Budget 2025: From Tax Relief to Free Cancer Care - 53 Big Bang Announcements

In a landmark move, the Finance Minister announced that salaried individuals opting for the new tax regime will not have to pay any tax on annual income up to ₹12.75 lakh. This includes standard deduction of ₹75,000 and tax exemption under section 87A for the first two slabs. The government has also increased the TDS limit for senior citizens from ₹50,000 to ₹1 lakh. Taxpayers can now file ITR for the past 4 years together, extended from the previous 2-year limit. 

Healthcare and Senior Citizens

• 36 life-saving medicines to be completely duty-free
• Establishment of 200 cancer daycare centers in 2025-26
• Medical device imports and cancer medicines to become cheaper 
• 75,000 new medical education seats to be added in next 5 years 
• 10,000 medical college seats to be added in the coming year
• 13 patient assistance programs exempted from basic customs duty
• 6 life-saving drugs to get 5% reduction in customs duty 

Education and Youth Empowerment

• 6,500 new seats to be added across 23 IITs
• ₹500 crore allocation for three AI Excellence Centers 
• ₹10,000 crore fund for startups
• Five National Skill Excellence Centers to be established
• Broadband connectivity for all government secondary schools and primary health centers 
• 10,000 new PM Research Fellowships 
• IIT Patna hostel facilities to be expanded
• Focus on Make in India and Make for World initiatives 

Agricultural and Rural Development

• Kisan Credit Card limit increased from ₹3 lakh to ₹5 lakh
• PM Dhan-Dhanya Agriculture scheme to benefit 100 districts
• New six-year mission for self-sufficiency in pulses
• Five-year action plan for cotton production focusing on productivity and marketing
• New urea plant in Namrup, Assam
• Makhana Board to be established for Bihar farmers
• Western Kosi Canal project in Mithilanchal to benefit 50,000 hectares
• Enhanced Post Payment Bank services for rural schemes
• Special focus on fisheries with marine products customs duty reduced from 30% to 5%
• Promotion of deep-sea fishing in Andaman and Nicobar

Urban Development and Infrastructure 

• ₹1 lakh crore Urban Challenge Fund
• Income enhancement scheme for urban poor 
• 40,000 new houses to be handed over in 2025 
• Jal Jeevan Mission extended till 2028
• Three new airports in Bihar
• Regional connectivity to be enhanced to 120 new destinations
• UDAN scheme to benefit 1.5 crore passengers
• 88 airports already connected under regional connectivity 

MSME and Business Development

• MSME loan guarantee limit doubled to ₹10 crore
• Seven tariff rates to be removed, only 8 to remain
• New leather scheme to generate 22 lakh jobs 
• Special loan scheme for SC-ST women entrepreneurs 
• ₹2 crore term loan for first-time women entrepreneurs
• PM Svanidhi scheme loan limit increased to ₹30,000
• Global Capability Centers in Tier-2 cities
• National Institute of Food Technology to be established in Bihar 
• Customized credit cards with ₹5 lakh limit for micro enterprises
• 10 lakh customized credit cards to be issued in first year 

Financial Sector Reforms

• New Income Tax bill to be introduced next week
• FDI in insurance sector to be increased to 100% from 74%
• KYC process to be simplified with new system 
• Company merger processes to be expedited
• High-level committee for Ease of Doing Business reforms
• 180 legal provisions decriminalized under Jan Vishwas Act 2023 

Tourism and Electronics Sector

• Development of 50 tourism destinations with state participation
• Visa fee exemption and eVisa expansion  
• Home stay Mudra loans
• Mobile phones and e-vehicles to become cheaper
• Lithium-ion batteries for EVs and mobiles to become affordable 
• LED-LCD TVs to become cheaper with customs duty reduced to 2.5%
• National action plan for toy manufacturing 
• India to be developed as global toy manufacturing hub 

Energy and Infrastructure

• Nuclear mission target of 100 GW by 2047
• ₹20,000 crore budget for small model reactor research
• Power generation capacity enhancement
• Focus on renewable energy development
• Enhanced regional air connectivity with 88 airports added