Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Interim Budget 2024 in the Lok Sabha today. It was her sixth Budget presentation as Finance Minister and is the last Budget of the current Lok Sabha.
In her speech Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman redefined the meaning of GDP, to highlight the achievements of the Narendra Modi government in the past 10 years.”Governance, development, and performance,” Sitharaman echoed in the Parliament within the first 20 minutes of the budget presentation, as she cited the “monumental” achievements that have been made in various sectors of the economy in the last 10 years.
Finance Minister while presenting the interim Budget for the financial year 2023-24, said that the Indian economy has undergone a positive transformation in the last 10 years, instilling hope for the future. “In 2014, the nation confronted significant challenges, which were successfully addressed by the Narendra Modi-led government through the philosophy of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikaas’,” the finance minister said.
She added that the government is committed to achieving a ‘Viksit Bharat’ by 2047. Emphasizing a commitment to inclusive development, she reiterated, “Our focus is on ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas.” FM Sitharaman said that in the last 10 years, the government’s dedication to Sabka Saath has liberated 25 crore people from multidimensional poverty.
Emphasising the government’s narrative of inclusive growth, she said the next five years will have golden moments in the Indian economy.
She credited India’s economic acceleration to the structural reforms and pro-people programmes initiated by the government. “Based on stupendous work, we expect our government will be blessed again by the people with a resounding mandate,” Sitharaman, as she exuded confidence in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Further, the finance minister said that the government focuses on outcomes rather than outlays and that the fruits of the development have started reaching people at scale, and the country got a sense of new purpose and hope. The finance minister added that the upcoming five years are anticipated to witness ‘unprecedented development’, aiming to achieve the vision of transforming into a developed country by 2047. “Government will adopt economic policies that foster and sustain growth,” she said. In 2014, the country was facing enormous challenges, but the government overcame those challenges and undertook structural reforms, pro-people reforms were undertaken, conditions for and entrepreneurship were set in, fruits of development started reaching people at scale, and the country got a sense of new purpose and hope.
During her speech, Sitharaman further said, “We need to focus on four major casts – Garib, Mahilayein, Yuva and Annadata. Their aspirations and their welfare is of highest priority to the government. The country progresses when they prosper.. Their empowerment and well being will drive country forward.”
