DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2024, AHMEDABAD, LATE CITY, 26 PAGES `5.00 ● WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 Firm grip on fisc, but first Budget of NDA III silent on reforms UNION BUDGET 2024-25 Election Outcome Budget Rs 15,000 crore to develop Amaravati, Rs 26,000 crore for four road projects, Rs 21,400 crore for a power plant — with CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on her way to present the Budget on Tuesday. Praveen Khanna REFORMS ■ New economic reform framework to address all factors of production Budget‘bias’:Opp CMstoskipmeet Chennai, New Delhi: At leastfourOppositionCMs — M K Stalin, Revanth Reddy, Siddaramaiah, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu — are set to boycott the NITI Aayog meeting set for July 27 to protest against the “discriminatory” Budget. P19 SupremeCourtno toNEETre-test New Delhi: The Supreme Court has ruled out cancellation of the NEET-UG 2024, saying “at the presentstage,thereisabsence of sufficient material on record to lead to the conclusion thatresultof the... examination stands vitiated or that there is a systemic breach”. P6 Policehatecrime: HC onriotscase OM WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.C UNION BUDGET govt will facilitate With states, our hubs... cities as growth development of & transit planning, through economic of peri-urban areas. and development 2024-25 INFRA THE INDIAN EXPRESS 2024 24, WEDNESDAY, JULY Illustration: Suvajit POWER DEMAND To bolster grid, al push for therm e & energy storag INSTALLED POWER APACITY (IN GENERATION C 2020-21 2019-20 Generation Source 10,314 10,023 2022-23 2021-22 10,802 10,682 4,944 MW) 2023-24 10,941 5,003 Dey for poor & 1 crore houses Ph-2 middle class under scheme of urban housing subsidy for credit-linked weaker `3,000 crore for the economically (LIG), scheme (CLSS) Income Group section (EWS)/Lower for Middle Income for CLSS `1,000 crore for the Credit and `500 crore is a reGroup (MIG) Trust, which will Guarantee Fund URBANdevelopmentasone scheme that Budget, Risk HIGHLIGHTING of an earlier for of the Union an- structuring sector workers who apply of the nine priorities Nirmala Sitharaman help informal get credit guarantee. Finance Minister Awas Yojanathe home loans to Pradhan Mantri the scheme, including tcentral asnounced the 3,82,955 6.22% The details of `2.2 lakh crore 3,71,009 4.13% 4.2% forapplicantsofdifferentca Urban 2.0 — with years — to construct one Total sources 3.2% incomecriteria five still being finalised, scheme sistance over (y-o-y) egories, were Growth rate Urban 2.0, said.Launchingthe agenda crore houses. Awas Yojana “Under the PM crore is on the Ministry’s of the Source: iced.niti.gov.in days of one for the first 100 housing needs third IGHWAYS and middleHousingneedsof Modi government’s urban poor OF ATIONAL and (in km/day) will be adterm, it is learnt. ONSTRUCTION ■ Construction 1crurbanpoor class families of Minister investment “For redevelopment families 50 dressedwith an This will options, the Finance (in km) middle-class government a policy on tricity storage ■ Construction existing cities, of `10 lakh crore. assisto formulate unveiled plans 40 will be addressedwith willformulatea framework include the central projects (PSPs). mar5,248 16,000 & AMITABH SINHA lakh crore in pumped storage large-scaleencr investment. for enabling policies, tance of `2.2 AGGAM WALIA 23 A provi- `10 lakh Pumpedhydrostorageisa uses gravity to 30 that central ket-based mechanismsand the next five years. NEW DELHI, JULY ex12,000 storage technology subsidy to Thisincludes Transit-oriented Duringlow demand, the vari- ergy sion of interest 20 lakh cr in regulation. plans for 14 4,410 generateelectricity.to pump water to an eleshare of `2.2 attempt to counterbalance development facilitateloansataffordable 8,000 IN AN In power is used population energy and strengthen peaks, this years cities with a Finance cess reservoir; when demand rates is also envisaged. 