The sources provide information regarding the Indian Union Budget for 2025-2026, covering various aspects such as tax reforms, economic policies, and sector-specific initiatives. Here is a summary of the key points: Budget Overview

• The budget aims to accelerate growth, secure inclusive development, invigorate private sector investments, uplift household sentiments, and enhance the spending power of India's rising middle class.
• The budget focuses on four key groups: the poor, youth, farmers, and women.

Support for MSMEs and Startups

• The credit guarantee cover for Micro and Small Enterprises (MSMEs) will be enhanced to ₹10 crore, up from ₹5 crore. This is expected to result in an additional ₹1.5 lakh crore in credit over the next 5 years.
• The credit guarantee cover for startups will be increased to ₹20 crore from ₹10 crore, with a reduced guarantee fee of 1% for loans in 27 focus sectors that align with 'Atmanirbhar Bharat'.
• Well-run exporter MSMEs will receive increased credit guarantees for term loans up to ₹20 crore.
• Credit cards with a limit of ₹5 lakh will be introduced for micro-enterprises registered on the Udyam portal, with 10 lakh cards planned to be issued in the first year.

Support for Specific Groups and Sectors

• A new scheme will provide term loans of up to ₹2 crore for 5 lakh first-time women, Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled Tribes entrepreneurs, with added online capacity building for managerial skills and entrepreneurship.
• A focus product scheme supports non-leather quality footwear production, aiming to create 22 lakh jobs and generate ₹400 crore in revenues and ₹1.1 lakh crore in exports.
• A new scheme is intended to make India a global hub for toys by developing skills and clusters and creating a manufacturing ecosystem with sustainable toys.
• The National Institute of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship, and Management in Bihar is intended to boost food processing activities throughout the entire Eastern region.
• A "Mission to support Clean Tech manufacturing" aims to improve domestic value addition and build an ecosystem for EV batteries, solar PV cells, and other related technologies.
• A National Manufacturing Mission will support 'Make in India' by providing policy support, execution roadmaps and governance frameworks.

Taxation

• The budget proposes revised tax slabs and rates under the new tax regime, with no tax on income up to ₹12 lakh. However, another source indicates that the proposed maximum income that would be subject to no income tax is up to ₹3,00,000 and that the benefit for taxpayers with a taxable income up to 12 lakhs would be 0 due to the full rebate that would apply.
• The budget also proposes TDS relief for senior citizens and other depositors. The limit for tax deduction on interest for senior citizens is being doubled from ₹50,000 to ₹1 lakh.
• The time limit to file an updated return has been extended from 24 months to 48 months from the end of the relevant assessment year.
• The budget proposes to rationalise Tax Deduction at Source (TDS) by reducing the number of rates and thresholds.
• There are amendments to the Income-tax Act regarding shipping, and the definition of "qualifying ship" will now include "ships" and "inland vessels".
• The budget introduces a new sub-clause in the Income-tax Act to exclude any advance or loan between two group entities, where one is a "Finance company" or a "Finance unit" whose parent entity is listed on a stock exchange outside India, from the definition of dividend.