Government of India's flagship Khelo India programme to scout and nurture athletes at the grassroots level was the biggest beneficiary as the allocation for sports was hiked substantially by Rs 351.98 crore in the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday.
The ambitious Khelo India scheme was allocated Rs 1,000 crore for the financial year 2025-26, which is Rs 200 crore more than the grant of Rs 800 crore in 2024-25.
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Overall, the Ministry for Youth Affairs and Sports was designated Rs 3,794.30 crore, an overall jump of Rs 351.98 crore.
The increase is substantial considering there is no major sporting event like the Olympics, Commonwealth or Asian Games lined up in the next one year.
The assigned amount for assistance to National Sports Federations has also been hiked marginally from Rs 340 crore to Rs 400 crore.
India is currently pushing through with an ambitious bid to host the 2036 Olympic Games for which a letter of intent has been submitted to the International Olympic Committee.
Union Budget 2025
The government has provided a huge income tax relief for consumers. The key announcement by the finance minister was that there will be no income tax payable up to an income of Rs 12 lakh per annum. This amounts to an average taxable income of Rs 1 lakh per month now exempt, excluding special rate income like capital gains. Add in the standard deduction of Rs 75,000, this limit goes up to Rs 12.75 lakh for salaried tax payers.
The new tax slabs under the new income tax regime are: Nil between Rs 0-4 lakh, 5 per cent between Rs 4-8 lakh, 10 per cent between Rs 8-12 lakh, 15 per cent between Rs 12-16 lakh, 20 per cent between Rs 16-20 lakh, 25 per cent between Rs 20-24 lakh and 30 per cent above Rs 24 lakh.
Read FULL TEXT of Nirmala Sitharaman's speech HERE
Real estate companies also gained momentum post the income tax measures with companies like Prestige, Phoenix Mills, Sobha Realty, Macrotech, DLF and Oberoi Realty gaining from around 0.5 per cent to over 5 per cent.
