Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget 2023-24 in Parliament on February 1, Wednesday, and the first session is expected to last until February 10. It will be the fifth budget for the Modi 2.0 government and also for Sitharaman. It will also be the last full budget before the general election, which is scheduled for April-May 2024. The 2022-2023 Economic Report will be tabled by Sitharaman in both Houses of Parliament.
India entered its “Amrit Kaal” when it celebrated 75 years of independence in 2022. The ‘Kaal’ or period refers to the time in the run-off to mark the nation’s centennial independence in 1947. These 25 years are seen as India’s opportunity to show its potential and strength from the local to the global stage. Therefore, last year’s budget also reflected provisions that India’s “Amrit Kaal” honored in a timely manner.
The term was first used by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his 2021 Independence Day speech. In his speech, PM Modi emphasized the need to move for the next 25 years (Amrit Kaal) with a renewed focus and determination, centering on the five determinations which are: Develop India, Remove Every Ounce of Slave Mentality, Pride to glorious inheritance, unity and fulfillment of civic duties. He had appealed to young people to devote the next 25 years of their lives to the development of their country.
What are the three main goals of Amrit Kaal mentioned in last year’s budget?
By achieving the main specific goals during the Amrit Kaal, the government strived to realize the India@100 vision. They are:
- Complementing the development focus at the macroeconomic level with an all-encompassing welfare principle at the microeconomic level.
- Promotion of the digital economy and the evolution made possible by fintech technology, energy transition and climate protection.
- A virtuoso cycle of private investment with public capital investment supporting the crowd-in private investment.
Finance Minister Sitharaman emphasized last year that the budget continues to provide “growth impulses”. It sets out a parallel track of a blueprint for the Amrit Kaal that is futuristic and comprehensive, which will directly benefit our youth, women, peasants, the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. “And large public investments in modern infrastructure, ready for India at 100, and this is to be led by PM GatiShakti and benefit from the synergy of the multi-modal approach,” according to the Union Budget 2022-23.
For the future, the finance minister outlined the following four priorities:
- PM Gati Shakti
- Inclusive development
- Productivity increase and investment, sunrise opportunities, energy transition and climate protection
- financing of investments
What is PM GatiShakti’s strategy?
As a transformative strategy for economic growth and sustainable development, the PM GatiShakti approach is guided by seven “engines”: roads, railways, airports, ports, mass transportation, waterways and logistics infrastructure. All seven engines will drive the economy together, the government said. These “engines” are supported by the complementary roles of power transmission, IT communications, bulk water and sanitation, and social infrastructure.
The approach, based on clean energy and ‘Sabka Prayas’ – the actions of central, state and private sector governments – opens up tremendous employment and entrepreneurial prospects for everyone, especially the youth.
