2024 being an election year, the budget speech on July 23 will be the second one this year. The last interim budget was presented on February 1, before the election began, during the joint session of the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha, as is the case in all election years. The annual economic survey on July 22 will precede the budget speech. Scroll down some significant budget proposals we know so far.

Increase in standard deduction for income tax paid by salaried individuals. It is currently at ₹50,000 and may be raised to ₹ 1,00,000 a year.

The Ministry of Labour and Employment has proposed an increase in the salary ceiling for the Provident Fund (PF) deduction from ₹15,000 to ₹25,000. This will increase the take home salary for individuals making less than ₹25,000. If the Finance Ministry accepts the proposal, this would be the first increase in the minimum threshold for PF deduction since September 1, 2014, according to a CNBC Awaaz report.

The government is actively considering doubling the beneficiary base under its flagship Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme over the next three years, with all those aged above 70 years to be brought under its ambit, to begin with, and also increase the insurance coverage to ₹10 lakh per year.

Sources told Moneycontrol that the government may allow companies domiciled in Gujarat's GIFT City to list on Indian bourses such as the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

The government may allocate ₹70,000 crore to increase the number of electric buses and to set up more charging centres across the country. The government may also want to make loans for electric buses as cheap as they are for vehicles that run on diesel, according to sources. In the picture: Feeder electric buses are being introduced for the first time in Delhi on trial basis by Delhi Metro from August 12. Pic: Twitter/@OfficialDMRC

Sources told CNBC-TV18 that the government may offer more doles for companies applying for production-linked incentives if they increase sourcing from small businesses in India. Image source: Shutterstock

The government may expand its aspirational districts programme beyond the targettd 500 districts in the upcoming budget. This would entail a higher allocation, which was ₹433 crore in the interim budget presented in February 2024. Image source: NITI Aayog