The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi met ahead of the Budget and gave the final nod to it. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Budget at 11 a.m. in the Lok Sabha.
This is the fourth budget of the Sitharaman at a crucial time when the nation is reeling under pandemic. The public is expecting a big relief and generation of employment opportunities from the government.
Every sector is hoping that this year’s budget brings something good for them Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s speech mainly focuses on these four major points:
1- PM Gati Shakti Mission
2- Inclusive Development
3- Increase in Productivity
4- Financial Investment
Prime Minister launched PM Gati Shakti - National Master Plan for Multi-modal Connectivity, essentially a digital platform to bring 16 Ministries including Railways and Roadways together for integrated planning and coordinated implementation of infrastructure connectivity projects. The multi-modal connectivity will provide integrated and seamless connectivity for the movement of people, goods and services from one mode of transport to another. It will facilitate the last mile connectivity of infrastructure and also reduce travel time for people. Sitharaman speech will focus on this mission and allocate resources for it.
"PM Gati Shakti is a transformative approach for economic growth and sustainable development. The approach is driven by seven engines namely roads, railways, airports, ports, mass transport, waterways and logistics infrastructure. All seven engines will pull forward the economy in unison. These engines are supported by the complementary roles of energy transmission, IT communication, bulk water and sewerage and social infra," she said.
“Inclusive development is the government's priority which includes farmers for Paddy, Kharif & Rabi crops under which 1,000 LMT Paddy is expected to be procured benefitting over 1 crore farmers,” she added.
FM Nirmala Sitharaman said, “Production Linked Incentive Scheme for achieving Aatmanirbhar Bharat has received an excellent response, with potential to create 60 lakh new jobs and additional production of 30 lakh crore during the next five years.”
“A fund with blended capital raised under co-investment model facilitated through NABARD to finance start-ups in agriculture and rural enterprises for farm produce value chain will be set up. States will be encouraged to revise syllabi of agricultural universities to meet needs of natural, zero-budget and organic farming, modern-day agriculture,” said Nirmala Sitharaman.