Union Budget 2025-26 live: Latest news, updates, announcements

While the NDA leaders praised the budget, opposition parties slammed it, terming it "biased" to favor NDA-ruled states, especially poll-bound Bihar. While citing the proposed tax relief for the middle class, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said, "If you have a salary, you may be paying less tax... What happens if we don’t have a salary? You actually need jobs. Unemployment was not mentioned by the finance minister." Earlier, during the budget presentation, opposition parties also staged a walkout as their demand to discuss the Maha Kumbh stampede was rejected.

PM Modi congratulated Sitharaman on Saturday after she concluded her budget presentation, saying, "Everybody is praising you, the Budget is very good." Later, in a video message, he said this budget would bolster investment as it focused on "savings for people." The prime minister added, "This budget will increase savings, investment, consumption, and growth rapidly."

After concluding her budget presentation, Sitharaman introduced the Finance Bill 2025 in the Parliament. Subsequently, the Lok Sabha was adjourned on Saturday and will reconvene at 11:00am on Monday to debate and vote on the budget proposal.

During her speech, Sitharaman revised the fiscal deficit for FY25 from 4.9% to 4.8% of the GDP. The finance minister also pegged the fiscal deficit for FY 2025-26 at 4.4%, with net borrowing projected to reach ₹11.54 lakh crore.

Sitharaman announced that India aims to achieve a nuclear energy capacity of at least 100GW by 2047. She added that a Nuclear Energy Mission for the research and development of small modular reactors would be established with a ₹20,000 crore outlay. Five such small modular reactors are expected to be operationalized by 2033.

In another major announcement to promote inclusive entrepreneurship in India, Sitharaman said a new loan scheme for five lakh first-time entrepreneurs, including women and those belonging to SC and ST categories, would be launched. Those eligible will be provided loans of up to ₹2 crore under this initiative.

To boost urban infrastructure, Finance Minister Sitharaman also proposed that the government would establish a ₹1 lakh crore Urban Challenge Fund. Under this initiative, the government will help transform cities into growth hubs, with an initial ₹10,000 crore allocation proposed for FY 2025-26. "The Fund will finance up to 25% of the cost of bankable projects, with the stipulation that at least 50% of the cost is funded through bonds, bank loans, and PPPs," she added.

Earlier, during her budget speech, Sitharaman also said that 36 life-saving drugs would be included in the list of medicines fully exempted from customs duty "to provide relief to patients suffering from cancer and rare diseases." She added, "I also propose to add six life saving medicines to the list of concessional customs duty."

While announcing that taxpayers with an income of up to ₹12 lakh would pay zero tax under the new regime, Sitharaman also specified that this would be applicable to normal income other than special-grade incomes like capital gains. "A tax rebate is being provided in addition to the benefit due to slab rate reduction in such a manner that there is no tax payable by them," she clarified.

Sitharaman further proposed to decriminalize the delay in payment of TCS up to the due date. Also, she said TCS on remittances would be waived off for education-related purposes in case the remittance stems from a loan from a specified financial institution. Plus, the time limit to file updated tax returns has been extended from two to four years to promote voluntary compliance.

Other personal income tax reforms announced by Sitharaman included the doubling of the limit for tax deduction on interest income for senior citizens to ₹1 lakh. Also, the TCS exemption threshold for liberalized remittance scheme (LRS) transactions has been increased to ₹10 lakh from ₹7 lakh. Moreover, the TDS limit on annual rent has been raised to ₹6 lakh from ₹1 lakh.

Sitharaman also announced a revision of the income tax slabs and rates under the New Tax Regime:

₹0-4 lakh: Nil

₹4-8 lakh: 5%

₹8-12 lakh: 10%

₹12-16 lakh: 15%

₹16-20 lakh: 20%

₹20-24 lakh: 25%

Above ₹24 lakh: 30%

No tax would be payable for up to an income of ₹12 lakh—₹12.75 LPA for salaried individuals, along with the ₹75,000 standard deduction—under the New Tax Regime. This would be made possible with a hike in the income limit for tax rebates under the Income Tax Act Section 87A, which is different from the basic exemption limit. The existing tax laws allow nil tax for an income of up to only ₹7 lakh. Meanwhile, the basic exemption limit has been raised from ₹3 lakh to ₹4 lakh.

Sitharaman also said that tax proposals under this budget will focus on personal income tax reforms, especially to benefit the middle class, rationalization of TDS and TCS, bringing down the tax compliance burden, and enhancing employment and investment.

In a big relief for middle-class taxpayers, Sitharaman announced no income tax would be levied for an income of up to ₹12 LPA (along with tax rebates) under the New Tax Regime. Other tax rate slabs have also been revised. The government would forgo ₹1 lakh crore revenue in direct taxes and ₹2,600 crore based on tax proposals.

Sitharaman also announced that a new, user-friendly income tax bill would be introduced in the Parliament next week. It will be clear and direct in its language, removing confusion, to ensure simplicity and ease of understanding for taxpayers and tax administrators. Further, she proposed rationalizing tariff structure and avoiding duty inversions: for industrial goods, seven tariff rates would be removed, retaining only eight tariffs. Also, the government has permitted 100% FDI in the insurance sector.

Sitharaman said the UDAN air connectivity scheme will be revamped to improve regional connectivity to 120 new destinations and carry four crore passengers in the next 10 years. She also proposed to bring helipad support and smaller airports to hilly and aspiration districts. She added greenfield airports will be facilitated in Bihar alongside an expansion of the Patna airport.