People expressed relief and appreciated the budget announcement by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday, especially no personal income tax payable up to income of Rs 12 lakh.

The government has increased the income tax exemption threshold to Rs 12 lakh, which the common people are considering as the most significant thing which the Finance minister announced in the budget 2025.

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Talking to the newspaper, Nikhil Kumar, who works for a corporate mentioned that raising the tax threshold was a relief for him as earlier his income was under the taxable bracket, but he will no more have to worry about that, and will have more money in hand, and can go ahead for some savings.

Similarly, a young professional mentioned that with his income now not being taxable, he could think of spending some more money to get things which he likes.

The threshold limit will be Rs 12.75 lakh for the salaried tax payers, due to standard deduction of Rs 75000.

An old man, who did not like to be named, mentioned that this was a good move by the government, with nowadays the expenses are increasing, with new things and technology coming into the picture, and with raising the taxable income limit, people will have more purchasing power.

 As per the government the new structure will substantially reduce the taxes of the middle class, and leave more money in their hands, boosting household consumption, savings and investment.

Meanwhile, another person who works for a private firm mentioned that the government’s budget decision to exempt 36 lifesaving drugs and medicines Basic Customs Duty (BCD) is something very helpful, especially for those suffering from difficult medical conditions that require regular medication.

Meanwhile, 6 lifesaving medicines to attract concessional customs duty of 5 per cent. Specified drugs and medicines under Patient Assistance Programmes run by pharmaceutical companies fully exempted from BCD; 37 more medicines added along with 13 new patient assistance programmes.

Similarly, the Finance Ministry has also come up with an Urban Challenge Fund of Rs 1 lakh crore, announced to implement the proposals for ‘Cities as Growth Hubs’, ‘Creative Redevelopment of Cities’ and ‘Water and Sanitation’, with allocation of Rs 10,000 crore proposed for 2025-26.

On being asked about this to a woman who said she works for an IT firm, mentioned that keeping in view the current day challenges with increasing population in the metro cities, and sub-urban areas also on a road to development, having such a provision will prove to be useful as the maintenance and upkeep of the cities if a crucial aspect and is something interlinked with the overall quality of life.