Union Minister for Commerce Piyush Goyal has hailed the Budget 2025 as a transformative step towards job creation and a stronger economy, emphasizing that it will catalyze growth across various sectors. Speaking to ANI shortly after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Budget in Parliament, Goyal expressed confidence that the proposals would create numerous job opportunities, especially in key sectors such as leather, footwear, and textiles.
Goyal highlighted the leather and footwear sector as a significant beneficiary, with the potential for the creation of 22 lakh jobs—both direct and indirect. The government’s announcement to implement a focus product scheme aimed at enhancing the competitiveness of India’s leather and footwear industry is expected to drive employment and increase exports. The scheme will provide support for design capacity, component manufacturing, and machinery for producing non-leather quality footwear, along with leather products. The targeted turnover for this sector is Rs 4 lakh crore, with exports anticipated to exceed Rs 1.1 lakh crore.
Measures To Strengthen India’s Textile Industry
The textile industry, particularly the cotton textiles and garments sector, is also set to benefit from the Budget. Goyal pointed out that the skill development initiatives introduced in the previous year, along with new measures announced in the current Budget, would make Indian youth more employable. These efforts are designed to enhance income and equip young people with vocational skills, thus addressing both employment and economic growth challenges.
Additionally, the government has proposed measures to promote domestic production in technical textiles, including agro-textiles, medical textiles, and geo textiles, by adding shuttle-less looms to the list of fully exempted textile machinery. A revision in the basic customs duties on knitted fabrics is also set to support the competitiveness of Indian textiles on the global stage.
Goyal further lauded the Budget for its focus on tax relief, particularly the significant reduction in income tax for the middle class. Under the new tax regime, income up to Rs 12 lakh will be tax-free, with a standard deduction of Rs 75,000 for salaried taxpayers, pushing disposable income higher and stimulating demand in the market. This relief, he said, will have a direct impact on the common man, increasing their purchasing power and fostering consumption across the economy.
The announcement of such tax measures was met with loud applause from the treasury benches, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, underscoring the broad support for the Budget’s measures aimed at building a foundation for a “Viksit Bharat” (Developed India) by 2047.
(With ANI Inputs)