10 ability of renewable thenext five policies will be forto generpower capacity, vated 4,000 12.1 above 30 lakh addition, enabling through turbines India’s baseload Sitharaman announced said. water is released considered a supplement mulated...” she andregulationsforefficient Minister Nirmala country’s first 800 MW It is rental 0 water supply, ate electricity. the and transparent like solar or wind. are operaplans to set up l(AUSC) thermal She also announced waste managewith ento renewables and solid eight PSPs housing markets beput in place,” advancedultrasupercritica technology. in partnersewage treatment As of May 2024, storage caindigenous hanced availabilitywillalso for 100 large cities multilatplant based on India with a cumulative MW, acment projects and said. alsounveiledplanstoformu to Nov 2023) of 4,745 on tional in * (up approved governments the minister Sitharaman pacity focusing had last month crore in ship with state with the for energy storage banks. The government The Cabinet cording to data late a policy houses — two IGHWAYS storeral development schemefor development Electricity threecroreadditional in urban areas — in Central promoting pumpedof hyOF ATIONAL hubsinseone crore the same type of Prime willcomeupwitha orstreet food rural areas and OTAL ENGTH Authority. At age projects (a The allocaof 2,780 in the third term of 100 weeklyhaats Growth years, she said. its first meeting Modi’s government. time,fourprojects droelectric energystorage) 91,287 km lect cities in five the need eme,whichgives 60% Minister Narendra coming to an end on MW are under-construcand underscored re2014 projects of 1,46,145 km a tionforthePMSvanidhisch nuclear enWith PMAY-U working capitalloans,was to tion and 33 Budget made for developing street vendors undergothis year, the through in BE 2023-2024 December 31 42,150 MW are ergy capacities 2023 from `468 crore crore for the scheme. studies. collabora2.0, duced provision of `30,170.61 ing feasibility private sector funding for PMAY-U `326.32 crore. Source: pib.gov.in This would include The amount included tion. besaid. Nuclear power ministry sources “A joint venture has sigThe budget tweenNTPCandBHELwill 800 MW push for nunalled a fresh set up a full scale using capacity through the plant clear energy India’s thermal commercial govstill-underhas slowed addition deploymentof AUSCtechnology.The the years small modprovide down in recent development ernment will (SMRs). support,” coal-fired ular reactors and existing required fiscal In 2021, out the govSitharaman said plants are pumping the Sitharaman said. with a reto meet ernment willpartner remore power BHEL had completed for ever-increasing the private sector search and development indigedemand. Theoutput search and development project to develop AUSC indigefor from renewables, anddeploymentof nous technology which shedidnot meanwhile, is nousSMRs.But thermal plants, or depandemic and may the COVID-19 inconsistent offer any timeline boast higherefficiencyand phase, the mid-2010s, of peak it into a new ployment target. fallatthe time lower fuel consumption, nulate has propelled in a report. outlay of SMRsare advanced demand (typically, the Company said with a project artia capacvalue of eMcKinsey & boost crore. “In and traditional 2021, the total evenings). To clear plants with around `900 “To enable MSMEs (the MW per or 40 per"From 2016 to world’s first products in international grew fivefold, ity of up to 300 ‘base load capacity’of Phase-II, the than sans to sell their Hubswill be commerce sales e-commerce’s share of level Technology Export minimum unit, much smaller 800 MW AUSC ubs, unPlant reactors. markets, E-Commerce a grid cent, annually.And to 20 percent, from 5 RAVI DUTTA MISHRA demand from conventional surged Demonstration enset up inpublic-PPPmode.Theseh all retail sales eriod) the DELHI, JULY 23 modular design plannedunderthe said. regulatoryandlogisticframe 2,09,344 2,05,454 Coal L 42,633 46,868 6,780 6,780 24,814 24,866 4,15,527 3,99,029 81,813 45,886 2,17,589 46,928 