Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presents the Union Budget in Parliament on Saturday.Budget 2025 FM Nirmala Sitharaman Speech Highlights: After presenting the Union Budget for the fiscal year 2025-26 in Lok Sabha on Saturday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said one crore more people will not pay tax. Sitharaman made the remark in reference to the increase in tax rebate to Rs 12 lakh. In an interview with Doordarashan, Sitharaman said, “Slab rate reductions apply to everyone, and extra rebate for some more people. Why do this? The expectation is that the money saved by taxpayers will flow back into the economy through consumption, savings, or investment.”
‘Nothing for poor’: Opposition leaders lashed out at the Centre over the Budget saying there is nothing for the common people and poor. While several leaders echoed the sentiment that the NDA-led government made a bid to woo the tax paying middle class and Bihar electorate ahead of Assembly polls in the state, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said the Centre has cut down expenditure in key sectors like education, health, social welfare, agriculture, rural and urban development, with schemes meant for SCs, STs, OBCs and minorities “suffering cruellest cuts”
Income Tax Slabs and Rates Budget 2025 LIVE: Watch Here
Here’s how the new income tax slabs look like now:
| Income | Tax Rate |
| Rs 0-4 lakh | Nil |
| Rs 4-8 lakh | 5% |
| Rs 8-12 lakh | 10% |
| Rs 12-16 lakh | 15% |
| Rs 16-20 lakh | 20% |
| Rs 20-24 lakh | 25% |
| Above Rs 24 lakh | 30% |
While Sitharaman announced new schemes for the agriculture sector including the Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana, the overall allocation to the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare saw an increase of barely 4 per cent — from Rs 1.32 lakh crore in the last budget to Rs 1.37 lakh crore. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MG-NREGS) did not see any change in its budget while the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) was allocated the same amount as last year.
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