 Honourable Speaker, I present the interim budget for 24-25. The Indian economy has witnessed profound positive transformation in the last 10 years. The people of India are looking ahead to the future with hope and optimism, with the blessings of the people when our government under the visionary and dynamic leadership of Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi assumed office in 2014. The country was facing enormous challenges. With Sapka Saat, Sapka Vikas as its mantra, the government overcame those challenges in right earnest. Structural reforms were undertaken. Pro-people programs were formulated and implemented promptly. Conditions were created for more opportunities for employment and entrepreneurship. The economy got a new vigor. The fruits of development started reaching the people at scale. The country got a new sense of purpose and hope. Naturally, the people blessed the government with a bigger mandate. In the second term, our government under the leadership of Honourable Prime Minister doubled down on its responsibilities to build a prosperous country with comprehensive development of all people and all regions. Our government strengthened its mantra to Sapka Saat, Sapka Vikas and Sapka Vishwas. Our development philosophy covered all elements of inclusivity, namely social inclusivity through coverage of all strata of the society and geographical inclusivity through development of all regions of the country. With the whole-of-nation approach of Sapka Prayas, the country overcame the challenges of the once-in-a-century pandemic, took long strides towards Atmanirbar Bharat, committed to Panch Pran and laid solid foundations for the Amritkala. As a result, our young country has high aspirations, pride in its present and hope and confidence for a bright future. We expect that our government, based on its stupendous work, will be blessed again by the people with a resounding mandate. Inclusive development and growth are humane and inclusive approach to development as a marked and deliberate departure from the earlier approach of provisioning up to village level. Development programs were thus provisioned. In the last ten years, however, have targeted each and every household and individual through housing for all, hargarjal, electricity for all, cooking gas for all, bank accounts and financial services for all, in record time. The worries about food have been eliminated through free ration for 80 crore people. Minimum support prices for the produce of annadata are periodically increased appropriately. These and the provision of basic necessities have enhanced real income in the rural areas. Their economic needs could be addressed, thus spurring growth and generating jobs. Real justice. Our government is working with an approach to development that is all-round, all-pervasive and all-inclusive. Sarvangin, Sarvasparsi or Sarvasamaveshi. It covers all castes and people at all levels. We are working to make India a vikasit Bharat by 2047. Before achieving that goal, we need to improve people's capability and empower them. Previously, social justice was mostly a political slogan. For our government, social justice is an effective and necessary governance model. The saturation, the saturation approach of covering all eligible people is the true and comprehensive achievement of social justice. This is secularism in action, reduces corruption and prevents nepotism, prevents by bhati-javad. There is transparency and assurance that benefits are delivered to all eligible people. The resources are distributed fairly. All regardless of their social standing get access to opportunities. We are addressing systemic inequalities that have plagued our society. We focus on outcomes and not on outlets so that the social economic transformation is achieved. As our Prime Minister firmly believes, we need to focus on four major castes. They are Gharib, Mahilayay, Yuva and Annadata. Their needs, their aspirations and their welfare are our highest priority. The country progresses when they progress. All four require and receive government support in their quest to better their lives. Their empowerment and well-being will drive the country forward. Gharib Kalyan, Deshka Kalyan. We believe in empowering the poor. The earlier approach of tackling poverty through entitlements had resulted in very modest outcomes. When the poor became empowered partners in the development process, government's power to assist them also increases manifold. With the pursuit of Sapka Saath, in these 10 years, the government has assisted 25 crore people to get freedom from multi-dimensional poverty. Our government's efforts are now getting synergized with energy and passion of such empowered people. This is truly elevating them from poverty. That benefit transfer of 34 lakh crore rupees from the government using PM Jandan Accounts has led to savings of 2.7 lakh crores of rupees for the government. This savings has been realized through avoidance of leakages prevalent