A nine-lane expressway ahead: Sitharaman's plans to speed up India
Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman yesterday was unique among all the budgets presented by her in that it offered a long-term roadmap for a developed India, an aim set by the government called Viksit Bharat. At the start of the Parliament’s Budget session, a day before the budget was presented, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the budget will further the goal of a ‘Viksit Bharat’ by 2047.
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“It is a matter of pride that after 60 years, a government has come to power for the third time and will present the first Budget for the third time...I have been giving guarantees to the people of the country and our mission is to bring this to the ground. This Budget is an important budget for Amrit Kaal. Today's budget will decide the direction for the next 5 years of our term. This budget will also become a strong foundation of our dream of 'Viksit Bharat',” PM Modi said.
India is the fastest growing major economy in the world and has been growing at a high rate in the past four years, indicating an even pace of development despite global disruptions. While Sitharaman's budget tries to boost growth further, its main thrust lies on strengthening the economy so it can sustain high growth rates in the long term. For that, she identified nine priority areas which will figure in her next budgets for five years.
These areas point at the
