Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2025 in Parliament on Saturday. Along with many important announcements, Sitharaman announced a big relief for the middle class. The Finance Minister said that individuals with an annual income of up to Rs 12 lakh will be exempted from income tax under the new tax system. She also proposed to introduce a new Income Tax Bill next week. The Finance Minister said that Budget 2025 focuses on accelerating development, inclusive growth, and empowering India's middle class. In her budget speech, she outlined the 'Developed India' vision, which includes zero poverty, quality education, healthcare, and empowered women.

See here what became expensive and what became cheap:

Goods became cheaper

The government has proposed exemptions and reductions in basic customs duty (BCD) in the healthcare and manufacturing sectors.

• 36 medicines used for cancer treatment and rare diseases have been exempted from basic customs duty. 37 more drugs exempted.
• Electronic goods: BCD for open cells and other components reduced to 5 percent. LEDs/LCDs will also become cheaper.
• Minerals: Cobalt products, LEDs, zinc, lithium-ion battery scrap, and 12 other critical minerals are fully exempted from basic customs duty (BCD).
• Leather products: Wet blue leather is fully exempted from basic customs duty.
• Shipbuilding raw materials will be exempted from BCD for the next 10 years.
• Frozen fish paste (surimi): Customs duty on frozen fish paste (surimi) reduced from 30% to 5%.
• EV batteries: 35 additional goods for EV battery manufacturing, and 28 additional goods for mobile phone batteries will be added to the list of exempted capital goods.

Goods became expensive

• The government has proposed to increase the basic customs duty on interactive flat panel displays from 10% to 20%, this will affect TVs and mobile phones.