Union Budget 2025 Expectations Updates: Home loan borrowers hope for enhanced tax benefits

Ritesh Jain of FlexiLoans.com, emphasized that the MSME sector plays a vital role in India’s economy, contributing about 30% of the GDP and employing 62% of the workforce. However, the sector faces a significant credit gap, with only 14% of MSMEs accessing formal credit. Despite advancements in digital lending, this issue persists. With Union Budget 2025 on the horizon, Jain calls for measures that stimulate MSME growth and foster a more inclusive financial ecosystem. He suggests focusing on improving financial literacy among MSMEs, as many lack knowledge about responsible borrowing and repayment. A national effort to promote financial literacy through online and offline initiatives in collaboration with NBFCs and banks could help MSMEs manage their finances better and ensure sustainable growth.

Ritesh Jain of FlexiLoans.com, highlighted that the MSME sector is a crucial contributor to India's GDP and employment, yet it suffers from a significant credit gap, with only 14% of MSMEs having access to formal loans. Despite advancements in digital lending, the sector continues to face financial challenges. As the Union Budget 2025 approaches, Jain advocates for measures to support MSME growth and create a more inclusive financial ecosystem. One key suggestion is to revisit the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY), by increasing the refinance limit for NBFCs that lend to MSMEs and offering interest rate subventions to make the scheme more effective, particularly for underserved businesses.

Ritesh Jain of FlexiLoans.com stresses the importance of MSMEs, which contribute 30% to India's GDP and employ 62% of the workforce. Despite the sector's significance, a major credit gap exists, with only 14% of MSMEs accessing formal credit. With the Union Budget 2025 approaching, Jain calls for measures to address this issue, specifically focusing on strengthening digital infrastructure. He suggests digitizing UDYAM registration data and integrating it into financial systems to speed up credit assessments. Jain also advocates for a dedicated fund to develop advanced fintech tools for better MSME credit evaluation, enhancing loan accessibility and reliability

Ritesh Jain of FlexiLoans.com highlights the crucial role of MSMEs in India's economy, contributing 30% to GDP and employing 62% of the workforce. However, the sector faces a significant credit gap, with only 14% of MSMEs having access to formal credit. As the Union Budget 2025 approaches, Jain calls for measures to address this gap, including simplifying credit access for small businesses. He suggests enhancing schemes like the Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) to make it easier for MSMEs to secure unsecured loans, thus fostering growth and improving financial inclusion.

Dinkar Sharma at Jotwani Associates expects the 2024-2025 Union Budget to prioritize creating a business-friendly environment by simplifying compliance. He suggests rationalizing GST slabs to streamline indirect taxation and expanding the tax base through technology-driven compliance. Sharma advocates for targeted incentives for startups and MSMEs, particularly in the tech and green energy sectors, to stimulate growth. He also emphasizes the need for infrastructure development and tax relief for individuals under the new tax regime to boost consumption and investment, supporting overall economic growth.

Vikram Gupta of Supreme Smart Power, calls for transformative measures in the upcoming budget to accelerate electric vehicle (EV) adoption in India. He emphasizes the need for increased subsidies, reduced GST on EVs, and incentives for fleet electrification. Gupta also highlights the importance of developing a robust charging infrastructure, strengthening the supply chain, and encouraging indigenous manufacturing. Bridging the accessibility gap between urban and rural areas is essential for sustainable growth, along with supporting research and innovation in clean energy technologies. He stresses the need for a balanced approach that supports both green initiatives and traditional manufacturers transitioning to new norms.

Dr. Suneeta Reddy of Apollo Hospitals, advocates for a reduction in input GST for hospitals, suggesting it be lowered to 5% for key services like lease rentals, housekeeping, security, and manpower. She also recommends an Infrastructure Linked Incentive (ILI) similar to the PLI scheme, offering a 50% incentive on the capital expenditure of hospitals with over 100 beds to address the country's bed shortage. Additionally, Dr. Reddy calls for a reduction in GST on health insurance premiums to 5% to encourage wider coverage and proposes mandatory health insurance for companies with more than 20 employees. She emphasizes the need to prioritize telehealth, digital medicine, and preventive care in the budget to improve healthcare access and reduce hospital burdens.

