New Delhi Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said the Union Budget strikes a delicate balance between growth, employment and fiscal consolidation, and promotes cooperative federalism.
Replying to the discussion on Union Budget 2024-25 and Budget of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir in Rajya Sabha, the minister said the government is on track to achieve the previously announced fiscal deficit target of 4 .5 percent by 2025-26.
Sitharaman, also a former defense minister, said the Agniveer Plan to recruit people in the age group of 17.5 to 21 years aims to keep the armed forces fit, young and battle-ready. The minister, who presented his seventh Union Budget, he also stated that the economic document proposes unwavering support for cooperative federalism.
"I would like to underline our unwavering commitment to cooperative federalism. The total resources proposed to be transferred to states in 2024-25 are estimated at Rs 22.91 lakh crore. In reality, this implies an increase of Rs 2.49 lakh crore over 2023-24. "said the minister.
He said the capital expenditure is pegged at Rs 11.11 lakh crore. "This is the largest ever allocation for capital expenditure and shows an increase of around 17 per cent over the RE and provisional FY actuals." 2023-24," he said, adding that during the Congress-led UPA era, the capital expenditure allocation was Rs 13.19 lakh crore between 2004-05 and 2013-14.
"While during our tenure from 2014 to 2024, the allocation for capital expenditure was Rs 43.82 lakh crore from 2014-15 to 2023-24," she said.
Facing criticism that she only referred to two states in her budget speech and ignored the rest, Sitharaman said the budget is for all states; In the past, including the UPA era, the names of all states were not mentioned. She stressed that if a state was not mentioned in the speech, it does not mean that there is no allocation for it.
Several opposition members had raised issues related to devolution of taxes to the states.
Given this, Sitharaman is incorrect in calculating the refund based on the gross tax revenue and then claiming that the Center is refunding less than what is suggested by the Finance Commission. The minister also said that the tax revenue has seen impressive growth. Additionally, metering efforts have improved billing and collection efficiency in the power sector, which has also resulted in an increase in non-tax revenue from Rs 5,148 crore in 2022-23 to Rs 6,500 crore in 2022-23. 2023-24.
Sitharaman also said that PLI schemes remain attractive for the manufacturing sector.
The budget is an exercise to make India an attractive destination for manufacturing companies, he added. He also said that the government is delivering on the fiscal deficit trajectory. It will reduce the deficit to less than 4.5 per cent by 2025-26 from the target of 4.9 per cent for the current fiscal year.
The finance minister highlighted that for agriculture and allied sectors the budget has allocated Rs 1.52 lakh crore, Rs 8,000 crore more than the previous year.
For comparison, in 2013-14, the last year of the Congress-led UPA, only Rs 30,000 crore was allocated to agriculture. He also emphasized that the financial situation of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has improved. .
He said the UT has discontinued the earlier practices of running 'hundis' and overdrafts of J&K Bank for its daily cash management.
Over the last four years, J&K Bank has achieved remarkable turnaround. From a loss of Rs 1,139 crore in 2019-20, the Bank made a profit of Rs 1,700 crore in the year 2023-24.The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is in a healthy fiscal position and can meet the development aspirations of the people, he added.
He also took on Congress leader and former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram for misleading statements on the appointment of DGPs in the states.
While participating in the discussion, Chidambaram criticized the Agniveer plan and asked the government to withdraw it. Sitharaman responded to Chidambaram's argument by stating that the plan "is a very reformative step to enhance the capabilities and combat readiness of our armed forces." .
"It actually ensures that we have fit soldiers who are on the front line. One of the expected outcomes of this plan is that the armed forces will have a much younger force by recruiting those in the age group of 17.5 to 21 years and retain only 25 percent, thus reducing the age of the Indian soldier," the minister said.
On the opposition's criticism of NEET, Sitharaman said that in 2011, when the DMK government ended, Tamil Nadu had only 1,945 medical seats. Currently there are 10,425 medical seats, an increase of 8,480 seats in the last 11 years in Tamil Nadu , said.
"NEET has ensured cost-effective medical education for families. It has certainly hurt some vested interests, particularly those in the field of medical education because it is no longer possible to sell medical seats. Therefore, it has hurt a lot of people. That's why a particular lobby was actively against NEET even before this NEET leak issue arose," he added.
The Finance Minister highlighted that the government's policy is to make the youth more competent. In her response, Sitharaman also spoke about the high inflation during the UPA government and highlighted the measures taken by the Modi government regarding prices .
