India's Finance Minister Sitharaman Presents Union Budget 2024, Focuses on Employment, Tax Relief

India's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2024-25 in the Parliament, making it the first budget of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's third term. This was Nirmala Sitharaman’s seventh consecutive budget as finance minister. In her speech, Nirmala Sitharaman announced an allocation of more than ₹3 lakh crore for schemes benefitting women and girls. She also revised the structure in the new tax regime, while the slabs in old regime remain unchanged. The Finance Minister also said that custom duty on mobile phones, accessories, and chargers has been reduced to 15%. The government has also proposed reduction in basic customs duty on gold and silver to 6% and platinum to 6.4%.