earlier. The savings have helped in providing more funds for Gharib Kalyan. PM Swannidhi has provided credit assistance to 78 lakh street vendors. From that total of 78 lakh street vendors, 2.3 lakh have received credit for the third time. PM Janman Yojana reaches out to the particularly vulnerable tribal groups who have remained outside the realm of development so far. PM Vishwakarma Yojana provides end-to-end support to artisans and craftspeople engaged in 18 trades. The schemes for empowerment of divyangs and transgender persons reflect firm resolve of our government to leave no one behind. Welfare of Annadatha. Farmers are our Annadatha. Every year under PM Kisan Samman Yojana, direct financial assistance is provided to 11.8 crore farmers including marginal and small farmers. Crop insurance is given to 4 crore farmers under PM Fasal Bhima Yojana. These, besides several other programmes, are assisting Annadatha in producing food for the country and for the world. Electronic National Agricultural Market has integrated 1,361 mandis and is providing services to 1.8 crore farmers with trading volume of 3 lakh crores of rupees. The sector is poised for inclusive, balanced, higher growth and productivity. These are facilitated from farmer centric policies, income support, coverage of risks through price and insurance support, promotion of technologies and innovations through start-ups. Empowering the Amarth PD, the UWA. Our prosperity depends on adequately equipping and empowering the youth. The National Education Policy 2020 is ushering the transformational reforms. PM schools for rising India, PM Shree, are delivering quality teaching and nurturing holistic and well-rounded individuals. The Skill India mission has trained 1.4 crore youth, upskilled and re-skilled 54 lakh youth, and established 3,000 new ITIs. A large number of institutions of higher learning, namely 7 IITs, 16 triple ITs, 7 IAMs, 15 AIMs and 390 universities have been set up. PM Mudra Yojana has sanctioned 43 crore loans, aggregating to 22.5 lakh crores of rupees for entrepreneurial aspirations of our youth. Besides that, fund-of-funds, Start-up India and Start-up Credit Guarantee schemes are assisting our youth. They are also becoming Rosgarh Datta. The country is proud of our youth scaling new heights in sports. The highest ever medal tally in Asian Games and Asian Para Games in 2023 reflects a high confidence level. Chess Prodigy and our number one ranked player Pragyananda put up a stiff fight against the reigning world champion Magnus Carlson in 2023. Today, India has over 80 chess grandmasters compared to little over 20 in 2010. Momentum for Nari Shakti. The empowerment of women through entrepreneurship, ease of living and dignity for them has gained momentum in these 10 years. 30 crore Mudra Yojana loans have been given to women entrepreneurs. Female enrollment in higher education has gone up by 28% in 10 years. In STEM courses, girls and women constitute 43% of enrollment, one of the highest in the world. All these measures are getting reflected in the increasing participation of women in workforce. Making triple talak illegal, reservation of one-third seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, and giving over 70% houses under PM Avaz Yojana in rural areas to women, and giving over 70% houses under PM Avaz Yojana in rural areas to women as sole or joint owners have enhanced their dignity. Exemplary track record of governance, development and performance. Besides delivering on high growth in terms of gross domestic product, the government is equally focused on a more comprehensive GDP, that is governance, development and performance. Our government has provided transparent, accountable, people-centric and prompt trust-based administration with citizen-first and minimum-government-maximum-governance approach. The impact of all-round development is discernible in all sectors. There is macroeconomic stability, including in the external sector. Investments are robust. The economy is doing well. People are living better and earning better, with even greater aspirations for future. Average real income of the people has increased by 50%. Inflation is moderate. People are getting empowered, equipped and enabled to pursue their aspirations. There is effective and timely delivery of programs and of large projects. Economic management, the multi-pronged economic management over the past 10 years, has complemented people-centric, inclusive development. Following are some of the major elements. One, all forms of infrastructure, physical, digital or social, are being built in record time. All parts of the country are becoming active participants in economic growth. Number three, digital public infrastructure, a new factor of production in the 21st century, is instrumental in the formalization of the economy. Number four, goods and services tax has enabled one nation, one market, one tax. Tax reforms have led to deepening and widening of tax base. Number