Replying to the discussion on Union Budget 2024-25 and Budget of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir in Rajya Sabha, the minister said the government is on track to achieve the previously announced fiscal deficit target of 4 .5 percent by 2025-26.
Sitharaman, also a former defense minister, said the Agniveer Plan to recruit people in the age group of 17.5 to 21 years aims to keep the armed forces fit, young and battle-ready. The minister, who presented his seventh Union Budget, he also stated that the economic document proposes unwavering support for cooperative federalism.
"I would like to underline our unwavering commitment to cooperative federalism. The total resources proposed to be transferred to states in 2024-25 are estimated at Rs 22.91 lakh crore. In reality, this implies an increase of Rs 2.49 lakh crore over 2023-24. "said the minister.
He said the capital expenditure is pegged at Rs 11.11 lakh crore. "This is the largest ever allocation for capital expenditure and shows an increase of around 17 per cent over the RE and provisional FY actuals." 2023-24," he said, adding that during the Congress-led UPA era, the capital expenditure allocation was Rs 13.19 lakh crore between 2004-05 and 2013-14.
"While during our tenure from 2014 to 2024, the allocation for capital expenditure was Rs 43.82 lakh crore from 2014-15 to 2023-24," she said.
Facing criticism that she only referred to two states in her budget speech and ignored the rest, Sitharaman said the budget is for all states; In the past, including the UPA era, the names of all states were not mentioned. She stressed that if a state was not mentioned in the speech, it does not mean that there is no allocation for it.
Several opposition members had raised issues related to devolution of taxes to the states.
Given this, Sitharaman is incorrect in calculating the refund based on the gross tax revenue and then claiming that the Center is refunding less than what is suggested by the Finance Commission. The minister also said that the tax revenue has seen impressive growth. Additionally, metering efforts have improved billing and collection efficiency in the power sector, which has also resulted in an increase in non-tax revenue from Rs 5,148 crore in 2022-23 to Rs 6,500 crore in 2022-23. 2023-24.
Sitharaman also said that PLI schemes remain attractive for the manufacturing sector.
The budget is an exercise to make India an attractive destination for manufacturing companies, he added. He also said that the government is delivering on the fiscal deficit trajectory. It will reduce the deficit to less than 4.5 per cent by 2025-26 from the target of 4.9 per cent for the current fiscal year.
The finance minister highlighted that for agriculture and allied sectors the budget has allocated Rs 1.52 lakh crore, Rs 8,000 crore more than the previous year.
For comparison, in 2013-14, the last year of the Congress-led UPA, only Rs 30,000 crore was allocated to agriculture. He also emphasized that the financial situation of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has improved. .
He said the UT has discontinued the earlier practices of running 'hundis' and overdrafts of J&K Bank for its daily cash management.
Over the last four years, J&K Bank has achieved remarkable turnaround. From a loss of Rs 1,139 crore in 2019-20, the Bank made a profit of Rs 1,700 crore in the year 2023-24.The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is in a healthy fiscal position and can meet the development aspirations of the people, he added.
He also took on Congress leader and former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram for misleading statements on the appointment of DGPs in the states.
While participating in the discussion, Chidambaram criticized the Agniveer plan and asked the government to withdraw it. Sitharaman responded to Chidambaram's argument by stating that the plan "is a very reformative step to enhance the capabilities and combat readiness of our armed forces." .
"It actually ensures that we have fit soldiers who are on the front line. One of the expected outcomes of this plan is that the armed forces will have a much younger force by recruiting those in the age group of 17.5 to 21 years and retain only 25 percent, thus reducing the age of the Indian soldier," the minister said.
On the opposition's criticism of NEET, Sitharaman said that in 2011, when the DMK government ended, Tamil Nadu had only 1,945 medical seats. Currently there are 10,425 medical seats, an increase of 8,480 seats in the last 11 years in Tamil Nadu , said.
"NEET has ensured cost-effective medical education for families. It has certainly hurt some vested interests, particularly those in the field of medical education because it is no longer possible to sell medical seats. Therefore, it has hurt a lot of people. That's why a particular lobby was actively against NEET even before this NEET leak issue arose," he added.
The Finance Minister highlighted that the government's policy is to make the youth more competent. In her response, Sitharaman also spoke about the high inflation during the UPA government and highlighted the measures taken by the Modi government regarding prices .
