In her 1 hour 26 minute-long speech, finance minister mentioned 'infrastructure' about 26 times and both 'digital' & 'green' 21 times. The word 'amrit' appeared 12 times.
The blue-chip Nifty 50 index closed down 0.26% at 17,616.30, its biggest slide on budget day since a 2.51% fall in 2020. However, the S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.3% to 59,708.08.
Allocation to external affairs ministry for development assistance to foreign countries & projects fell 13% to estimated Rs 5,848.58 crore from Rs 6,750 crore in FY23.
States to set up ‘Unity Malls’ with objective of promotion & sale of ‘1 district, 1 product’, GI & handicraft. Amount allocated to tourism ministry same as last time, at Rs 2,400 cr.
Education Ministry has been allocated Rs 1,12,899.47 cr — up by 8% from last yr — and FM has announced launch of PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana 4.0 to skill lakhs of youth within next 3 yrs.
Earlier in a statement, the rating agency said the narrower fiscal deficit underscores the Modi government's commitment to longer-term fiscal sustainability.
In her budget speech, Sitharaman said her govt was committed to bringing down fiscal deficit to 4.5% by 2025-26 and pegged economic growth at 7% in the current fiscal.
The overall allocation to the sector increased from last year’s Rs 1.4 lakh crore. Slew of initiatives like addition of new lines, doubling rail lines announced.
The view that bureaucracies are bloated with far too many employees preying on taxpayers money is a widely held myth. Research shows how significantly understaffed the Indian state is.
The Centre is considering an increase in the National Company Law Tribunal's bench capacity, while the Standing Committee of Finance suggests fast-track courts.
The helicopters produced by Lockheed Martin are known as ‘submarine hunters’. India ordered 24 of these aircraft in 2020 to replace the Sea King helicopters. 15 have been delivered till date.
The India-South Africa series-defining fact is the catastrophic decline of Indian red ball cricket where a visiting team can mock us with the 'grovel' word.
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