Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulates Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for tax relief

In a post on X, Singh said that this year's budget will promote the development of youth, poor farmers, and women, as well as all sections and regions of the society.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the 2025 Budget in the Parliament on Saturday.

"I congratulate the Finance Minister, @nsitharaman, who has presented a wonderful Budget towards fulfilling the resolve of Prime Minister Mr. @narendramodi ji to develop India. This Budget will promote the development of youth, poor farmers, and women, as well as all sections and regions of the society," Singh said in a post on X.

He termed the Budget an "unprecedented" gift for the middle class. The Defence Minister also welcomed the decision to give income tax relief on annual income up to Rs 12 lakh.

https://x.com/rajnathsingh/status/1885603774871277978

Earlier, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday also congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for the "comprehensive" and "visionary" Budget.

Highlighting the Union government's decision to exempt income tax up to Rs 12 lakh, Shah said that the middle class is always in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's heart.

This limit will be Rs 12.75 lakh for salaried taxpayers, counting Rs 75,000 of standard deduction. She also stated that the new income tax regime will be simpler, with a special focus on benefiting the middle class.

But there is a catch: the exemption can be earned only if a taxpayer takes relief under various sections of the Income Tax Act, like the Rs 1.5 lakh exemption under section 80CCC and the exemption of Rs 1.5 lakh for paying interest on home loans.

Sitharaman said, "To taxpayers, up to Rs 12 lakh of normal income (other than special rate income such as capital gains) tax rebate is being provided in addition to the benefit due to slab rate reduction in such a manner that there is no tax payable by them."

The announcement from the Finance Minister of this big relief to the middle class was met by loud thumping of the desks by the treasury benches led by PM Narendra Modi.

Further, adressing mediapersons, Singh added that every segment of society is taken care of with this Budget.

"Every segment of society is taken care of in the budget. This budget will emphasise the development of youth, poor people, farmer and women, especially recognising the contribution of the people from the middle class; this budget brings gifts for the people," he added.

Highlighting the incresing budgetary allocation compared to last year for Defence sector he said, "For the year 2025-26, the Defence Ministry gets about 6 lakh 80 thousand crores, which is more than 9.5 per cent of last year's allocation."

"Like last year, 75 per cent of the defence modernisation Budget will be spent on domestic procurement. The Budget has enough allocation for the pension and health welfare of the retired personnel," the Defence Minister added.

Meanwhile, the Lok Sabha was adjourned on Saturday following the presentation of the Union Budget by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The House will reconvene on February 3 at 11 a.m. (ANI)