Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is presenting her fifth Budget in the Parliament. In this Budget also, Nirmala Sitharaman continued with the tradition she set in 2019 of carrying the Budget speech in a ‘bahi-khata’, instead of a briefcase. Sitharaman kept a digital tablet in a red bahi khata.
Sitharaman highlighted seven priorities of Budget 2023 saying "they compliment each other and act as Saptarishi guiding us through the Amrit Kaal."
The seven Budget 2023 priorities (Saptarishi) highlighted by Sitharaman are:
Inclusive development
Sitharaman also highlighted that the government's philosophy of "Sabka Saath Sabka Vishwas" has facilitated inclusive development of different deprived sections of the society including farmers, women, youth, OBC, SC, ST, EWS and Divyaang Jan(Handicapped). She highlighted the government motto "Vanchito Ko Variyata"(priority to deprived sections).
Reaching the last mile
Nirmala Sithraman announced that to build on the success of the Aspirational District program, the government has recently launched the Aspirational Blocks program that will cover 500 blocks for saturation of government services.
The centre has also launched the PM-Primitive Vulnerable Tribal Group Development Mission in order to improve the economic conditions of particularly vulnerable groups. An Amount of Rs. 15,000 crores were allocated in the past three years to implement housing, clean water, road, and telecom connectivity.
Infrastructure and investment
Sitharaman announced that the capital investment outlay for this is being increased steeply by 33 percent to Rs 10 lakh crore, making it 3.3 percent of GDP. In the previous year, this amount stood at Rs 5.54 lakh crore.
The amount will be almost three times what was spent in 2019-20.
Green growth
Sitharaman announced that India is moving forward firmly to achieve the net zero target. With an outlay of Rs 19,700, the recently launched national green hydrogen crore will facilitate the transition of the economy to low carbon intensity and reduce dependency on fossil fuel imports.
"Our target is to reach an annual production of 5 MMT by 2030. This budget provides for Rs 35,000 crore capital investment towards energy transition and net zero objective and energy security by the Ministry of petroleum and natural gas," the FM declared.
Youth power
Nirmala Sitharaman announced an agriculture accelerator fund focused on youth in rural areas.
Financial sector
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the cost of credit will be reduced by around 1 percent. She also announced credit guarantee for the MSMEs and collateral-free credit of Rs 2 lakh crore.
First Published: Feb 1, 2023 11:34 AM IST
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