Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s 58-minute interim Budget speech, announced a new fund with a corpus of ₹1 lakh crores for encouraging research and development in the private sector.
According to the minister, the fund will be geared towards providing long-term financing and refinancing loans, stretching up to 50-year tenure. The FM announced that the loans provided will be issued at low or nil interest rates.
The budget speech expressed hope that this fund will inspire the private sector to scale up research and development spending in “sunrise” domains.
Sitharaman also announced that a new scheme would be launched for strengthening deep tech, aimed at the defence sector. The government hopes that this focus on deep tech in defence will build more momentum towards atmanirbharta or self-reliance. Details on this proposed deep tech scheme were not available.
Additionally, the FM noted that technological changes are expanding opportunities at a global level. She added that new-age tech and data are changing the lives of businesses, opening up new economic opportunities, and ensuring high-quality services at affordable prices.
(Edited by : Pihu Yadav)
First Published: Feb 1, 2024 12:23 PM IST
Check out our in-depth Market Coverage, Business News & get real-time Stock Market Updates on CNBC-TV18. Also, Watch our channels CNBC-TV18, CNBC Awaaz and CNBC Bajar Live on-the-go!
'Rahul Gandhi deserted Amethi due to fear of Smriti Irani': How BJP plans to puncture Congress' UP plan
May 3, 2024 1:12 PM
'Don't be scared, don't run away', PM Modi tells Rahul for not contesting from Amethi
May 3, 2024 1:06 PM