Budget 2025: Key Announcements on Tax, Farmers, Women & MSMEs

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented her eighth budget on February 1, 2025, unveiling a range of measures aimed at benefiting various sectors of the economy. The budget introduced significant reforms in taxation, infrastructure, defence, and entrepreneurship, addressing concerns of the middle class, women, MSMEs, and startups.

New rules on animal testing must take India forward, not backwards: Maneka Gandhi Officials maintain the changes seek to simplify approvals for research institutions, pharmaceutical and biomedical industries. Updated on: Oct 26, 2026, 14:54:47 IST By Jasjeev Gandhiok Prefer HTPrefer HT Prefer HT on Google Share The Centre’s draft rules governing animal experimentation have triggered concerns among animal rights groups, which say the changes could weaken independent oversight and make it easier for laboratories to conduct experiments on animals. However, officials maintain the changes seek to simplify approvals for research institutions, pharmaceutical and biomedical industries. Former Union minister Maneka Gandhi. Former Union minister Maneka Gandhi. HT speaks to animal rights activist and former Union minister Maneka Gandhi, a long-time campaigner against animal experimentation. Edited excerpts: A major change to animal experimentation, proposed in the draft, is that mild and moderate experiments could be approved by an institution’s own ethics committee rather than going to the central regulator. In practical terms, what does this change mean for an animal inside a laboratory? Does it make it easier for more animals to be experimented on? It means the animal loses the one independent pair of eyes that was looking at its fate. Today, experiments on animals larger than a rat go to the central regulator, and there is at least someone outside the building asking whether this experiment is necessary at all. Under the draft, the people who want to do the experiment, their colleagues and their department heads will be the ones approving it. And it is the institution itself, through its own veterinarian, that decides whether the experiment is mild or moderate in the first place. No institution has ever turned down its own funding. So yes, it will make it easier, and it will make it faster, and that means more animals. Mild and moderate are also the bulk of experiments, so we are effectively handing over most of animal experimentation in India to self regulation. The draft classifies experiments as mild, moderate, severe and non-recovery. Is there a concern that the institution conducting the research will effectively decide how severe the experiment is. Does this leave a grey area? It isn’t grey, it is completely black. Under this draft, the institution that wants to do the experiment is also the one that decides which category it falls into. That decision matters enormously, because if the experiment is classified as mild or moderate, the institution’s own committee approves it and it never goes to the central regulator. Only severe and non-recovery experiments on larger animals go outside. So the same people who want the experiment approved are deciding whether anyone independent will ever examine it. That is a clear conflict of interest, and it will push experiments towards the lower categories. Starving a rat for a day is called mild. Keeping a social animal alone in a cage is mild. Starving it for two days, or putting it through distress it cannot escape, is moderate. So is testing herbal products, testing established drugs, and anything described as having “known and reversible effects,” which could mean almost anything. This is not a scientific list. It is the most common commercial work. The draft also creates exceptions and allows laboratories to use animals from open markets, unregistered sources, and in certain circumstances, stray, feral, wild and protected animals. What is the biggest risk that this may create for animals in practice? Could community dogs, lost pets or animals taken from the wild find their way into laboratories? The biggest risk is that nobody will know where an animal came from. The whole point of registered breeders was traceability. Once you allow open markets and unregistered sources for cattle, goats, birds and fish, you create a demand, and in this country demand is met very quickly by people who will pick up anything. Strays and wild animals can be used if a “competent authority” permits it, and the draft never says who that is. Community dogs, someone’s lost pet, birds from illegal markets, all of it can find its way into a laboratory. These exceptions should be removed completely. If a lab cannot get an animal from a registered source, it should not be doing that experiment. The draft formally incorporates the principles of replacement, reduction and refinement, but critics say these safeguards become weaker if institutions themselves are approving experiments. Do you believe India should now be moving towards replacing animal experiments altogether, particularly when the health ministry has already allowed certain drug testing through non-animal methods? What should the rules do differently? Yes, and we are not starting from zero. The health ministry has already amended the drug rules to accept non-animal methods. The world is moving this way because these methods are often more predictive for humans than a mouse ever was. Writing replacement, reduction and refinement into the rules means nothing if the person checking compliance is the institution itself. The rules should make it mandatory to show that no validated alternative exists before an animal is used, set up a national body to validate and promote alternatives, put money into them, and set timelines to phase out animal use in areas where alternatives are already available. A rule that only mentions replacement as a principle is decoration. You have worked on animal experimentation regulation for decades. What specific changes would you want the government to make to this draft? I don’t think this draft can be fixed. There is hardly a provision in it that doesn’t need changing, and when everything needs to change, it is better to start again. So the draft should be put aside and written afresh, this time with independent scientists, animal welfare organisations and legal experts at the table. The new rules must take India forward, not backwards. Animals already have certain protections under the law which cannot be taken away. New should be building on them.

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One of the most discussed announcements was the exemption of income tax for earnings up to Rs 12 lakh, which is expected to provide substantial relief to taxpayers. The first phase of the budget session began on January 31 and will conclude on February 13, while the second phase will run from March 10 to April 4, 2025.

Here are the 10 major announcements from Budget 2025:

1. Rs 2-Crore Term Loan for Women Entrepreneurs

The government has introduced a new scheme offering Rs 2-crore term loans for five lakh first-time women entrepreneurs, including those from SC and ST communities, to encourage financial independence and economic growth.

2. Fund of Funds Scheme for Startups

A fresh round of the Fund of Funds scheme, with a corpus of Rs 10,000 crore, has been launched to support startup growth. Additionally, the eligibility period for tax benefits for startups has been extended by five years.

3. Income Tax Relief for Individuals

Salaried individuals and the middle class will benefit from a new income tax structure, which exempts income up to Rs 12 lakh from taxation. This move is expected to enhance disposable income and boost consumption.

4. Expansion of Regional Connectivity with UDAN

The popular UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik) scheme has been modified to enhance air travel connectivity to 120 new destinations, with a target of carrying four crore passengers over the next decade.

5. Increased Defence Budget

The defence sector received a significant boost, with an allocation of Rs 6,81,210 crore for the fiscal year 2025-26, marking a rise from the previous year’s Rs 6,21,940 crore budget.

6. PM Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana for Farmers

Aimed at enhancing agricultural sustainability and profitability, the PM Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana will benefit 1.7 crore farmers by transforming select districts into agricultural hubs.

7. Credit Cards for MSMEs

To facilitate the growth of micro-enterprises, the government will roll out customized credit cards with a credit limit of Rs 5 lakh, allowing small businesses easier access to funds.

8. Term Loan of Rs 20 Crore for Export-Oriented MSMEs

A special term loan scheme will provide up to Rs 20 crore for well-performing, export-oriented MSMEs to scale their operations and compete in global markets.

9. SWAMIH Fund 2 for Affordable Housing

Under the SWAMIH (Special Window for Affordable and Mid-Income Housing) Fund, 50,000 homes in stalled housing projects have already been completed. An additional 40,000 units are set to be finished by the end of 2025.

10. India as a Global Toy Manufacturing Hub

The government has announced strategic measures to boost toy manufacturing under the ‘Make in India’ initiative, aiming to position India as a leading global toy production hub.

Budget 2025 has introduced significant reforms across various sectors, with a focus on economic growth, employment generation, and ease of doing business. The new tax exemptions, funding support for startups, and financial aid for MSMEs and women entrepreneurs are expected to have a far-reaching impact on the Indian economy. As the budget discussions unfold, further details on implementation and execution are eagerly awaited.