Budget 2024: What to expect from Sitharaman’s interim budget presentation

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman speaks in the Rajya Sabha during the winter session of Parliament in New Delhi, Thursday, December 7, 2023. (PTI Photo)

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present her sixth budget, an interim budget, during the ongoing budget session of Parliament on Thursday.

While Sitharaman himself made it clear that the interim budget would not contain any “spectacular” announcements, everyone still expects a certain amount of good news.

Notably, in the last interim budget, presented ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, announcements were made about the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme, an increase in the income tax exemption limit of Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh, and doubling the maximum gratuity payable to an employee from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh.

For the common man, this year’s interim budget could include good news on the income tax exemption limit, announcements on taxation of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation, a boost to the FAME scheme, which covers electric vehicle manufacturers ( EV) encourages a larger allocation to Prime Minister Kisan, among others.

For a detailed look at budget expectations, watch this video, put together to make Budget 2024 easy for our viewers.

First print: January 31, 2024 | 5:28 PM IST