Budget 2025-26: The country's general budget is going to be presented on February 1. This budget is going to be presented once again by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. This will be her eighth budget as Finance Minister. From the year 2014 to 23 July 2024, 13 budgets of the Modi government have come out. Out of this, 11 are full budgets and two are interim budgets. On February 1, the Modi government will present its 14th budget. Let us tell you what big announcements have been made in the budgets presented by the Modi government so far.

Budget of 2014 (Finance Minister: Arun Jaitley)

Lok Sabha elections were held in 2014, so in February, the Congress government presented the interim budget. When the BJP came to power after the elections, the then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the first full budget of the Modi government in July. In this budget, the tax exemption limit was increased from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 2.5 lakh, while for senior citizens this limit was increased from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 3 lakh. The tax deduction limit under section 80 (C) was increased from Rs 1.1 lakh to Rs 1.5 lakh.

Budget of 2015 (Finance Minister: Arun Jaitley)

The budget for the year 2015 was also presented by the then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. In this budget, the wealth tax was abolished. It was announced to make the interest received on investment in Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana tax-free, tax exemption of Rs 50 thousand was announced on investment in NPS, and the tax deduction limit on personal health insurance premium was increased from Rs 15 thousand to Rs 25 thousand.

Budget of 2016 (Finance Minister: Arun Jaitley)

Arun Jaitley was also the Finance Minister who presented the budget for 2016. In this budget, tax rebate for those earning less than 5 lakhs was increased from 2000 to 5000 rupees. Tax exemption under section 80GG for those paying house rent was increased from 24,000 to 60,000 rupees. The surcharge on individuals with an annual income of more than 1 crore rupees was increased to 15 percent.

Budget of 2017 (Finance Minister: Arun Jaitley)

In 2017, the Modi government presented the general budget and the railway budget together. This happened for the first time in the history of the budget. The then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley gave a tax rebate of Rs 12,500 to taxpayers. The tax rate for income of Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh was reduced from 10 percent to 5 percent.

Budget 2018 (Finance Minister: Arun Jaitley)

In this year's budget, it was announced that salaried taxpayers will get the benefit of a standard deduction of Rs 40,000. Senior citizens' interest income of up to Rs 50,000 was exempted from tax. Earlier, this exemption was Rs 10,000. There was no change in the income tax slab this time as well. Cess was increased from 3% to 4%.

Interim Budget 2019 (Acting Finance Minister: Piyush Goyal)

Due to elections in 2019, the interim budget was presented on February 1. At that time, due to the ill health of the then Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, this budget was presented by the then Acting Finance Minister Piyush Goyal. In this budget, honoring the workers of the unorganized sector, it was announced to give them pensions every month, a monthly pension of Rs 3000 to the workers, and the income tax limit for the middle class was doubled to five lakhs. HRA was also increased to Rs 2.40 lakh.

Budget of 2019 (Finance Minister: Nirmala Sitharaman)

After the formation of the government in 2019, Nirmala Sitharaman became the Finance Minister and presented her first budget as Finance Minister. In this budget, the limit of tax rebate was increased from Rs 2500 to Rs 12500. The standard deduction was increased from Rs 40000 to Rs 50000. At the same time, interest up to Rs 40000 on deposits in banks or post offices was made tax-free. An additional deduction of up to Rs 1.5 lakh was proposed under Section 80EEA on interest paid on home loans. The limit of TDS on rent was increased from Rs 1.80 lakh to Rs 2.40 lakh.

Budget 2020 (Finance Minister: Nirmala Sitharaman)

The option of a new tax regime was introduced in the 2020 budget. In such a situation, taxpayers were given the option to choose either the new tax regime or the old tax regime voluntarily. It was proposed to extend the additional deduction of up to Rs 1.5 lakh under Section 80EEA for the purchase of a cheap house by one year. DDT on dividends paid by companies and mutual funds was abolished.

Budget 2021 (Finance Minister: Nirmala Sitharaman)

In this budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman increased the allocation for the development of the infrastructure sector in rural areas to Rs 40,000 crore. The Finance Minister announced to increase in the limit of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the insurance sector from 49 percent to 74 percent. The Finance Minister announced the creation of five major fishing hubs.

Budget 2022 (Finance Minister: Nirmala Sitharaman)

In the 2022 Budget, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the construction of 80 lakh houses across the country in a year under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. In this budget, a promise was made to provide 60 lakh jobs to the youth.

Budget 2023 (Finance Minister: Nirmala Sitharaman)

This was the last full budget of the second term of the Modi government. In this budget, it was announced that no tax would be paid on annual income up to Rs 7 lakh under the new tax regime. Allocations were announced for various ministries and departments as well as central schemes and the government's future direction was outlined by stating the 7 priorities of the budget as inclusive growth, reaching the last mile, infrastructure and investment, unleashing potential, growth in the field of green energy, youth power and financial sector.

Interim Budget 2024 (Finance Minister: Nirmala Sitharaman)

The interim budget was presented in the year 2024 due to elections on February 1. In this budget, the Finance Minister said that the upliftment of GYAN i.e. 'poor', 'youth', 'farmer', and 'woman' is the top priority of the government. It was also announced to set up a fund of Rs 1 lakh crore with a fifty-year interest-free loan for the youth. In this budget, the Finance Minister said that the capital expenditure outlay for the next year is being increased by 11.1 percent to Rs 11,11,111 crore, which will be 3.4 percent of the gross domestic product.

Full Budget of 2024 (Finance Minister: Nirmala Sitharaman)

After the formation of the Modi 3.0 government at the Center, Nirmala Sitharaman once again became the Finance Minister and presented the full budget for FY2024-25 on 23 July 2024. In this budget, the standard deduction in the New Tax Regime was increased from 50 to 75 thousand. At the same time, changes were also made to the income tax slab. Under this, now there will be no tax on income up to Rs 0-3 lakh. At the same time, a 5 percent tax will be levied on income up to Rs 3-7 lakh. 10 percent tax will be levied on taxable income up to Rs 7-10 lakh.

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