DAMINI NATH 23 DELHI, JULY NEW 8,180 25,028 4,41,370 H N C 66,780 2,11,905 46,748 24,890 24,922 Gas 40,357 6,780 6,780 Nuclear 2,10,749 46,355 45,845 Hydro T EYE ON BASELOAD CAPACITY 39,247 37,693 Wind 53,996 41,236 35,607 Solar 4,848 4,786 4,683 Small-Hydro N FY23 up; plant to be set 800 MW thermal focus on hydro High efficiency with storage policy plans for energy Biopower FY24* THEUNIONBudgethasproposed toabolish‘angeltax’forallclasses of investors — a decision which comes as a relief for start-ups, which had flagged the impedimenttoraisingcapitalamidanalready gloomy funding climate. ‘Angel tax’, at 30.9 per cent, refers to income tax imposed on funding raised by an unlisted company when its shares are issued to an investor at a price higher than its fair market value. Thecallforremovalof thetax had gained steam following last year’s Budget — after its ambit was broadened to include investments from foreign sources — and was endorsed by industry ■ New credit guarantee scheme for purchase of equipment FY22 NEW DELHI, JULY 23 MSMEs CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Big relief for start-ups, Govt scraps angel tax SOUMYARENDRA BARIK ■ Interest subsidy for loans up to Rs 10 lakh for education in India FY21 HYDERABAD, PATNA, NEW DELHI, JULY 23 BY UNNY IN A bid to push employment in manufacturing and job creation informalsectorsof theeconomy, Finance Minister Nirmala SitharamanTuesdayannounced EDUCATION FY20 SREENIVAS JANYALA, SANTOSH SINGH, NIKHILA HENRY & DEEPTIMAN TIWARY 28 MPs between them, Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP and Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) managed to extract a lion’s share in the Union Budget for Andhra Pradesh and Bihar respectively. Afterwards, Naidu said “happy days are here again”, while Nitish said the Centre had compliedwiththeirproposalfor “special assistance”. BUSINESS AS USUAL NEW DELHI, JULY 23 ■ Customs duty cut on three cancer drugs FY19 Thank you for 28 MPs: Splurge on Bihar, Andhra CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 AANCHAL MAGAZINE & SUKALP SHARMA SOCIAL SECTOR three employment-linked incentive (ELI) schemes for two years and an internship programme in partnership with India Inc for five years in the Union Budget for 2024-25. The thrust on employment and job creation in the formal sector is the first clear FY18 UNION FINANCE MINISTER Nirmala Sitharaman’s record seventh Budget was more about coming to terms with the compulsion of coalition politics and calming frayed sentiments over jobs than about big ideas or bold reforms that could shape the sector investment, expand opportunities and create jobs. But if the Budget is to be judged by just one number, Sitharaman shines through by keeping a tight leash over the fisc, which has been the one steady theme across the two terms of the NDA government. For 2024-25, she estimated the fiscal deficit at 4.9 per cent of the GDP even if it’s largely ■ No indexation benefit for property & family gold sales, LTCG 12.5% FY17 NEW DELHI, JULY 23 five-year course for a government in its third term. In her 82-minute Budget speech, Sitharaman announced a slew of initiatives, from internships for 1 crore youth to credit guarantees for small and medium enterprisesand tweaking of personal income tax rates, but these didn’t quite add up to what the economy needs today: a big push for consumption demand that could trigger private Job concern: PLI to ELI, 3 schemes & internship FY16 ANIL SASI & P VAIDYANATHAN IYER REAL ESTATE FY15 Rs 17,500 savings for salaried, LTCG increased to 12.5% INCOME-TAX ■ New tax regime sweetened with higher standard deduction INSIDE H erce exports, will set up Govt looks to boost e-comm st Asian countries Southea PPP hubs along lines of FULL COVERAGE, PAGES 7-20 New Delhi: The Delhi HC has transferred to the CBI the probe into the death of Faizan, 23, who was allegedly assaulted and forcedtosingthenational anthem by some security personnel during the 2020 Delhi riots. P24 Ahmedabad