Budget 2025 Expectations Live Updates on Nirmala Sitharaman's February 1 Speech & Income Tax News

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will be presenting the Union Budget 2025 on February 1, 2025. The budget speech is expected to begin at 11 am. Further updates from the Ministry of Finance are awaited. 

Union Budget 2025 will highlight themes like ‘Amrit Kaal’ and ‘Viksit Bharat,’ aligning with India’s long-term vision of becoming a developed country by 2047. Key expectations include:

As India eagerly awaits Budget 2025, all eyes are on how it will shape the nation's economic path for the upcoming financial year.

Yes, the Stock Market will remain open on February 1 to allow investors to respond swiftly to budget announcements. Regular trading hours will be followed, enabling stakeholders to assess the fiscal policies and their impact on the markets.

This decision aligns with the government’s strategy of presenting budgets on Fridays or Saturdays, ensuring markets and stakeholders have adequate time to analyze changes.

When it comes to real estate, industry experts have a plethora of suggestions and expectations from the upcoming Budget 2025.

Saurab Saharan, Group Managing Director, HCBS Developments said, “Streamlined compliance processes and relaxed regulatory frameworks will accelerate growth since NRIs and HNIs have shown a growing interest in Indian real estate.” The investments of NRIs is expected to contribute 20 per cent of the country's total real estate inflows.

“Granting industry status would enable the developer community to procure funds from banks and NBFCs at relatively lower interest rates, and refinance existing obligations as it will significantly bring down the project cost,” said Sandeep Chhillar, Founder and Chairman of  Landmark Group.

“Perhaps the topmost priority one can expect is that this budget will help facilitate doing business in the development and establishment of startups. Where simplification of the regulatory framework speeding with their approval process to have a timely approval and transparency regarding compliance would only help ease the work environment for new ventures. Many founders would be engaged in battling various bureaucratic hurdles that take their mind away from innovation.” said Kewal Kishan (Founder of Automate Business )

Leaders from the agriculture processing and allied industries have voiced their expectations for measures that can significantly boost the sector's growth and sustainability.

Vasu Naren, Chairman & Managing Director of Sona Machinery, emphasized the importance of incentivizing modernisation in the rice milling sector, a crucial component of India's food security and rural economy.
He said "These measures will not only modernize the rice milling sector but also position it as a critical enabler of India's ethanol blending targets and sustainable energy transition. Policy support for rice milling and ethanol production will boost rural livelihoods, strengthen the agricultural economy, and solidify India's position in global agriculture and biofuel markets."

Megha Pavan, Founder and CEO of Arkaa Cluster Private Limited, advocated for increased budgetary support to propel the food processing and nutraceuticals sectors. She called for tax breaks, expanded subsidies for farmers, and investments in research to develop advanced processing technologies. She said, "We anticipate that the budget will prioritise the advancement of agriculture and agri-tech sectors, with a particular emphasis on enhancing the processing and innovation capacities of the food processing industry".
(ANI)

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Budget 2024 said, “I am now announcing a comprehensive review of the Income-tax Act, 1961. The purpose is to make the Act concise, lucid, easy to read and understand.” This has raised speculation about replacing Income tax code with direct tax code.

IFL Securities in its fresh note on the telecom sector said that the government is working on a potential partial waiver of AGR dues, which would bring down the liabilities of Bharti Airtel Ltd and Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) by Rs 38,000 crore and Rs 52,000 crore, respectively. 

Union Budget 2025 will be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1 at 11 am.

The Finance Minister’s Budget speech will be broadcast live on Republic TV and Sansad TV. Viewers can also access real-time updates and detailed coverage on Republic Biz’s website (www.republicbiz.com).