five, strengthening of the financial sector has helped in making savings, credit and investments more efficient. Number six, gift IFSC and the Unified Regulatory Authority. IFSCA are creating a robust gateway for global capital and financial services for the economy. Number seven, proactive inflation management has helped keep inflation within the policy band. Now the global context, honorable speaker sir. Geopolitically, global affairs are becoming more complex and challenging with wars and conflicts. Globalization is being redefined with reshoring and French shoring disruption and fragmentation of supply chains and competition for critical minerals and technologies. A new world order is emerging after the COVID pandemic. India assumed the G20 presidency during very difficult times for the world. The global economy was going through high inflation, high interest rates, low growth, very high public debt, low trade growth and climate changes. The pandemic has led to a crisis of food, fertilizer, fuel and finances for the world while India successfully navigated its way. The country showed the way forward and built consensus on solutions for those global problems. The recently announced India-Middle East Europe Economic Corridor is a strategic and economic game changer for India and others. In the words of Honourable Prime Minister, the Corridor, and I quote, will become the basis of world trade for hundreds of years to come and history will remember that this corridor was initiated on Indian soil. Unquote. Vision for Vickersit Bharat. Our vision for Vickersit Bharat is that of prosperous Bharat in harmony with nature, with modern infrastructure and providing opportunities for all citizens and all regions to reach their potential. With confidence arising from strong and exemplary track record of performance and progress, earning Sapkavishwas the next five years will be years of unprecedented development and golden moments to realise the dream of developed India by 2047. The trinity of demography, democracy and diversity backed by Sapka Prayas has the potential to fulfil aspirations of every Indian. As Honourable Prime Minister in his Independence Day address to the nation mentioned, I quote, there is no dearth of opportunities. As many opportunities as we want, the country is capable of creating more opportunities. Sky is the limit. Unquote. Strategy for Amritkal. Our government will adopt economic policies that foster and sustain growth, facilitate inclusive and sustainable development, improve productivity, create opportunities for all, help them enhance their capabilities and contribute to generation of resources to power investments and fulfil aspirations. Guided by the principle reform, perform and transform, the government will take up next generation reforms and build consensus with the states and stakeholders for effective implementation. It is an important policy priority for our government to ensure timely and adequate finances, relevant technologies and appropriate training for the micro, small and medium enterprises, MSMEs, to grow and also compete globally. Orienting the regulatory environment to facilitate their growth will be an important element of this policy mix. Aligning with the Panchamrut goals, our government will facilitate sustaining high and more resource efficient economic growth. This will work towards energy security in terms of availability, accessibility and affordability. For meeting the investment needs, our government will prepare the financial sector in terms of size, capacity, skills and regulatory framework. Aspirational districts program. Our government stands ready to assist the states in faster development of aspirational districts and blocks, including generation of ample economic opportunities. Development of the East. Our government will pay utmost attention to make the eastern region and its people a powerful driver of India's growth. PM Awas Yojana Grameen. Despite the challenges due to COVID, implementation of PM Awas Yojana Grameen continued and we are close to achieving the target of three crore houses. Two crore more houses will be taken up in the next five years to meet the requirement arising from increase in the number of families. Rooftop solarisation and Muft Bijli. Through rooftop solarisation, one crore households will be enabled to obtain up to 300 units free electricity every month. This scheme follows the resolve of Honourable Prime Minister on the historic day of consecration of Sri Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. Following benefits are expected. Savings up to 15,000 to 18,000 rupees annually for households from free solar electricity and selling the surplus to the distribution companies. Charging of electric vehicles. Entrepreneurship opportunities for a large number of vendors. For supply and installation. Employment opportunities for the youth with technical skills in manufacturing, installation and maintenance. Housing for middle class. Our government will