The Union Budget 2025-26 is growth oriented, reform focused and fiscally prudent while making comprehensive interventions aimed at addressing the needs of all sections of the economy and society, fostering inclusive growth and development. This budget would kick start a virtuous cycle of consumption led growth. The reduction in personal income tax is one of the high points of the budget, which would give a huge consumption boost.
The Budget announcement of an innovative 100 district aspirational agri programme is a welcome move and will enhance productivity, resilience and enhanced credit access to farmers thus improving their incomes and livelihoods besides driving rural prosperity. Over a period of time, the agriculture sector interventions would address the supply side issues affecting inflation while building India as a Global Hub for Food.
Among the many highlights, one of the other ones is about employment generation and we see multiple interventions in MSMEs and employment intensive sectors which would translate into additional job creation. Employment intensive manufacturing sectors have got a big boost. The focus product scheme for footwear and leather is expected to create 22 lakh jobs. Similarly, the National Action Plan for Toys will help India achieve global leadership in the employment intensive sector. Tourism, another employment intensive sector which drives regionally distributed development, will benefit from the announcement to develop to 50 tourist destinations in partnership with states.
There is an overall focus on manufacturing with the proposed National Manufacturing Mission and initiatives to ease the regulatory environment. The Budget has announced measure to further ease of doing business including setting up a higher-level Committee for reforms in financial sector in a year, Investment-friendly index of states and decriminalize another 100 business laws are welcome and steps in the right direction.
MSMEs drive employment generation, exports and growth. The enhancements in the investment and turnover limits to 2.5 and 2 times respectively, will encourage MSMEs to grow and also become more competitive, and in the process generate jobs and strengthen the manufacturing ecosystem.
Enhanced support of Rs 1.5 lakh crore to state capex in the form of interest free loans, the National Monetisation Pipeline 2.0 which proposes to plough back Rs 10 lakh crore in new projects over 2025-2030, creation of a three-year pipeline of PPP projects in all infrastructure Ministries will help keep up the momentum in infrastructure building that India has achieved over the last few years.