Piyush Goyal of Volks Energie highlights India's ambitious goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2070 and generating 500 GW of non-fossil fuel energy by 2030. He urges the upcoming budget to support clean energy advancements, particularly in solar and green technologies. Goyal advocates for large-scale investments in solar and wind energy projects and calls for subsidies and tax rebates for Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) to ensure grid stability as renewable energy increases. Additionally, he stresses the importance of fostering innovation in battery technologies like LFP and Ni-Cd for long-term sustainability in the renewable sector.

Saurabh Bhardwaj, CEO of Verge Cloud, highlights that the upcoming budget presents a crucial opportunity to strengthen India's digital infrastructure. He expects the government to focus on enhancing technologies like AI, edge computing, and cloud solutions, which are essential for scalability, security, and innovation. These advancements will help industries improve processing speeds, reduce latency, and bolster cybersecurity. Bhardwaj also calls for continued policy support for startups and innovation, along with workforce skilling initiatives, to accelerate digital growth and readiness. At VergeCloud, the company is dedicated to advancing edge and cloud technologies to support a secure and inclusive digital India.

Ajay Goyal of Erekrut emphasizes that the upcoming budget should prioritize areas crucial to advancing India's workforce. These include supporting startups and MSMEs to generate employment, boosting skilling programs for an AI-driven economy, simplifying compliance through digital solutions, promoting hybrid work models, and enhancing employee welfare. He suggests offering incentives for talent acquisition, reskilling, and wellness initiatives to build a more resilient and productive workforce. Additionally, streamlined regulations and better infrastructure will help attract global talent and businesses, creating a more inclusive employment landscape for the future.

he Finance Ministry has approved a Rs 25,000 crore PLI scheme aimed at electronic components, with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) expected to seek Cabinet approval before its anticipated announcement in the Union Budget 2025. This initiative will focus on enhancing domestic production and reducing dependency on imports, particularly from China, by providing incentives for the manufacture of key components like PCBs, batteries, displays, and camera modules. Although industry had requested a larger budget of Rs 40,000 crore, the scheme is intended to bolster India's global position in electronics manufacturing, attract investments, generate employment, and foster innovation within the sector. Read more

Home loan borrowers and industry experts are urging the Union Budget 2025-26 to address their longstanding requests for improved tax benefits, especially given the increasing housing costs. Key proposals include increasing tax exemptions under sections 80C and 24B to make homeownership more accessible, as the current limits are seen as inadequate. Experts also recommend consolidating home loan deductions into one section with a higher cap of Rs 5 lakh, along with reinstating the credit-linked subsidy scheme (CLSS) and section 80EEA for first-time home buyers. These measures are expected to ease the financial strain on homeowners and encourage affordable housing. Read more

Dr. Suneeta Reddy of Apollo Hospitals, suggests that the Union Budget 2025 should build upon the previous year's progress in tackling the rising incidence of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs). While Budget 2024 reduced customs duties on essential cancer medicines, she advocates for extending this to include targeted therapy drugs and advanced treatment technologies, such as radiotherapy machines and robotics. These critical tools, mostly imported from global medtech companies, face customs duties of about 37%. Lowering these duties could significantly reduce cancer treatment costs in India.

FM Sitharaman's Pre-Budget meeting with trade unions

The upcoming annual budget for FY26 could announce further measures to boost employment generation, CII said on Sunday, emphasising that job creation at a mass scale is important to engage the young population productively, and drive inclusive growth in the world's most populous nation.

The industry body has suggested a seven-point agenda to harness India's demographic dividend, including an integrated national employment policy, support to labour-intensive sectors, and setting up an international mobility authority, among other targeted measures.

With a median age of just 29 years, India is a young country, and is set to add 133 million people to its working-age population by 2050.

The Finance Ministry has granted approval to a PLI scheme with an outlay of Rs 25,000 crore for electronic components, CNBC-TV18 reported citing people familiar with the development on January 6. Read more

Home loan borrowers and industry experts have a long wishlist for the Union Budget 2025-26. They hope Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will address some of their long-standing demands for enhanced tax benefits, despite the government being now keen on promoting the new, minimal exemption tax regime. Read more