Union Budget 2024 Live: Standard Deduction for salaried employees hiked to Rs 75,000

CHENNAI: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Tuesday presented her seventh straight Union Budget.

FM Sitharaman marks her seventh consecutive budget eclipsing the late Moraji Desai's record of six consecutive budgets, which is likely to focus on changes in the income tax structure and improving the ease of doing business in India.

All eyes are on whether Sitharaman provides the much-expected tax relief for the middle class, leaving more money in their hands, as there is tax buoyancy.

Besides, the market also expects staying on the fiscal glide path to lower the fiscal deficit to 4.5 per cent of GDP by 2025-26.

Sitharaman, who would be presenting her seventh straight budget, had in her first Budget in 2019 replaced the leather briefcase -- which had been in use for decades for carrying Budget documents -- with a traditional 'bahi-khata' wrapped in red cloth.

This year's Budget would be in paperless form, as done in the last three years.'