launch a scheme to help deserving sections of the middle class and a quote from Honourable Prime Minister's words, living in rented houses or slums or chalice and unauthorised colonies. Unquote. To buy and build, to buy or build their own houses. Medical colleges. Several youth are ambitious to get qualified as doctors. They aim to serve our people through improved healthcare services. Our government plans to set up more medical colleges by utilising the existing hospital infrastructure under various departments. A committee for this purpose will be set up to examine the issues and make relevant recommendations. Cervical cancer vaccination. Our government will encourage vaccination for girls in the age group of 9 to 14 years for prevention of cervical cancer. Maternal and child healthcare. Various schemes for maternal and child care will be brought under one comprehensive programme for synergy in implementation. Upgradation of Anganwadi centres under Saksham Anganwadi and Portion 2.0 will be expedited for improved nutrition delivery. Early childhood care and development. The newly designed U-WIN platform for managing immunisation and intensified efforts of Mission Indra Dhanush will be rolled out expeditiously throughout the country. Ayushman Bharat. Health care cover under Ayushman Bharat scheme will be extended to all ASHA workers. To all Anganwadi workers and helpers. Agriculture and food processing. The efforts of value addition in agriculture sector and boosting farmers' incomes will be stepped up. Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana has benefited 38 lakh farmers and generated 10 lakh employment. Pradhan Mantri formalisation of micro food processing enterprises Yojana has assisted 2.4 lakh SHGs and 60,000 individuals with credit linkages. Other schemes are complementing the efforts for reducing post harvest losses and improving productivity and incomes. For ensuring faster growth of the sector our government will further promote private and public investment in post harvest activities including aggregation, modern storage, efficient supply chains, primary and secondary processing and marketing and branding. Nano DAP. After the successful adoption of Nano Urea application of Nano DAP on various crops will be expanded in all agro-climatic zones. Atmanirbar oil seeds are beyond. Building on the initiative announced in 2022 a strategy will be formulated to achieve Atmanirbartha for oil seeds such as mustard, groundnut, sesame, soya bean and sunflower. This will cover research for high yielding varieties, widespread adoption of modern farming techniques, market linkages, procurement, value addition and crop insurance. Dairy development. A comprehensive programme for supporting dairy farmers will be formulated. Efforts are already on to control foot and mouth disease. India is the world's largest milk producer but with low productivity of milk animals. The programme will be built on the success of existing schemes such as rastriya gokul mission, national livestock mission and infrastructure development funds for dairy processing and animal husbandry. Matsya Sampada. It was a government which set up a national It was a government which set up a separate department for fisheries, realising the importance of assisting fishermen. This has resulted in doubling of both inland and aquaculture production. Seafood export since 2013-14 has also doubled. Implementation of Pradhan Mantri's Matsya Sampada will be set up, stepped up to one, enhance aquaculture productivity from existing three to five tons per hectare. Two, double exports to one lakh crore rupees and three, generate 55 lakh employment opportunities in the near future. Five integrated aqua parks will also be set up. Lakpati Didi. 83 lakh SHGs. 83 lakh SHGs with nine crore women are transforming rural socio-economic landscape with empowerment and self-reliance. Honourable speakers say their success has assisted nearly one crore women to become Lakpati Didi already. They are an inspiration to others. Their achievements will be recognised through honouring them. Boiled by the success, it has been decided to enhance the target for Lakpati Didi from two crores to three crores. Technological changes, new age technologies and data are changing the lives of people and businesses. They are also enabling new economic opportunities and facilitating provision of high quality services at affordable prices for all, including those at the bottom of the pyramid. Opportunities for India at the global level are expanding. India is showing solutions through innovation and entrepreneurship of its people. Research and innovation for catalyzing growth, employment and development. Prime Minister Shastri, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri gave the slogan of Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan. Prime Minister Vajpayee, Atal Bihari Vajpayee made that Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Vijayan. Prime Minister Modi has furthered that to Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Vijayan and Jai Anusandan as innovation is the foundation of development. For our tech savvy youth, for our tech savvy youth, this will be a golden era. A corpus of one lakh crore rupees will be established with 50 year interest free loan provided. The corpus will provide long term financing or refinancing with long tenors and low and or nil. I repeat that sentence. The corpus will provide long term financing or refinancing with long tenors and low or nil interest rates. This will encourage the private sector to scale up research and innovation significantly in sunrise domains. We need to have programs that combine the powers of our youth and technology. A new scheme will be launched for strengthening deep tech technologies for defence purposes and expediting Atman-Irbarta. Infrastructure development. Building on the massive tripling of the capital expansion and the massive tripling of the capital expenditure outlay in the past four years resulting in huge multiplier impact on economic growth and employment creation. The outlay for the next year is being increased by 11.1% to 11 lakh, 11,111 crore rupees. This would be 3.4% of our GDP. Railways. Three major economic railway corridor programs will be implemented. These are energy, mineral and cement corridors, number two, port connectivity corridors and number three, high traffic density corridors. The projects have been identified under the PM Gati Shakti for enabling multimodal connectivity. They will improve logistics efficiency and reduce cost. The resultant decongestion of the high traffic corridors will also help in improving operations of passenger trains resulting in safety and higher travel speed for passengers. Together with dedicated freight corridors, these three economic corridor programs will accelerate our GDP growth and reduce logistic costs. 40,000 normal rail bogies will be converted to Vande Bharat standards to enhance safety, convenience and comfort of passengers. Aviation sector. The aviation sector has been galvanized in the past 10 years. Number of airports have doubled to 149. Rollout of air connectivity to tier two and tier three cities under Udaan scheme has been widespread. 517 new routes are carrying 1.3 crore passengers. Indian carriers have proactively placed orders for over 1,000 new aircrafts. Expansion of existing airports and development of new airports will continue expeditiously. Metro and Namo Bharat. We have a fast expanding middle class and rapid urbanization is taking place. Metro rail and Namo Bharat can be the catalyst for the required urban transformation. Expansion of these systems will be supported in large cities focusing on transit-oriented development. Green energy. Towards meeting our commitment for net zero by 2070, the following measures will be taken. Viability gap funding will be provided for harnessing offshore wind energy, for harnessing offshore wind energy potential for initial capacity of one gigawatt. Cold gasification and liquefaction capacity of 100 metric tons will be set up by 2030. This will also help in reducing imports of natural gas, methanol and ammonia. Faced mandatory blending of compressed biogas in compressed natural gas for transport and piped natural gas for domestic purposes will be mandated. Financial assistance will be provided for procurement of biomass aggregation machinery to support collection. Electric vehicle ecosystem. Our government will expand this and strengthen the e-vehicle ecosystem by supporting manufacturing and charging infrastructure. Greater adoption of e-buses for public transport networks will be encouraged through payment security mechanism. Biomanufacturing and bio-foundry. For promoting green growth, a new scheme of bio-manufacturing and bio-foundry will be launched. This will provide environment-friendly alternatives such as biodegradable polymers, bioplastics, biopharmaceuticals, and bio-agree inputs. This scheme will also help in transforming today's consumptive manufacturing paradigm to the one based on regenerative principles. Blue Economy 2.0. For promoting climate-resilient activities for Blue Economy 2.0, a scheme for restoration and adaptation measures, and coastal aquaculture and mariculture with integrated and multi-sectoral approach will be launched. Comprehensive development of tourist centres. The success of organising G20 meetings in 60 places presented diversity of India to global audience. Our economic strength has made the country an attractive destination for business and conference tourism. Our middle class also now aspires to travel and explore. Tourism, including spiritual tourism, has tremendous opportunities for local entrepreneurship. States will be encouraged to take up comprehensive development of iconic tourist centres, branding, and marketing them at global scale. A framework for rating of the centres based on quality of facilities and services will be established. Long-term interest-free loans will be provided