Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s first Budget of the BJP-led NDA government’s third consecutive term is a clear response to the urgent needs of India’s unemployed youth. The BJP, having faced setbacks in the recent general elections, is addressing issues like job creation and youth unemployment ahead of upcoming State elections. Sitharaman emphasized the government’s focus on the poor, women, youth, and farmers, stressing employment, skilling, MSMEs, and the middle class. A significant initiative includes a package of five schemes aimed at providing employment and skilling opportunities for 4.1 crore youth over five years with a central outlay of ₹2 lakh crore. The centerpiece is a scheme offering a month’s wage as a subsidy to new employees in the formal sector, promoting EPFO registration. Other schemes include incentives for job creation in manufacturing, support for employers increasing EPFO registrations, a skilling program leveraging ITIs, and a substantial internship initiative in 500 top companies, mirroring a proposal from the Congress manifesto. However, these ambitious plans must be viewed against the backdrop of India’s need to generate 78.5 lakh non-farm jobs annually until 2030 to absorb the workforce exiting agriculture. Addressing criticisms of being too close to large corporates, the Budget also focuses on MSMEs. It includes a credit guarantee scheme to help MSMEs secure loans for machinery and equipment purchases without collateral. For the middle class, the Budget offers tax relief by increasing the standard deduction and revising tax slabs. Pensioners will benefit from a marginal increase in the family pension deduction. The Budget proposes reducing the Fiscal Deficit to 4.9% of GDP. This has resulted in cuts to several social sectors, notably education and MGNREGA, which saw its share of overall outlay reduced to a nine-year low. The coming months will reveal how effectively these measures resonate with the electorate and the economy.