India, Feb. 2 -- When Dr Savita Joshi, 72, watched finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announce the budget on her mobile phone in Indore, a sense of relief overcame her. "After my retirement in 2015, this is the first relief for pensioners in the Union Budget," said Joshi. "This budget was made sensibly to give relief to middle class families and senior citizens."

The budget introduces several significant changes for India's elderly: doubling the TDS threshold and tax deduction limit on interest income to Rs.1 lakh, and exempting withdrawals from old National Savings Scheme accounts after August 29, 2024.

SK Jain, 65, a shopkeeper from Bhopal, said the NSS withdrawal exemption would be of significant help. "Being a businessman, I made s...