Budget 2025 Financial News

markets rallied for four days in the lead up to the Budget in anticipation of a pro-growth and fiscally prudent policy announcements. Now, all the focus will turn to Nirmala Sitharaman, where the finance minister will present a record eighth Budget. «Market expects reductions in individual tax and job generation to boost consumption. By cutting the fiscal deficit but continuing to boost infrastructure spending, the government may set the tone for a potential recovery in the consolidating market,» said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

stock market will be open for a special trading session today, Saturday, February 1, 2025, as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presents the Union Budget for the fiscal year 2025-26. Both the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and the BSE confirmed in a circular issued earlier this week that trading will continue as per regular market hours. Market timings for Budget day On Budget day, the trading schedule will follow its usual timings. Pre-market trading will begin at 9:00 AM and run until 9:08 AM, after which equity market trading will take place from 9:15 AM to 3:30 PM.

Union Budget for the financial year 2025-26 will be presented on February 1, 2025, by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The Budget session will take place in two parts: the first part runs from January 31 to February 13, 2025, and the second part will begin on March 10, concluding on April 4, 2025. The session commenced began with President Droupadi Murmu’s address on Friday.

Union Budget 2025 is significantly shaped by global factors, including the ongoing influence of Donald Trump. His stance on trade and international relations casts a large shadow over India's economic policies, especially as the country grapples with slowing GDP growth, rising inflation, and trade imbalances. The key challenge lies in balancing the need for fair trade relations with the US while ensuring India’s manufacturing sector remains competitive and doesn't face the brunt of any tariffs or restrictions imposed by the US.

Personal tax is a key focus for most Indians when it comes to the Union Budget—especially for the urban middle class, as it directly impacts their finances. To break down the current demands and expectations, we spoke to Ishita Sengupta, Partner and India Leader at Vialto Partners. She shared insights on potential changes in capital gains tax, possible new introductions, and more. Excerpts:

Madhu Kela, Market Veteran, says turn market volatility into your ally. This year, returns are expected to be quite modest. To achieve those returns, you need to be highly skilled at spotting strong bottom-up investment ideas. Volatility can provide you with an advantage and opportunities, as stocks often don’t have time to recover. Many solid companies can see their prices drop by 40% or 50% in just a few trading sessions or within a month. Kela says in a bull market, one can make money even if you are not on the ball, which was the case for the last three years. In this kind of market, one has to be really on top of the game to be able to make money. This Budget, he will be looking at the commentary on the fiscal path beyond 2026 and the capex situation. What is the state of the market and what sort of return can be expected? Madhu Kela: In the last three-four years, phenomenal returns have been generated by individual investors and markets have been very kind. One thing which I have been consistently maintaining is not to extrapolate these returns even in your mind because you cannot just keep compounding at 30-35% year after year.

“Budget 2025 is expected to focus on priming the economy with GDP growth estimated at 6.5-6.8% in FY26,” says Amisha Vora, Chairperson and Managing Director PL Capital — Prabhudas Lilladher. In an interview with ETMarkets, Vora said: “Prioritizing sectors like railways, renewable energy, and logistics, defence, ports, infra, data centre, etc. while balancing fiscal discipline, could really accelerate economic momentum,” Edited excerpts: Thanks for taking the time out. The month of January started on a roller coaster note ahead of the big domestic event – Union Budget 2025. Do you see some recovery in the market post the event?

“India is at an inflection point in terms of per capita income, demography and manufacturing renaissance. This coupled with the 25-year vision of evolving into a developed economy makes the budget more a statement of intent,” says Jiten Doshi, Co-Founder and Chief Investment Officer Enam AMC. In an interview with ETMarkets, Doshi said: “Markets will particularly scrutinize the quality of spending and revenue assumptions to gauge the government's commitment to fiscal consolidation during this political transition,” Edited excerpts: The month of January started on a roller coaster note ahead of the big domestic event – Union Budget 2025. Do you see some recovery in the market post the event? (we are down over 10% from highs) We have witnessed among the fiercest, longest and broadest market move, since the 2020 pandemic. The roller coaster has navigated uncertainties of pandemic, wars, and sharp supply shocks.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. India is set to present its Union budget this year against a backdrop of fragile economic environment, inflationary pressures, global uncertainties, and growing fiscal demands. Policymakers are advocating for a balance between growth stimulus and the need to maintain fiscal discipline.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. India has been the fastest growing large economy in the world post the covid pandemic. This period has been marked by policy stability and macro-fiscal discipline – the fiscal deficit is expected to come down to under 4.9% in FY25 and the quality of deficit has improved.

₹9.5 lakh crore for FY 2023-24, and the budgeted expenditure on interest payments was at 30.4% of the nation's revenue expenditure in FY24.The global rating agency S&P Global upgraded India's sovereign credit rating outlook to ‘positive’ from ‘stable’ in May 2024.The Economic Survey projected that India would grow at the rate of 6.5 to 7% of real GDP growth due to the improving balance sheet of the country's private sector, the estimated increase in goods and services export, normal rainfall forecast by IMD, and structural reforms in the economy.On the Inflation front, the report said that India managed to keep retail inflation at 5.4% in FY24, the lowest since the Covid-19 pandemic period. However, the food inflation hit 7.5 per cent in FY24, compared to 3.8 per cent in FY22.The report also outlined the focus outlook for the year, with increasing oilseed production, improving pulses production, focusing on storage facility for vegetables, and price monitoring data for essential food items, among other things.Economic Survey 2025 Live: The Economic Survey is an analysis report of India's growth prepared by the Economic Division of the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA).

Mahindra Logistics Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Rampraveen Swaminathan said ahead of the Union Budget. «The upcoming budget presents a pivotal opportunity to strengthen India's logistics and supply chain sector, a backbone of economic growth and a key enabler of trade and commerce,» Swaminathan said on his company's Budget expectation.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Chennai: As finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman dots the I’s and crosses the t’s of her speech she will deliver on 1 February, when she presents a record eighth consecutive budget, her biggest concern will be whether the proposals can dispel the clouds hanging over India, the world’s fastest-growing large economy. After the covid-19 pandemic, India experienced a scorching pace of growth for three years—on an average, the economy expanded by more than 8%.

India Budget: In the Union Budget 2024, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman categorised India’s key beneficiaries into four broad groups — youth, farmers, women and the poor. These “castes” (as she described them in her speech), Sitharaman said, would shape the government’s policy direction, driving welfare and development initiatives.

India Budget 2025: Climate change and human progress are intertwined, with energy serving as the critical link. Countries need energy not just to sustain their populations but also to fuel development and improve quality of life. However, this relentless pursuit of progress has led to the burning of fossil fuels, which accounts for 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions, as per a UN report. As the world grapples with this challenge, the spotlight turns to renewable energy as the key to sustainability.

consumer retail sector is among the largest contributor to GDP growth in India, estimated to be $900Bn in 2022 and expected to reach $2Tn by 2030. In the past few years, India had been the fastest growing large economy with domestic consumption being the key driver. However, the pace of growth has slowed in the past few quarters raising concerns around cyclical slowdown. The latest projection for FY25 GDP growth has been revised to 6.4% by the government, a sharp decline from 8.2% GDP growth last fiscal.

India Budget 2025: India’s healthcare sector endured some of its toughest challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, with lasting effects still felt today.

carbon credit framework. As international mandates for sustainable supply chains, production, and trade become increasingly prominent, carbon credits play an important role in their implementation.