Union Finance Minister Archives - Lokmarg

Prices Of Perishable Items Within Tolerance Band: Sitharaman

By LokMarg 6th February 2024

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said prices of perishable items have come down and are well within the tolerance band.

To a query raised by AIADMK’s M Thambi Durai on the rise in retail inflation, during the Question Hour in Rajya Sabha today, she detailed the interventions made by her government to keep in check the price rise.

“The prices have started coming down and are well within the tolerance band. Lots of steps have been taken by the government, particularly for meeting the shortage in supply of perishables,” Sitharaman said.

Retail inflation in India, though, is in the RBI’s 2-6 per cent comfort level but is above the ideal 4 per cent scenario. In December, the retail inflation was 5.69 per cent.

India does not grow enough pulses to meet its annual demand, and much of it is met through imports.

“We don’t grow enough of pulses in this country. So pulse prices are (high) normally due to a shortfall in supply. in anticipation, depending upon the crop estimates, we tie up for imports,” the finance minister said.

India imports tur dal from Mozambique, Myanmar, Tanzania, Sudan, and Malawi, and to a lesser extent from Kenya, and Nigeria.

Sitharaman apprised the Upper House that importers have shipped in about 8.79 lakh tonne tur dal in 2023. For Masur, the imports were at 15.14 LMT in the last calendar year.

As part of the government’s initiative to give respite to its citizens, subsidized chana is available at Rs 60 per kg for a 1 kg pack, and at Rs 55 per kg for a 30 kg pack.

Till January 2024, about 2.97 lakh tonnes of chana have been sold at subsidized rates.

“This Bharat Dal that is coming out at a concessional price is available on ONDC, Blinkit, Jio Mart, and all other big retail outlets. Such steps are also being for tomatoes and others as well,” Sitharaman said.

Onion, another perishable, is also being offloaded in the market at a subsidized rate of Rs 25. Faced with rising onion prices, the central government has been releasing the staple vegetable from its buffer stock.

Buffer stock is maintained to meet any exigencies and for price stabilisation if rates go up significantly during the lean supply season.

Export restrictions were also imposed on the staple vegetable.

“We have curtailed their exports so that their prices can be kept within a reasonable limit,” Sitharaman said.

India has prohibited the export of onions till March 2024. The export of onions will be, however, allowed on the basis of permission granted by the central government to other countries based on the request made by the countries. (ANI)

For more details visit us: https://lokmarg.com/

Tourism Infrastructure To Be Taken On Indian Islands: Sitharaman

By LokMarg 1st February 2024

Putting a thrust on boosting domestic tourism, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said that the tourism infrastructure and amenities will be taken up on our islands, including Lakshadweep.

The Union Finance Minister, while presenting the Interim Budget 2024 also stated that the success of organizing G20 meetings in sixty places presented a diversity of India to a global audience.

“To address the emerging fervour for domestic tourism, projects for port connectivity, tourism infrastructure, and amenities will be taken up on our islands, including Lakshadweep. This will help in generating employment also,” Sitharaman said.

Recently, a campaign to promote Lakshadweep and other unexplored islands of the country started after PM Modi in the first week of January, visited Lakshadweep and shared a couple of pictures, showing the “stunning beauty of its islands”. From “early morning walks” to trying snorkelling, the Indian prime minister said his visit to the islands was “an enriching journey of learning and growing”.

The Administrator of Union Territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli said, “I am confident that this will develop the culture of beach games, promote the sports talents of the union territory and increase the tourism potential of the union territory. The event will attract locals and tourists alike.”

Besides this, during her speech, Sitharaman said that states will be encouraged to take up comprehensive development of iconic tourist centres, branding and marketing them at a global scale.

She further added that long-term interest-free loans will be provided to states for financing such development on a matching basis.

In order to promote comprehensive development of the centres, the Union Minister said that a framework for rating of the centres based on quality of facilities and services will be established.

Noting the success of G20 last year, the Union Finance Minister in her Budget speech said that the success of organizing G20 meetings in sixty places presented a diversity of India to a global audience.

“The success of organizing G20 meetings in sixty places presented diversity of India to global audience. Our economic strength has made the country an attractive destination for business and conference tourism. Our middle class also now aspires to travel and explore. Tourism, including spiritual tourism, has tremendous opportunities for local entrepreneurship,” she said.

Further, in relief to the citizens, the central government neither tweaked nor raised the tax burden on citizens.

“As for tax proposals, in keeping with the convention, I do not propose to make any changes relating to taxation and propose to retain the same tax rates for direct taxes and indirect taxes including import duties,” said Sitharaman.

The Finance Minister concluded her budget presentation with a positive outlook, signalling the government’s determination to continue fostering inclusive growth and development.

The Interim Budget 2024 is expected to undergo thorough scrutiny and debates in the coming days in the Parliament, as stakeholders assess its potential impact on the nation’s economic trajectory. (ANI)

For more details visit us: https://lokmarg.com/

Vaccination For Girls To Prevent Cervical Cancer: Sitharaman

By LokMarg 1st February 2024

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her interim budget speech on Thursday, said that the government will encourage vaccination for girls in the age group of 9 to 14 years for the prevention of cervical cancer.

“Our government will encourage vaccination for girls in the age group of 9-14 years to prevent cervical cancer,” Sitharaman said while presenting the interim budget 2024 in the Lok Sabha.

Sitharaman emphasised the government’s plans to set up more medical colleges and said that the government aims to serve the people through improved healthcare services.

