PM Modi Praises Budget 2025: ‘If You Earned ₹12 Lakh in Nehruji’s Time…’

PM Modi Praises Budget 2025: On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a dig at Congress while citing Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, asserting that their governments imposed heavy tax burdens on the citizenry, while his government has taken the initiative to lessen the tax burden and give more relief to the middle class.

While addressing a rally at RK Puram in Delhi, PM Modi said, “Let me present a picture before you. It will help you understand better and make it easier to explain to others. If we look at this budget—back in Nehru Ji’s time, if you earned ₹12 lakh, the government would take away one-fourth of your salary as tax. If this were Indira Ji’s era, you would be shocked to hear that out of ₹12 lakh, nearly ₹10 lakh would go into taxes. That was the scenario back then, which is why I am explaining this today.”

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He said that during Congress, ₹12 lakhs meant paying ₹2.6 lakhs in taxes, whereas the latest budget passed by his government ensures that there is no tax for a ₹12-lakh income.

“Even 10–12 years ago, under a Congress government, if you earned ₹12 lakh, you had to pay ₹2,60,000 in taxes. Now, after yesterday’s BJP government budget, a person earning ₹12 lakh in a year will not have to pay even a single rupee in tax,” PM Modi added.

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In the Union Budget for 2025, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced that income up to ₹12 lakh per year shall be exempt from income tax.

This, she said, was meant to help the middle class. The effective tax-free income level will thus be ₹12.75 lakh, with a standard deduction of ₹75,000.

“I am happy to announce that there will be no income tax on income up to ₹12 lakh [i.e. ₹1 lakh per month, excluding special rate income like capital gains] under the new regime,” she added.

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