NEW DELHI, July 23 (Xinhua) -- The Indian government on Tuesday presented its budget for the fiscal year 2024-25, with an estimated expenditure of 48.21 trillion Indian rupees (575.78 billion U.S. dollars) and a fiscal deficit of 4.9 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said: "Turning attention to the full year and beyond, in this budget we particularly focus on employment, skilling, MSMEs (micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises), and the middle class."
She also announced Prime Minister Narendra Modi's package of five schemes and initiatives to facilitate employment, skilling and other opportunities for the 41 million youths over five years with a central outlay of 2 trillion Indian rupees (23.90 billion dollars).
According to the Union Budget, three highly costly but life-saving cancer medicines, namely Trastuzumab Deruxtecan, Osimertinib, and Durvalumab, would become cheaper as the 10 percent customs duty levied on them was lifted.
Likewise, imported mobile phones and their chargers would become cheaper as the customs duty on these products was reduced to 15 percent, and imported precious metals would also become cheaper with a reduction in customs duty.
However, telecom and plastic goods would become more expensive, as the customs duty on these products was raised from 10 percent to 15 percent and from 10 percent to 25 percent, respectively.
The Union Budget was the first budget of Modi's third consecutive federal government. ■