Interim Budget 2024: Six key areas to look out for

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the interim Budget on February 1. The full-fledged budget for the financial year 2024-25 will be announced once the new government comes to power after the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections. 

While the finance minister has refrained from delivering any "spectacular announcement" in the interim budget for this year, market observers and investors are still expecting some major announcements. 

Also Read: Live updates on Budget 2024 expectations

Take a look at six key areas that could get the maximum weightage in the government's interim budget, 

1) The government may make the National Pension System (NPS) more attractive by extending tax concessions on contributions and withdrawals, especially for senior citizens above 75 years, PTI reported. 

2) Pension fund regulator PFRDA has sought "parity" with the Employees' Provident Fund Office (EPFO) on the taxation front for contributions by employers and some announcements in this regard are expected to be made in the interim Budget.

3) The Centre is also likely to announce in the upcoming interim Budget a substantial increase in the agricultural credit target to ₹22-25 lakh crore for the next fiscal and ensure every eligible farmer has access to institutional credit, sources told PTI. 

4)To incentivize the manufacturing sector and generate employment, the government may extend the scope of the PLI scheme to include sectors like garments, jewelry, and handicrafts in the forthcoming interim Budget, Deloitte said.

5) Having taken care of poor farmers by transferring funds into their accounts, the government can contemplate imposing income tax on rich farmers to bring about fairness in the taxation structure, Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member Ashima Goyal has said.

6) The government may extend the concessional 15 percent income tax rate for corporates to set up new manufacturing units by one year till March 31, 2025, to encourage private investments, EY said in its 2024 Budget expectation report.

(With PTI inputs)