Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday presented her 9th consecutive budget. She termed the Union Budget as ‘A Yuva Shakti driven budget’. She also laid out 3 ‘Kartavyas’ 1. Enhancing Productivity, 2. Fulfilling the aspirations of people, 3. Sabka Saath, sabka Vikaas. This three-fold approach, the Finance Minister says, requires supportive ecosystem. These include sustaining the momentum of structural reforms, robust and resilient financial sector and cutting-edge technologies including AI applications.
Saying that the government has kept Atmanirbharta as a north star, has resulted a high growth rate of 7%. She notes that today’s external environment is such that trade and multilateralism are imperative and access to resources and supply chains are disrupted. “India must remain deeply integrated with the global markets, exporting more and attracting stable long-term investments.”
What Odisha got?
“To promote environmentally sustainable movement of cargo, I propose to establish new dedicated freight corridors connecting Dankuni in the east to Surat in the west, operational 20 new waterways over the next 5 years, starting with national waterways 5 in Odisha to connect mineral-rich areas of Talcher and Angul and industrial centres like Kalinganagar to the ports of Paradip and Damra. A ship repair ecosystem, catering to inland waterways, will also be set up at Varanasi and Patna…”
