Page 27 - Latest Updates on Budget 2025-26

Understanding Budget documents: Identify changes relevant to your finances

The July 2024 Budget changed little for taxpayers, heightening expectations for relief this year

Projects worth Rs 1.5 trn completed under Smart Cities Mission: Eco Survey

The Economic Survey on Friday highlighted that under the Smart Cities mission, nearly 7,500 projects worth Rs 1.5 lakh crore have been completed so far. The mission, which was launched in 2015, aims to develop smart cities with essential infrastructure, good quality of life and a sustainable environment, it noted. "As of 13 January 2025, 8,058 projects worth 1.64 lakh crore have been proposed, with 7,479 projects worth 1.50 lakh crore completed," said the survey, which was tabled in Parliament on Friday. The mission was launched on June 25, 2015, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It aims to enhance the quality of life in 100 selected cities by providing efficient services, robust infrastructure, and a sustainable environment. According to the Ministry of Housing and Urban's website, the objective of the mission is to promote sustainable and inclusive cities that provide core infrastructure and give a decent quality of life to its citizens, a clean and sustainable environment and ...

Pension sector needs boost to improve social security coverage: Eco survey

The Economic Survey 2024-25 on Friday made a case for scalability of pension coverage to bring more people under the social security net. Despite significant advancements in the pension sector, just 5.3 per cent of the total population is covered by the National Pension System (NPS) and Atal Pension Yojana (APY) combined. "This highlights another critical aspect of the Indian pension system: scalability. Low costs are essential to enhance coverage meaningfully. Achieving this will require highly competitive, low-cost fund management and minimal transaction costs, which is particularly vital for small-ticket transactions," it said. In principle, it said, taking into consideration both scalability and sustainability, India's pension system design seems robust and stable, the survey tabled in Parliament said. NPS is one of the lowest-cost pension schemes globally and its framework is based on a defined contribution model, which ensures that future payouts are determined by market ...

What Indian Railways achieved in FY25? Economic Survey sheds light

Between April and October 2024, Indian Railways launched 17 new pairs of Vande Bharat trains and manufactured 228 new coaches, keeping pace with last year's expansion

Economic Survey sounds alarm on AI, calls for education-industry links

The survey highlighted that critical thinking, creativity, and deep domain expertise will soon outweigh narrowly focused technical skills

Impose higher GST, stricter labelling rules on UPFs: Economic Survey

The government must focus on a multi-pronged approach with stricter FSSAI labelling norms, higher GST, and awareness campaigns to curb consumption of ultra processed foods (UPFs), according to the pre-Budget document tabled in Parliament on Friday. "A multi-pronged approach would be required to address the concerns emerging from the increased inclusion of UPFs in diets in India," it said. Misleading nutrition claims and information on UPFs need to be tackled and should be brought under the scanner, it said. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) could consider bringing UPFs under regulation with a clear definition and standards, including stricter labelling requirements. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare should urgently define nutrient thresholds for sugars, salt, and saturated fats to regulate advertising, adopt warning front-of-pack labels (FOPL), and impose stricter marketing restrictions on unhealthy foods, especially targeting children under 18. A ..

Economic Survey highlights real estate boom, demand to hit 93 mn by 2036

The residential property market had achieved an 11-year high in sales volume during the first half of 2024 and sales across the top eight cities registered an 11 per cent year-on-year growth

EU carbon tax, deforestation regulation may impact exporters: Eco Survey

The European Union's (EU) non-trade measures - carbon tax and deforestation regulation - are expected to impact Indian exporters, Economic Survey 2024-25 said on Friday. It said globally, non-tariff measures such as subsidies and export-related measures, have risen in aid of nations' industrial policy goals. Unlike broad-based tariffs, these non-tariff measures tend to be granular in their approach. They are often less visible, making them harder to assess. In the future, the imposition of climate-change-related NTMs by the EU in the form of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) is anticipated to have broad implications for exporters in emerging economies such as China, India, and Turkey," the survey said. Implemented by the EU and under consideration by the UK, CBAM aims to align the cost of carbon emissions for imported goods with that of domestically produced products. Under the mechanism, importers will buy carbon ...

Gold prices likely to decline, silver to rise in 2025: Economic Survey

Gold prices are expected to decline in 2025 while silver prices may increase, according to Economic Survey 2024-25 tabled in Parliament on Friday. Citing the World Bank's Commodity Markets Outlook for October 2024, the economic survey highlighted that commodity prices are projected to decrease 5.1 per cent in 2025 and 1.7 per cent in 2026. The projected declines are led by oil prices but tempered by price increases for natural gas and a stable outlook for metals and agricultural raw materials. Among precious metals, gold prices are expected to decrease while silver prices may increase. Prices for metals and minerals are expected to decline, primarily due to a decrease in iron ore and zinc prices, the economic survey said. "In general, the downward trend movement in prices of commodities imported by India is a positive for the domestic inflation outlook," it added. Meanwhile, the survey said "a global rise in uncertainty has led to fluctuations in the composition of foreign exchang

