Seven engines of the PM Gati Shakti initiative are roads, Railways, airports, ports, mass transport, waterways and logistics infra. Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for achieving Aatmanirbhar Bharat has received an excellent response, with the potential to create 60 lakh new jobs and additional production of 30 lakh crore during the next five years, said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman
New Delhi:
Union Budget 2022-23 will lay the foundation for India’s economic growth and expansion for the next 25 years, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said while presenting the budget in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
“This Union Budget seeks to lay the foundation and give a blueprint of the economy over Amrit Kal of next 25 years – from India at 75 to India at 100,” Sitharaman said while presenting her fourth union budget.
She said India is in a strong position to withstand future challenges.
The Finance Minister said the government’s focus will continue on boosting public investment to modernise infrastructure.
She announced spending of 200 billion rupees ($2.68 billion) for a highway expansion program and said 400 new trains would be manufactured over the next three years.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has made the building of infrastructure a top priority to improve the cost of doing business.
“The touchstone of the master plan will be world-class, modern infrastructure and logistics synergy among different modes of movement of both people and goods, and location of projects,” Sitharaman said.
Shares rose in the run-up to the federal budget on expectations of greater public spending.
Concerns, though, have risen about inflation and loss of tens of thousands of jobs because of the disruptions caused by the pandemic.
Sitharaman expressed empathy with those who had to bear adverse health and economic effects of COVID-19 that devastated India during the second wave last year. A government report on Monday warned that growing risks of global inflation led by rising crude oil prices could hit the economy.
The government has projected growth at 8% to 8.5% compared with an estimated 9.2% for the current fiscal year and a 6.6% contraction the previous year.
“The overall sharp rebound and recovery of the economy are reflective of our country’s strong resilience,” Sitharaman said, as she began her budget speech in parliament that will lay out spending, tax collections, and the fiscal deficit.
One of the priority areas of the government in the coming years would be the PM Gati Shakti programme.
Seven engines of the PM Gati Shakti initiative are roads, Railways, airports, ports, mass transport, waterways and logistics infra. Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for achieving Aatmanirbhar Bharat has received an excellent response, with the potential to create 60 lakh new jobs and additional production of 30 lakh crore during the next five years, she said.
India’s growth is estimated to be at 9.27 per cent in the current year, India’s economic growth in the current year is estimated to be 9.2 per cent, highest among all large economies,” she said.
The Finance Minister also said that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Centre’s Budget is focusing majorly on taking India@75 to India@100.
“We are marking Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, our focus is on complementing micro and macro economy, promoting digital economy, and private and public investments,” Sitharaman added.
Amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, replacing her signature ‘bahi khata’, she opted to carry the documents in a tablet, which was wrapped in a red-coloured cover with the national emblem emblazoned on it.
On Monday, she tabled this year’s Economic Survey, centred around the theme of “Agile approach”, which forecasted India’s economy to grow by 9.2 per cent during Financial Year 2021-22 and by 8-8.5 per cent in fiscal 2023 beginning 1 April.