BUDGET2025 LIVE: Jose Thattil, CEO, Phi Commerce
“Setting up of a ₹10,000 crore Fund of Funds for startups, along with a new Rs 20,000 crore innovation fund, which is primarily meant for Deep Tech R&D, will provide a significant capital boost to emerging ventures in AI, blockchain, and financial technologies. Innovations such as blockchain-powered decentralized finance and smart contracts could reshape India’s fintech ecosystem, driving greater efficiency and security.
Additionally, the Prime Minister SVANidhi scheme will be revamped with enhanced loans from banks, UPI-linked credit cards with Rs 30,000 limit, and capacity building support. Fintechs that focus on micro-lending, peer-to-peer lending, and alternative credit scoring would see higher growth opportunities, especially in rural and semi-urban areas.”
BUDGET2025 LIVE: Mihir V Shah, Executive Director, Vipul Organics Limited:
It is a fabulous budget with the focus on meeting the aspirations of the booming middle class. The Manufacturing Mission that the Hon’ble minister has set up will further the cause of Make in India and boost domestic manufacturing. Extending the Credit Guarantee Scheme for facilitating term loans for purchase of machinery and equipment without collateral or third party guarantee, to the MSMEs for up to ₹100 crore, is a welcome step and will ease the credit requirements of the sector. Structural reforms that focus on ease of doing business, especially with regards to time limit for Provisional assessments and TCS/TDS compliances are also a welcome step.
BUDGET2025 LIVE: K V Srinivasan, Executive Director and CEO, Profectus Capital Private Limited
“The budget has provided a significant boost to the MSME sector by significantly raising the thresholds for capital investment and turnover criteria for classification as Micro, Small, or Medium enterprises. Combined with the enhanced credit guarantee scheme, this move is expected to drive increased capital investment. This would help MSMEs to modernise and expand their operations. Improved credit flow for startups is also a very welcome move. With the personal tax burden also coming down sharply, the increased consumption power should also help increase the overall demand for goods and services from MSMEs.”
BUDGET2025 LIVE: No income tax payable upto income of Rs 12 lakh rupees, says FM
BUDGET2025 LIVE: Government proposes to increase FDI in insuarance to 100% from 74%.
BUDGET2025 LIVE: The Budget 2025-26 marks a significant step in strengthening India’s startup ecosystem with the announcement of a new ₹10,000 crore ‘Fund of Funds for Startups.’ This fresh infusion, combined with the existing government contribution, will provide much-needed capital support to fuel innovation, scale emerging ventures, and drive entrepreneurship across sectors. Additionally, the introduction of a dedicated scheme for 5 lakh first-time entrepreneurs from women, Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled Tribes is a transformative move towards fostering inclusivity in the startup landscape.
Vimal Nadar, Head of Research at Colliers India
BUDGET2025 LIVE: “The commitment to transform India into a large logistics organization bodes strongly for the Indian warehousing and logistics sector. This is expected to translate into capacity build at several level resulting in enhanced investments and this drive real estate activity.”
Vimal Nadar, Head of Research at Colliers India
BUDGET2025 LIVE; Government to set up centre for excellence in Artifical Intelligence in education with an outlay of Rs500 crores. This is a big move considering the need to focus on AI in the new world order.
BUGET2025 LIVE: FM proposes higher KCC loan limit for famers
The FM has proposed to increase the KCC loan limit from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh is certainly good news for farmers, as they will now be able to access more funds using the KCC cards. There areabout 7.75 crore KCC cards in the country.
BUGET2025 LIVE: FM Sitharaman starts Budget speech. FM says governemnt will launch a six year mission for Atmanirbharatha in pusles with special focus on three pulses. The speech also focuses on focus on other agri secgments as well. Efficient supply and process is key, FM says. Appropriate institutional mechanisms for farm sector will be set up, FM says.
BUGET2025 LIVE: Nirmala Sitharaman is all set to present her eights Budget. Will Sitharaman give a much needed push to manufacturing and rural economy? Let’s wait and watch.
BUGET2025 LIVE: The core sector output recorded a modest yoy growth of 4.0% yoy in December 2024. This was not only lower than the yoy growth of 4.4% yoy registered in the previous month but also slower than the 5.1% yoy growth in December 2023. Nevertheless, the silver lining was that majority of the sectors (seven) recorded positive yoy growth in December 2024, the highest since April 2024. Overall, the growth in the infrastructure sector stood at a meagre 4.2% yoy during 9MFY25 (9MFY24: 8.3% yoy).
BUDGET2025 LIVE: Radhika Rao, Executive Director and Senior Economist, DBS Bank:
The Economic Survey was cautious on the growth outlook, suggesting that the nominal GDP assumption will stay around last year’s levels. The leitmotif of the survey revolved around the need to revive private sector investments, emphasizing on the need to be resilient in the face of rising external uncertainties and boost employment prospects. This lays the ground for the FY26 Budget to retain a supply side push i.e. infrastructure focus and promote manufacturing as well as export capabilities but also focus on demand side measures including tax breaks, improving the mechanism of employment linked schemes and investments into human capital. Despite these wide-ranging priorities, we expect an uncompromising focus on fiscal consolidation.
BUDGET2025 LIVE: Hopes running high of tax cut as Sitharaman presents record 8th budget
NEW DELHI: A cut or tweak in income tax rates/slabs to ease the burden of middle class struggling with high prices and stagnant wage growth is widely expected in Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s record setting eighth consecutive Budget.
The Budget for the fiscal year starting April 1 is expected to contain measures to shore up weakening economic growth while being fiscally prudent. It is likely to focus on steps to boost consumption while sticking to the roadmap of narrowing the fiscal deficit.
Expectations of relief on income tax, particularly for lower middle class, is high after Prime Minister Narendra Modi invoked goddess of wealth for elevating poor and middle class.
“I pray to Goddess Lakshmi that the poor and the middle-class sections in the country are blessed by her,” Modi said on Friday while speaking to reporters outside Parliament before the start of the Budget session.
BUDGET2025 LIVE: In another few hours, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will announce Narendra Modi government’s second Budget in the third term. The general expectation is that the governemnt will bring good news to the middle class and give tax incentives. Also, there are expcetations of capital boost to create more jobs.
Economic Survey 2025 predicts 6.3%-6.85 GDP in FY26
The Economic Survey, tabled by union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday, projects India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the range of 6.3% to 6.8% for the financial year (FY) 2025-26.
The survey, which comprises 13 chapters, focuses on global threats to India’s trade and industries and highlights the potential of Indian agriculture, said an official.
The last chapter, dedicated to artificial intelligence (AI) and its disruptive impact on employment and the economy, stresses the need to make India “future ready”.
The Economic Survey said regulatory frameworks will need to be “revisited and amended” to ensure that use of AI aligns with societal values, balancing innovation with accountability and transparency.
The pre-Budget document cited an IMF paper to say that governments may be forced to tax incremental profit of corporates that use AI to replace labour.
With an entire chapter dedicated to ‘Labour in the AI era’, the Economic Survey noted that while impact of AI on labour will be felt across the world, the problem is magnified for India, given its size and its relatively low per capita income.
The survey stated China’s manufacturing prowess will continue to grow and soon control about 50% of global manufacturing. Hence, India must frame its policies accordingly. It added that China is inevitable for Indian manufacturing, at least for raw materials in three sectors—active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) for pharmaceuticals, components for solar power equipment including the EV ecosystem, and microchips.