Rice industry calls for budget support to boost exports, agri infra

The Indian rice industry has urged the government to provide incentives and policy support in the upcoming Union Budget to address surplus stock, falling prices, and sluggish exports. The industry also demanded development of modern and better rural infrastructure in the budget, particularly irrigation and cold storage facilities. Dev Garg, Vice President of the Indian Rice Exporters Federation (IREF), highlighted a bumper surplus of 500 lakh tonnes which has led to a price decline of 10-15 per cent in both basmati and white rice. Despite the government's recent move to lift restrictions on non-basmati rice exports, shipments have remained weak. From April to now, rice exports have totalled Rs 76,000 crore, significantly lower than last year's Rs 1.14 lakh crore during the same period, he said. "The current quarter is difficult for traders, and exports are unlikely to improve in the next three months. With bumper crop coming in and no space to store, the situation demands governmen

Amid 90-hr workweek debate, Eco survey bets on employees' mental well-being

The Economic Survey 2024-2025 document argues that the ramifications of low levels of mental well-being is detrimental, not just to the health of the person, but to the economy as well

India's corporate profits hit 15-yr high, but wages lag behind: Eco Survey

Corporate profits have surged to a 15-year high, but sluggish wage growth raises concerns about rising inequality and weaker demand, warns the Economic Survey 2024-25

U-WIN transformative step in immunisation effort: Economic Survey

The U-WIN portal has registered 7.44 crore beneficiaries, conducted 1.26 crore vaccination sessions, and recorded 27.84 crore doses administered as of November 27, 2024, stated the Economic Survey 2024-25 while highlighted that it marks a transformative step in India's immunisation efforts. The pre-budget survey tabled in the Parliament on Friday mentioned the initiatives that saw technology integration in healthcare delivery for timely diagnoses and recommendations of personalised treatments to telehealth technologies that connect patients and health professionals in a virtual space to improve efficiency and effectiveness. The report described U-WIN as a user-friendly platform that enables seamless access to immunisation records, flexible scheduling, 'anytime access', and 'anywhere' vaccination. Beneficiaries can self-register via the web portal or mobile app, track schedules, and receive SMS reminders for upcoming doses. U-WIN also generates QR-based e-vaccination certificates and

Economic Survey 2025 Highlights: China is world's sole manufacturing superpower, says CEA

Economic survey 2025 latest updates: Stay with us for all the major updates on economic survey 2025-26

Economic Survey 2025 suggests deregulation as a trigger for higher growth

We broadly concur with the Survey's assessment of a pick-up in rural demand on the back of improved crop output, disinflation, and an uptick in domestic investment activity

Give back entrepreneurs & households their time and mental bandwidth: CEA

Give entrepreneurs and households back their time and mental bandwidth, Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran said while making a strong case for significant roll back of regulations both by the Union and state governments. In the Preface of the Economic Survey 2024-25, he said 'Getting out of the way' and allowing businesses to focus on their core mission is a significant contribution that governments around the country can make to foster innovation and enhance competitiveness. "The most effective policies governments - Union and States - in the country can embrace is to give entrepreneurs and households back their time and mental bandwidth. That means rolling back regulation significantly. That means vowing and acting to stop micromanaging economic activity and embracing risk-based regulations," Nageswaran wrote. Effective government policies also means changing the operating principle of regulations from 'guilty until proven innocent' to 'innocent until proven guilty'. Add

Economic Survey 2025: AI an unprecedented opportunity and challenge

State may resort to taxation of profits generated from replacement of labour with tech

Coordinated efforts from all crucial for making India mfg hub: Eco Survey

Coordinated efforts from the government, private sector, academia, R&D institutions, and financial stakeholders are crucial for India to achieve its goal of becoming a manufacturing powerhouse amid an uncertain global environment, Economic Survey 2024-2025 said on Friday. It also said that the rise of China as a manufacturing powerhouse and its impact on the manufacturing aspirations of other nations, as well as the supply of minerals, materials, machinery, and equipment needed for energy transition, pose challenges. Amidst this, it said, India is in the middle of a change that represents an unprecedented economic challenge and opportunity. The survey stressed that China is a dominant force in the global manufacturing and energy transition ecosystems as it has gained a strategic advantage leveraging its competitiveness and economic policy to access and control key resources recognised today as critical for global supply chains. "Hence, in a rather unsupportive global environment, .

Tap water connections in rural household crossed 150 mn mark: Eco Survey

Tap water connections in rural households under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) have grown four-fold to about 15.30 crore as of November 2024, according to the Economic Survey 2024-25. Around 3.23 crore (17 per cent) of rural households had tap water connections at the time of the launch of the mission in August 2019, the pre-budget document for the 2024-25 fiscal said. The mission improved access to safe drinking water in rural areas, particularly in regions affected by water quality issues like arsenic and fluoride. Its impact includes better health outcomes and enhanced water security for vulnerable populations, it noted. "Since then, over 12.06 crore families have been added, increasing the total to more than 15.30 crore (79.1 per cent) out of approximately 19.34 crore rural households as of November 26, 2024," the survey said. Eight states -- Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab, Telangana and Mizoram, and three union territories, namely, Andaman & .

Economic Survey backs MMF shift as India lags in global textile production

The survey stated that the dominance of MSMEs limits scale and efficiency, while the sector's fragmented nature increases logistical costs