Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will respond to the recently presented Union Budget 2025-26 and subsequent discussions in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. Her address is likely to take place around 4 pm.

The Finance Minister presented the Union Budget for the upcoming fiscal year on February 1, focusing on wooing the salaried middle class with tax cuts. Earlier, Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Economic Survey 2024-25 on January 31, which projected India's GDP to grow at 6.4 per cent for FY 2025.

During her Budget speech, Nirmala Sitharaman raised the starting limit for income tax from ₹7 lakh to ₹12 lakh and also announced that the government will introduce a new Income Tax Bill.

Sitharaman announced a new fund for startups and said the government will provide more funds to promote innovation in partnership with the private sector and launch programmes to boost manufacturing and exports. He also announced a cut in excise duty on crucial medicines and several new initiatives to boost growth of the real estate and health sectors.

The Budget session of Parliament began on January 31, with President Draupadi Murmu delivering her inaugural address. The first part of the session will run till February 13. The session will resume on March 10 and continue till April 4.

The Lok Sabha witnessed a debate between the ruling and the opposition over the Union Budget, with opposition members saying it only gave a "sugar-like boon" in the form of tax relief without any long-term benefits, while the ruling party defended it as a "booster shot" for the economy.

Congress MP Manish Tewari claimed the government debt had risen steeply in the past decade, posing problems for future generations.

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