to states for financing such development on a matching basis. To address the emerging fervour for domestic tourism, honourable speaker sir, projects for port connectivity, tourism infrastructure, and amenities will be taken up on our islands, including Laxadeep. This will help in generating employment also. Promoting investments. The FDI inflow during 2014 to 23 was $596 billion, marking a golden era. That is twice the inflow during 2005 to 14. For encouraging sustained foreign investment, we are negotiating bilateral investment treaties with our foreign partners in the spirit of First Develop India. FDI is First Develop India. Reforms in the states for Vikasit Bharat. Many growth and development enabling reforms are needed in the states for realising the vision of Vikasit Bharat. A provision of 75,000 crore rupees as 50-year interest-free loan is proposed this year to support those milestone-linked reforms by the state governments. Societal changes. The government will form a high-powered committee for an extensive consideration of the challenges arising from fast-population growth and demographic changes. The committee will be mandated to make recommendations for addressing these challenges comprehensively in relation to the goal of Vikasit Bharat. Amartha Karl as Kartav Yakaal. Our government stands committed to strengthening and expanding the economy with high growth and to create conditions for people to realise their aspirations. Honourable Prime Minister in his Independence Day addressed to the nation in the 75th year of our republic said, and I quote, we commit ourselves to national development with new inspirations, new consciousness, new resolutions as the country opens up immense possibilities and opportunities. It is our Kartav Yakaal. I quote, every challenge of the pre-2014 era was overcome through our economic management and our rep governance. These have placed the country on a resolute path of sustained high growth. This has been possible through right policies, true intentions, and appropriate decisions. In the full budget in July's Honourable Speaker, our government will present a detailed roadmap for a pursuit of Vikasit Bharat. Revised its estimates. Revised estimates of 2023-24. The revised estimate of the total receipts other than borrowings is 27.56 lakh crores of rupees of which the tax receipts are 23.24 lakh crore rupees. The revised estimate of total expenditure is 44.90 lakh crore rupees. The revenue receipts at 30.03 lakh crore rupees are expected to be higher than the budget estimate, reflecting strong growth momentum and formalization in the economy. The revised estimate of the fiscal deficit is 5.8% of GDP, improving on the budget estimate, notwithstanding moderation in the nominal growth estimates. Budget estimates for 2024-25. Coming to the year 2024-25, the total receipts other than borrowings and total expenditure are estimated at 30.80 and 47.66 lakh crore rupees, respectively. The tax receipts are estimated at 26.02 lakh crore rupees. The scheme of 50-year interest-free loan for capital expenditure to states will be continued this year with an outlay of 1.3 lakh crore rupees. We continue on the path of fiscal consolidation, as announced in my budget speech of 2021-22, to reduce fiscal deficit below 4.5% by 25-26. The fiscal deficit in 2024-25 is estimated to be 5.1% of GDP adhering to that path. So the gross and net market borrowings through dated securities during 2024-25 are estimated at 14.13 lakh crore rupees and 11.75 lakh crore, respectively. Both will be less than that in 2023-24. Now that the private investments are happening at scale, the lower borrowings by the central government will facilitate larger availability of credit for the private sector. Vote-on account. I'll be seeking vote-on account approval of the parliament through the appropriation bill for a part of the financial year 2024-25. I will now move to part B. Honourable Speaker, sir, over the last 10 years, the direct tax collections have more than trebled, and the return filers swelled 2.4 times. I would like to assure the taxpayers that their contributions have been used wisely for the development of the country and welfare of its people. I appreciate the taxpayers for their continued support. The government has reduced and rationalized tax rates. Under the new tax scheme, there is now no tax liability for taxpayers with income up to 7 lakh rupees, up from 2.2 lakh rupees in the financial year 2013-14. The threshold for presumptive taxation for retail businesses was increased from 2 crores to 3 crores. Similarly, the threshold for professionals eligible for presumptive taxation was increased from 50 lakh rupees to 75 lakh rupees. Also, corporate tax rate was decreased from 30 percent to 22 percent for existing domestic companies and to 15 percent for certain new manufacturing companies. Honourable Speaker, sir, in the last five years, our focus has been to improve taxpayers' services. The age-old jurisdiction-based