Interim budget date 2024: FM Sitharaman will present the budget on February 1
Sitharaman had earlier said that this budget may not have any major announcements. However, several reports have quoted senior government sources as saying that there could be some changes in many of the Centre’s schemes.
Union Budget 2024-2025: Major changes possible in schemes
Ayushman Bharat Scheme
The Center is working on a proposal to double health coverage under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana to Rs 10 lakh from Rs 5 lakh at present, news agency said PTI. The announcement is expected during the interim budget speech on February 1.
It would require an increased allocation of Rs 12,076 crore per year.
MGNREGS
The Center is likely to increase the allocation to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) by about 47 per cent to Rs 88,000 crore, from Rs 60,000 crore at present, according to a report by the Economic times (ET).
This is mainly due to continued high demand for work under the scheme in rural parts of the country.
Notably, in FY23, the Center spent around Rs 90,000 crore on the scheme. For FY25, the rural development ministry had asked the Center in pre-budget consultations to allocate Rs 1.1 trillion for the scheme.
PM KISAN
The Center is expected to release the 16th installment of the PM-KISAN program between February and March, it added. The fifteenth part appeared in November last year.
FAME scheme
Business standard earlier reported that the Center is likely to launch the third phase of its Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid & Electric Vehicles (FAME) program in the upcoming budget.
The allocation for FAME-III is likely to be around Rs 12,500 crore, higher than the previous two phases.
First print: January 24, 2024 | 2:45 PM IST