Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget in Parliament with total expenditure of ₹50.65 lakh crore and fiscal deficit at 4.4% of GDP. Ten priority areas include agriculture, MSMEs, manufacturing and exports, with six transformative reform domains from taxation to financial sector.
Both sides have committed to concluding the long-pending bilateral free trade agreement by year-end, with talks covering goods, services, investment, and sectors including batteries, semiconductors and clean hydrogen.
ICC announced the schedule for the men’s T20 World Cup co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka. Defending champions India will open against USA at Wankhede and face Pakistan on February 15 in Colombo.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has mandated the full six-stanza version of Vande Mataram at official events; when both are played, the National Song must precede Jana Gana Mana at ceremonies and in schools.
India has increased funding for its human spaceflight programme. Plans now include two crewed and six uncrewed missions by 2028, an operational space station by 2035 and a crewed lunar mission by 2040.
The joint L- and S-band Synthetic Aperture Radar Earth-observation satellite is set to launch on GSLV in March 2025, with a five-year mission in sun-synchronous orbit to study land and ice.
A major tunnel breakthrough has been reported on the 508 km high-speed rail corridor. Phased openings are targeted from Surat–Bilimora in 2027 to full Mumbai–Ahmedabad link by end-2029.
National mean temperature in February was 22.04°C, 1.34°C above normal. The weather office has forecast warmer-than-usual March–May with above-normal heatwave days across several states.
In a combative Parliament debate, the Opposition leader accused the government of weaponising finance and energy, as the Budget session saw sharp exchanges over economic and welfare policies.
The Union Budget 2025 announced the Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana for low-productivity districts, with Phase I covering 100 districts and aimed at boosting productivity and rural prosperity.
India’s defence exports reached a new high with the private sector contributing about 64.5% and DPSUs the rest. The government is targeting ₹50,000 crore by 2029.
The University Grants Commission’s new anti-discrimination and equity guidelines have drawn legal challenges, with petitions filed in the Supreme Court questioning their scope and implementation.
The Finance Minister announced higher investment and turnover limits for MSME classification, customised credit cards for micro-enterprises, and a scheme for first-time women and SC/ST entrepreneurs with term loans up to ₹2 crore.
With rainfall at about 10.9 mm and record warmth, meteorologists have flagged risks to winter crops including wheat and rapeseed from early maturity and heat stress.