assessment system was transformed with the introduction of faceless assessment and appeal, thereby imparting greater efficiency, transparency, and accountability. Introduction of updated income tax returns, a new form 26 AS, and pre-filling of tax returns have made filing of tax returns simpler and easier. Average processing time of returns has been reduced from 93 days in the year 2013-14 to a mere 10 days this year, thereby making refunds faster. Indirect taxation. By unifying the highly fragmented indirect tax regime in India, the GST has reduced the compliance burden on trade and industry. The industry has acknowledged the benefits of GST. According to a recent survey conducted by a leading consulting firm, 94 percent of industry leaders view the transition to GST as largely positive. According to 80 percent of the respondents, it has led to supply chain optimization as elimination of tax arbitrage and octroy has resulted in disbanding of check posts at the state and city boundaries. At the same time, tax base of GST more than doubled and the average monthly gross GST collection has almost doubled to 1.66 lakh crores. This year, states too have benefited. States GST revenue, including compensation, released to states in the post GST period of 2017-18 to 2022-23 has achieved a buoyancy of 1.22. In contrast, the tax buoyancy of state revenues from subsumed taxes in the pre-GST four-year period of 2012-13 to 2015-16 was a mere 0.72. The biggest beneficiaries are consumers as reduction in logistic cost and taxes have brought down prices of most goods and services. We have taken a number of steps and customs to facilitate international trade. As a result, the import release time declined by 47% to 71 hours at inland container depots, by 28% to 44 hours at air cargo complexes, and by 27% to 85 hours at seaports over the last four years since 2019, when the national time release studies were first detected. Tax proposals. As for tax proposals in keeping with the convention, I do not propose to make any changes relating to taxation and propose to retain the same tax rates for direct and indirect taxes, including import duties. However, certain tax benefits to startups and investments made by sovereign wealth or pension funds as also tax exemption on certain income of some IFSC units are expiring on 31-3-20-24. To provide continuity in taxation, I propose to extend the date to 31-3-20-25. Moreover, in line with the government's vision to improve ease of living and ease of doing business, I wish to make an announcement to improve taxpayer services. There are a large number of petty, non-verified, non-reconciled or disputed tax, direct tax demands, disputed, direct tax demands, many of them dating as far back as 1962, which continue to remain on the books, causing anxiety to honest taxpayers and hindering refunds of subsequent years. Honourable Speaker, sir, I propose to withdraw such outstanding direct tax demands up to 25,000 rupees pertaining to the period up to financial year 2009-10 and up to 10,000 rupees for financial years 2010-11 to 2014-15. This is expected to benefit about a crore of taxpayers. One crore of taxpayers would benefit out of this. Economy then and now. In 2014, when our government assumed the reins, the responsibility to mend the economy step by step and to put the governance systems in order was enormous. The need of the hour was to give hope to the people, to attract investments, and to build support for the much-needed reforms. The government did that successfully, following our strong belief of nation first. The crisis of those years has been overcome, and the economy has been put firmly on a high, sustainable growth path with all-round development. It is now appropriate to look at where we are there then. I repeat, it is now appropriate to look at where we were then till 2014 and where we are now only for the purpose of drawing lessons from the mismanagement of those years. The government will lay a white paper on table of the House. The exemplary track record of governance, development, and performance, effective delivery, and Gen Kalyan has given the government trust, confidence, and blessings of the people to realize whatever it takes. The goal of Vikasit Bharat, with good intentions, true dedication, and hard work in the coming years and decades. With this honorable speaker, I commend the interim budget to this August House. Jay Hind. Item number two, Srimati Nirmala Sita Manji. So with your permission, I rise to lay on the table the following statements. Under section 3-1 of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act 2003, medium term fiscal policy, come fiscal policy strategy statement, and macroeconomic framework statement. Item number three, Srimati Nirmala Sita Manji. Sir, with your permission, I rise to move for leave to introduce the finance bill 2024. Sir, I introduce the bill. Sir, I introduce the bill. Sir, with your permission, I rise to move for leave to introduce the finance bill 2024.