Budgetary focus on job creation is key to our development dreams

This underlines the government’s commitment to creating a sound economic environment conducive to growth across sectors, thereby ensuring India’s resilience in the face of global uncertainties.

It also includes a detailed roadmap that highlights nine key priorities for the next five years, focusing on the poor, women, youth and farmers. These priorities aim to raise the standard of living of all sections of society while promoting economic growth.

A key part of the budget is its focus on job creation. Recognizing the critical role of the private sector, the budget encourages its participation alongside the government in creating job opportunities.

Measures such as one month’s salary supplement (up to ₹The introduction of additional funds (Rs 15,000) towards an employee’s first salary, internships in India’s top 500 companies, refunds of pension fund contributions and other measures aimed at increasing women’s participation in the labour market are expected to go a long way in generating employment.

The budget also aims to establish India as a leading startup nation. Key provisions include an angel tax break and an increase in the Mudra loan scheme limit from ₹10 lakh to ₹20 lakh per borrower. These initiatives aim to boost entrepreneurship and support startups, creating an environment conducive to innovation and economic growth.

Skill development is emerging as a cornerstone of the budget, seen as essential to job creation. Innovative approaches are being used to ensure skills development at all levels, including entry-level, workforce and special needs. The focus on skills development is complemented by continued investment in infrastructure.

To leverage India’s demographic dividend, the budget places a strong emphasis on increasing women’s participation in the workforce. The measures outlined include setting up hostels for working women, crèches, etc. These initiatives are expected to further increase the economic contribution of young women, helping in the overall development of the country.

The budget prioritises infrastructure development, which has been a key focus of the Narendra Modi government for the past 10 years and is crucial for sustainable economic growth. It includes a comprehensive urban and rural development plan to transform cities into growth hubs and ensure all-round development of rural areas.

Large infrastructure projects cover a variety of sectors, including roads, railways and other forms of transport, as well as housing, water supply and sewage treatment.

Government investment spending remains at record high ₹11.1 trillion, or 3.4% of GDP, the highest in 26 years. This investment underlines the government’s commitment to infrastructure development.

Fiscal consolidation has been a central theme of the budget for the past 10 years and remains so this year. The fiscal deficit target for 2024-25 has been lowered to 4.9%, a significant improvement on the 5.1% target of the interim budget, with a projected glide path below 4.5% in 2025-26.

This disciplined approach is in line with the Centre’s broader strategy to reduce the debt-to-GDP ratio in the coming years. This fiscal discipline has been achieved without significantly changing India’s direct or indirect tax structures, thereby ensuring a relatively stable tax environment that could improve India’s long-term credit rating.

Several steps have been taken to further improve taxation, both direct and indirect. Additional benefits have been provided under the new tax system through a higher standard deduction and wider bands with lower rates.

Changes to indirect taxes have been proposed to promote domestic production, remove rate inversions and simplify taxation. The structure of the capital gains tax has been changed.

The budget places a premium on sustainable development and climate finance, recognising the importance of addressing environmental challenges. Initiatives in these areas are seen as key steps forward to ensure that economic growth does not come at the expense of environmental sustainability.

Technology continues to be a driving force across all major government initiatives, underlining the role of innovation in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Budget 2024-25 puts India on a strong footing, balancing economic growth with fiscal prudence and social well-being. The Budget’s comprehensive approach and commitment to policy continuity offer us a solid foundation for sustainable economic development.

These initiatives are expected to play a key role in shaping India’s economic performance in the coming years, ensuring resilience and growth in the face of global uncertainty.

The budget aims to support job creation, expand infrastructure and maintain fiscal discipline and is intended to help India achieve the goal of Viksit Bharat, or a developed India, by 2047.

These are the personal views of the author.

The author is the Managing Director and CEO of NSE.