NEW DELHI: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesay said the Budget has taken into consideration all sectors of the economy and every state has been allocated sufficient funds.
Replying to the discussions on the Budget in the Rajya Sabha, Sitharaman tried to answer the criticisms levelled at Budget proposals by the Opposition parties and said she tried to strike a balance between various aspects of growth.
On the controversial Agniveer scheme, mentioned by Congress leader and former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram in his speech, Sitharaman said the scheme would help keep the armed forces of India battle-ready and young.
“One of the expected outcomes of the scheme is that armed forces will have a much younger force by recruiting those in the age group of 17-21 years,” Sitharaman said, brushing aside the Opposition’s criticism of the scheme.
“I don’t think there is a need for us to unnecessarily worry that this is causing some kind of distortion. Not at all. It is with the acceptance of the armed forces that it has been brought in,” Sitharaman said.
“Agniveer is a scheme which we brought in with great sense of commitment to keep our armed forces battle-ready and for young and fit people to get into the Army,” she added.
The Finance Minister informed the Rajya Sabha that the total expenditure outlined in the Budget statement amounts to Rs 48.12 lakh crore. She also noted that this figure is Rs 54,744 crore higher than the interim Budget.
She highlighted that the capital expenditure allocation over 10 years under the UPA government was Rs 13.19 lakh crore, whereas under the NDA government up to 2024, it has reached Rs 43.82 lakh crore.
Sitharaman stated that the Budget allocates Rs 1.52 lakh crore to agriculture and allied sectors, an increase of Rs 8,000 crore from the previous year. She contrasted this with the 2013-14 Budget under the UPA government, which allocated only Rs 30,000 crore.
The Budget proposed unflinching support to cooperative federalism, funds to states stand at Rs 22.91 lakh crore in FY25, up 2.49 lakh crore YoY, she highlighted.
She added that India is on track to attain a target of 4.5 per cent fiscal deficit by FY26.
“The Budget strikes a fine balance between growth, employment, capital investment and fiscal consolidation, among others,” she said.
The Finance Minister termed as misleading claims by Opposition leaders that if any state is not named in the Budget speech, then it does not get any budgetary allocation.