Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Finance Minister, has stated that the Indian economy is on the right track and will have a bright future. Saptrishi, she has listed seven priorities in the Union Budget 2023 to guide India through the Amrit Kaal.
These seven priorities are inclusive development, reaching the last mile, infra and investment, unleashing the potential, green growth, youth power and financial sector.
Inclusive development
The government’s Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas policy, according to the finance minister, has benefited many groups, including women, SCs, STs, OBCs, and other underprivileged groups.
An open source, open standard, and interoperable digital public infrastructure will benefit agriculture.
The creation of an accelerator fund will encourage agricultural startups. Furthermore, modern technology will be introduced to transform agricultural practises. The concept is to provide farmers with innovative and cost-effective solutions to their current challenges.
According to her, the government will launch an Atmanirbhar Clean Plant programme to increase the availability of disease-free, high-quality planting material.
According to the FM, India is on the cutting edge of popularising millets, which improve food security and farmer well-being.
Reaching the last mile
Building on the success of the Aspirational Districts programme, we recently launched the Aspirational Blocks programme, which covers 500 blocks for government service saturation.
PM-Primitive Vulnerable Tribal Group Development Mission was established to improve the economic conditions of particularly vulnerable groups. There will be safe housing, clean water, a road, and telecom connectivity. A total of Rs. 15,000 crores has been set aside to implement this over a three-year period.
The FM also announced the hiring of 38,800 teachers and support staff for the 740 Eklavya residential schools, which serve 3.5 lakh tribal students. The capital investment outlay is being increased by 33% to Rs 10 lakh crore, representing 3.3 percent of GDP.
Unleashing the potential
To spur startup and academic innovation and research, a National Data Governance Policy will be developed, allowing access to anonymized data.
Financial sector
MSMEs receive credit guarantees. The revamp schemes will go into effect in 2023, thanks to an infusion of Rs 9,000 crore into the corpus. This will allow for another Rs 2 lakh crore in collateral-free credit. Furthermore, the cost of credit will be reduced by about 1%.
Green growth
The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas announced a Rs 35,000 crore capital investment in energy transition, net zero goal, and energy security in this budget.
According to the FM, four transformative opportunities can be used in Amrit Kaal to increase economic empowerment. Agricultural digital public infrastructure will be built as an open source, open standard, and interoperable public good.
The government has also launched the National Monetisation Pipeline, which has a Rs 9 lakh crore investment potential.
Youth power
The National Education Policy has been developed by the government. The PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana 4.0 will be launched to train lakhs of youth. The scheme will include new age courses in addition to drones and 3D printing. The FM also announced the launch of an India-wide unified skill platform.
Direct benefit transfer under a Pan-India national apprenticeship scheme will be implemented to provide stipends to 47 lakh youth in three years.
