Union Budget 2025 News

Kotak Mahindra AMC's MD Nilesh Shah said the Budget 2025 was "a 'Triveni Sangam' of fiscal prudence, a boost to urban consumption and maintaining capex so that it remains growth-oriented". "While there may be a compelling case for ignoring fiscal constraints during crises, the current scenario calls for a disciplined fiscal path," he added.

Market veteran Vijay Kedia called the Budget's decision to levy no income tax on up to ₹12 lakh annual income "a good reform" that would boost consumption. However, he believes the move won't take the stock market to a new high. "If we want to become a $30-40 trillion economy, we have to think of something surprisingly unexpected," he added.

Finance Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said the Budget's move to cut import duties on certain products signals to domestic industry and investors that "India isn't a tariff king". "Our message is clear, don't get into protectionist mode," he stated. He added that India's tariffs were much lower than even some of the developed economies like Japan.

CBDT Chairman Ravi Agrawal said 90% or more taxpayers are expected to shift to New Tax regime after the Budget revised the income tax slabs. He added that there always remains "a scope for improvement" but things have been simplified for a common taxpayer "to a great extent". Around 75% of taxpayers have moved to the new regime so far.

Finance Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said the government is "not concerned about the erosion of the tax base" due to tax cuts and tax slab revision announced in the Budget. "As people graduate to higher income levels, the tax base will naturally expand," he stated. "It is a political decision and a public choice," he added.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi criticised Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for not releasing photographs of customary halwa ceremony ahead of Union Budget. "Halwa khilaya magar dikhaya nahi kisko khilaya (They distributed Halwa but didn't show to whom it was served)," Rahul said. He claimed last year that he didn't see "one OBC or tribal or Dalit officer in Halwa ceremony's photo".

Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) Chairman Sanjay Kumar Agarwal said the rationalisation of customs duty slabs in Budget 2025 will cost the government ₹1,900 crore. The Budget removed seven tariff rates, leaving only eight rates now. "The perception that India has very high tariffs has been corrected," he added.

The investment and turnover limits for MSME classification have been increased by 2.5 times and 2 times, respectively. As per Budget 2025, MSMEs with investments up to ₹2.5 crore will be classified as microenterprises, up from the previous limit of ₹1 crore. The investment limit for small and medium enterprises has been hiked to ₹25 crore and ₹125 crore, respectively.

The New Income Tax Bill will do away with the 'assessment year' and likely introduce the concept of 'tax year', reports said. The concept is being introduced as several taxpayers confuse the 'assessment year' and 'financial year' (previous year) when filing taxes. The tax year, like the financial year, will be the 12-month period from April 1 to March 31.