Union Budget Drives Home.'VIKSIT BHARAT' MANTRA

Presenting the Union Budget for the seventh time in a row on July 23, the Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman proposed to abolish 'angel tax' for all classes of investors and announced several measures like operationalisation of the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) for basic research and prototype development and setting up a mechanism for spurring private sector-driven research and innovation at commercial scale with a financing pool of Rs 1 lakh crore in line with the announcement in the interim budget.

- Shivani Thakar

The Budget has enhanced the allocation to the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) from Rs 5746.51 crore in 2023-24 to Rs 6323.41 crore 2024-25 marking an increase of 10.03 per cent, of which Rs 6265.80 crore has been earmarked for Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR).

The Union Budget 2024-25 is focussed on driving the growth and development of entrepreneurship, employment and skilling, making India a manufacturing hub of the world and boosting primary and secondary healthcare in the country factors by and large being hailed by leaders and experts as keystones on India's path of 'Viksit Bharat' to become one of the world's biggest economy. The Prime Minister asserted "Today's budget has brought new opportunities, new energy, new employment and self-employment opportunities. It has brought better growth and a bright future."

Healthcare/medtech

The government has increased the budget allocation for the healthcare sector by 15 per cent compared to the previous year. This increase aims to improve healthcare infrastructure and services across the country. Three cancer drugs namely Trastuzumab Deruxtecan, Osimertinib and Durvalumab have been fully exempted from custom duty, to make cancer treatment more affordable in the country. The budget has also introduced schemes to enable changes in Basic Customs Duty (BCD) on X-ray tubes & flat panel detectors for use in medical X-ray machines under the Phased Manufacturing Programme. Although the announcements have been welcomed by the healthcare sector, experts opine that customs duty reduction on finished goods is still a pending demand.