previously.
Economic Survey 2023-24: Highlighted ‘Service’ and ‘Growth’ as key terms.
Paperless Budget: Delivered in paperless form, similar to previous years.
Interim Union Budget 2024: Presented on February 1 ahead of the general elections.
Also Read: How Is The Budget Directly Proportional To Politics?