“Several youth are ambitious to get qualified as doctors. They aim to serve our people through improved healthcare services. Our government plans to set up more medical colleges by utilising the existing hospital infrastructure under various departments. A committee for this purpose will be set up to examine the issues and make relevant recommendations,” she added.

The Finance Minister further said that the health coverage under the Ayushman Bharat scheme will be extended to all ASHA and Anganwadi workers and helpers.

Noting that various schemes for maternal and child care will be brought under one comprehensive programme for synergy in implementation, she said, “Upgradation of anganwadi centres under “Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0″ will be expedited for improved nutrition delivery, early childhood care and development.”

“The newly designed U-WIN platform for managing immunization and intensified efforts of Mission Indradhanush will be rolled out expeditiously throughout the country,” she added.

The ‘Ayushman Bhav’ initiative is envisaged to saturate all health care services in every village or town in line with the commitment of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure reach to the last mile and enable access to health care services for everyone in society.

‘Ayushman Bhav’ initiative involves a set of interventions that include ‘Ayushman – Apke Dwar 3.0’, ‘Ayushman Sabhas’, ‘Ayushman Melas-at Health and Wellness Level and Medical Camps by Medical Colleges at CHCs’, and eventually ensuring Gram/Nagar Panchayat or Urban Ward to attain the status of ‘Ayushman Panchayat’ or ‘Ayushman Urban Ward’ in saturation mode. (ANI)

For more details visit us: https://lokmarg.com/

40,000 Normal Bogies To Be Converted To Vande Bharat standards: Sitharaman

By LokMarg 1st February 2024

Emphasising the development of railways, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman while presenting the Interim Budget 2024-25 said that 40,000 normal rail bogies will be converted to the Vande Bharat Standards to enhance the safety and comfort of passengers.

“Forty thousand normal rail bogies will be converted to the Vande Bharat standards to enhance safety, convenience and comfort of passengers,” FM Sitharaman said.

The Finance Minister further said that three major economic railway corridor programmes– energy, mineral and cement corridors, port connectivity corridors, and high traffic density corridors–will be implemented.

“The resultant decongestion of the high-traffic corridors will also help in improving operations of passenger trains, resulting in safety and higher travel speed for passengers. Together with dedicated freight corridors, these three economic corridor programmes will accelerate our GDP growth and reduce logistic costs,” she asserted.

“The projects have been identified under the PM Gati Shakti for enabling multi-modal connectivity. They will improve logistics efficiency and reduce cost,” the Finance Minister added.

Asserting confidence that the BJP government will retain the power after Lok Sabha elections this year, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, “In the full budget in July, ‘our Government’ will present a detailed roadmap for our pursuit of Viksit Bharat.”

During the presentation of the interim budget on the floor of the Parliament, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman declared that the Indian economy has undergone a profound positive transformation over the last decade.

“Indian economy witnessed a profound positive transformation in the last 10 years,” the Finance Minister said.

Presenting the Interim Budget for the fiscal year, Sitharaman highlighted the government’s commitment to inclusive development under the vision of “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, and Sabka Vishwas.”

“In the second term, our government strengthened its vision of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, and Sabka Vishwas,” stated Sitharaman, emphasizing the continuity of the government’s commitment to the welfare of all citizens.

She acknowledged the challenges posed by the once-in-a-century pandemic but noted that the country successfully overcame them, continuing its stride towards building an Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) committed to Panch Pran and laying solid foundations for the Amrit Kaal.

The Finance Minister underscored the need to focus on four major pillars: the poor, women, youth, and annadatas (farmers).

The Finance Minister concluded her budget presentation with a positive outlook, signalling the government’s determination to continue fostering inclusive growth and development.

The Budget 2024 is expected to undergo thorough scrutiny and debates in the coming days in the Parliament, as stakeholders assess its potential impact on the nation’s economic trajectory. (ANI)

For more details visit us: https://lokmarg.com/

Sitharaman To Brief BJP MPs On Budget 2023 Tomorrow

By LokMarg 2nd February 2023

Union Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman who presented the Narendra Modi government’s last full budget ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, will hold a briefing for the BJP MPs both of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on Friday, sources said.

She will explain the budget to the MPs in the meeting.
The briefing will be held at 9 am at the Balayogi Auditorium in Parliament Library Building in the national capital, all MPs have been informed.

This briefing comes at a time when the party has asked all its members of Parliament to go to the respective constituencies and tell the common man what does budget means and how it has been brought out, keeping the interest of every stratum of society in mind.

Meanwhile, Sitharaman yesterday announced an increase in the income tax rebate limit from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 7 lakh stating that the new tax regime will now be the default tax regime.

The Finance Minister also proposed to change the tax structure in this regime by reducing the number of tax slabs to 5 and increasing the tax exemption limit to Rs 3 lakh.

The government proposed to increase capital expenditure outlay by 33 per cent to Rs 10 lakh crore in 2023-24, which would be 3.3 per cent of the GDP, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday.

Further, the government proposed to increase the agricultural credit target to Rs 20 lakh crore with a focus on animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries, Sitharaman said. The agriculture sector of the country has been growing at an average annual growth rate of 4.6 per cent in the last six years.

Presenting the Union Budget 2023, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday pegged the fiscal deficit target for 2023-24 at 5.9 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).

The Finance Minister further said that the government intends to bring the fiscal deficit below 4.5 per cent of GDP by the financial year 2025-26. (ANI)