Union Budget 2025-26 – Live Updates and What are Industry Anticipation

Latest Update on Union Budget 2025-26: Union Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, with the trade unions and industry representatives on 6th January 2025, concluded the pre-budget meetings. With the Union budget set to be tabled on the 1st February 2025 in the parliament house, citizens are expecting key reforms in the upcoming Union budget 2025-26, especially addressing the issues of complexities and rising rates of income tax regimes along with the deteriorating job market. 

However, income tax and the job market are not the only areas of concern for the public and industry leaders. CEO of Nimbus group, Sahil Aggarwal, is expecting the government to rationalise taxation systems and the 12% property tax. In some states, this tax rate is even higher. Sahil said that the current Modi government urged the statement governments to review the property tax rates in the last budget. However, this request has still yet to be brought to life, and Sahil Aggarwal expects the Indian government to enact a suitable policy in the Union Budget 2025-26 to address the issue. 

• Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman concluded the pre-budget meetings on 6th January 2025. 
• Anticipations of the Indian public are growing larger in the income tax and job sector from the Union budget 2025-26. 
• Sahil Aggarwal – CEO of Nimbus group, stated that he expects teh government to address the issue of high property tax in the forthcoming budget FY 2026. 

Union Budget Sessions Update

The budget sessions for the upcoming Union Budget 2025-26 will begin on 31st January 2025 and conclude on 4th April 2025.  These sessions will be initiated by a speech from the Honourable President of India, Draupadi Murmu, addressing both the lower and the upper house of the parliament. 

What Are The Expectations Of Industries From the Budget 2025-26

Budget Expectation 2025 (Biocon) – Chairperson of Biocon Kiran Mazumdar Shaw has urged the government to exempt life-saving drugs for cancer and rare diseases from taxes. She said that by doing so, the government would be helping a large mass of the Indian public who find these treatments out of their budgets due to rising taxes on medical equipment and other services. Additionally, the taxes on medical imports are also a major area of concern because imports of medications for chronic disease attract a 12% tax rate, and the rate on medical equipment can go as high as 36%. 

MSME Expectations from the Budget 2025 

The MD of Wonderchef, Ravi Saxena, is expecting the government to enact reforms to uplift and boost the growth of the Micro Services and Medium Enterprises sector in the Union Budget. The key expectations include strengthening manufacturing facilities, enhancing Production Linked Incentives schemes (PLI), and reducing compliance burdens. 

Union Budget 2025 Expectations (Education Sector) – 

The New Education Policy (NEP) 2020 increased the GDP percentage share in the education sector to 6%. Against these, the government has allocated around 4.1% to 4.5% to the education sector within the 9 years of 2015-2024. Dinesh Gupta, founder and CEO of Vikalp Online School, mentioned that he expects the Modi Government to allocate 6% of the budget to the education sector in the upcoming budget for 2025. He added that India has world-class teachers and exceptional students working in key roles in big MNCs and other sectors, but we lack good institutes, which are the need of the hour. 

Key Takeaways

• Union Finance and Cabinet Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman is expected to present the Union Budget FY26 on 1st February 2025. However, the date is not officially confirmed, but the past trend suggests that the Finance minister will be presenting her 8th Union budget under the Modi Government at 11 AM. 
• Investors, the general public, and industry leaders anticipate a wide range of new policy introductions and budget allocations in the Union Budget 2025, which will be spread across various uses and sectors of the economy. 
• Rationalisation and simplifications of income tax regimes, job sector boost, upliftment of the manufacturing sector and domestic demand, reduced healthcare sector tax, and increased education sector allocation are some of the focus areas for the Union Budget 2025.

Frequently Asked Questions 

1. Is the Budget for 2025-26 announced?

No, the budget for 2025-26 has not yet been announced. The central government is expected to present the budget on 1st February 2025. 

2. What are the key expectations from the Budget 2025?

The key expectations of the budget 2025 are:

• Reduced and simplified income tax for individuals
• Increased domestic demand 
• Creation of more job opportunities
• Tax exemptions and rebates in key sectors such as healthcare
• Boostin of domestic manufacturing facilities

3. Will the income tax be reduced in this year’s budget?

There is no official confirmation about the reduction in income tax from the Union Budget 2025-26. However, some tweaks are expected in the Union from the government, which includes an anticipated increase in the exemption limit from 3L to 5L. If this limit is implemented, individuals will not be required to pay a tax of up to 5 lac if their total income is 7 Lac or more under the new tax regime. Additionally, an increase in the standard deduction can also be expected under the new regime, which is currently Rs 75,000. 

4. What is Union Budget 2025-26?

The Union Budget 2025-26 is an annual statement of all the income and expenditure incurred by the government in the previous year, along with estimated records of all the revenue and spending that will be undertaken in the financial year 2025-26. 

5. What was the budget for the year 2024?

For the year 2024-25, the budget estimates included a total expenditure of Rs 48.21 lakh crores and net tax receipts of Rs 25.83 lakh crores, with the fiscal deficit estimated at 4.9% of GDP. Along with these figures, the total receipts, excluding the borrowings, were estimated to be Rs 32.07 lakh crores.