Working to transform India into 'Viksit Bharat' by 2047: Sitharaman
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman addressed the Lok Sabha on Thursday, delivering the 2024-25 Union Interim Budget in a one-hour speech. During her address, she emphasized the Narendra Modi government's dedication to transforming India into a "Viksit Bharat (developed India)" by 2047. Sitharaman stressed the importance of an "all-round, all-inclusive, and all-pervasive" development backed by the "Sab Ka Prayaas (everyone's efforts)" vision and the "trinity of democracy, demography, and diversity."
Focus on 4 categories of people: FM
The finance minister said the needs of the four groups—poor, women, youth, and farmers—are the government's "highest priority." "All four require and receive government support, their empowerment and well-being will drive the country forward," she said. Sitharaman also noted that during the Modi government's 10-year tenure, 25 crore people were lifted out of multidimensional poverty.
Global context and comprehensive GDP
Talking about the global landscape, Sitharaman said, "Global affairs are becoming more complex, globalization is being redefined with reshoring, disruption, and fragmentation of supply chains and competition for critical minerals and technologies." "A new world order is emerging," she noted She added that the government is equally focused on a more comprehensive GDP—governance, development, and performance—along with high growth.
Transparent administration and budget expectations
Additionally, Sitharaman emphasized the government's commitment to transparent, accountable, and people-centric trust-based administration with a citizen-first and minimum government-maximum governance approach. With the general elections approaching in less than three months, expectations for this budget were limited. No changes were announced in the tax slabs in both old and new regimes. Sitharaman also proposed to retain the same direct and indirect tax rates, including import duties.
Boost in infrastructure spending by 11.1%
Sitharaman, however, announced that the central government will boost spending on infrastructure by 11.1%. This means the outlay will be increased to Rs. 11.11 lakh crore, or 3.4% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). She also announced that the Centre will establish a corpus of Rs. 1 lakh crore with 50-year interest-free loans to boost innovation. This will offer long-term financing at low or zero interest rates for private companies.
