PM Modi terms Union Budget 'historic', says it gives priority to deprived

1st Budget of 'Amrit Kaal' is 'historic', meant for the aspirational, PM says

Terming it “historic”, Prime Minister Nar­e­ndra Modi on Wed­nesday said the first Budget in “Amrit Kaal” had established a strong base to fulfil the resolve of a develop­ed India and dreams of the as­pirational, including the poor and the middle income-group.

In his first reaction to the Budget 2023-24, Modi said in order to empower the middle-income groups, the governm­ent had taken many signific­ant decisions in the past years that ensured ease of living.

He underlined the potential of the middle-income gro­ups in realising the dreams of 2047, and also highlighted the reduction in tax rates as well as the simplification, transparency and speeding up of processes. “Our government, which always stood with the middle class, has given huge tax relief to them,” Modi said.

The prime minister congr­a­tulated Sitharaman and her team for a “historic” Budget.

Modi called the traditional artisans such as carpenters, iron smiths, goldsmiths, pot­t­ers, sculptors and many others as the creators of the nation.

“For the first time, the cou­n­try has come up with many schemes as a tribute to the hard work and creation of these people. Arrangements have been made for training, credit and market support to them. PM Vishwakarma Kaus­hal Samman, that is, PM ViK­aS, will bring a big change in the lives of crores of ‘Vishwa­karmas’,” Modi said.

He said the government had taken important steps such as Jal Jeevan Mission, Ujjwala Yojna and PM Awas Yojana that will further em­power women. Miracles can be performed if women self-help groups, a sector with extreme potential, are further strengthened, he added.

This Budget, the PM said, will make cooperatives a fulcrum of development of the rural economy. The government, he said, has come up with the world’s largest food storage scheme in the co-operative sector, and an ambitious scheme to form new primary co-operatives had also been announced in the Budget.

Emphasising the need to replicate the success of digital payments in agriculture, Modi said this Budget came with a big plan for digital agri infrastructure. Noting that the world was celebrating the International Year of Millets, he said there were many types of millets in India and their recognition was warranted.

“This superfood has been given a new identity of ‘Shree-Anna’,” Modi said, underlining that it would provide economic support for small farmers and tribal farmers.

This Budget, Modi said, will give an unprecedented expansion to green growth, green economy, green infrast­ructure, and green jobs, for a sus­tainable future. “In the Bud­get, we have laid a lot of emphasis on technology and the new economy. The aspira­tional India of today wants mo­dern infrastructure in every field like road, rail, met­ro, port, and waterways. Com­pared to 2014, investment in infrastructure has increased by more than 400 per cent.”

The unprecedented investment of Rs 10 trillion on infrastructure will give new energy and speed to India’s development, the PM said.