'Budget for future of Bharat', PM Modi congratulates countrymen: Top quotes

Budget 2024: Congratulating Sitharaman and her team, PM Modi said the interim Budget presented today, "guarantees to strengthen the foundation of Viksit Bharat in 2047"

Budget 2024 updates: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Thursday, congratulated the countrymen for the "historic" Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitahraman earlier today in the Parliament.

Hailing it as a budget for the "future of Bharat", Modi called this year's pre-election financial exercise as both "inclusive and innovative." Follow the full coverage of Budget 2024 here.

Congratulating Sitharaman and her team, he said the interim Budget presented today, "guarantees to strengthen the foundation of Viksit Bharat in 2047."

Modi's remarks were a reference to his government's resolution of making India a developed nation by the year 2047, the 100th year of India's independence and making the country a $5 trillion economy by then.

Here's what PM Modi said on 2024 Budget:

1) "This Budget guarantees to strengthen the foundation of Viksit Bharat in 2047. I congratulate Nirmala Ji and her team. This Budget reflects the aspirations of young India."

2) "In this Budget, stress has been given to empower and create new earning opportunities for the poor and the middle class. Rooftop Solar Scheme will help one crore families to get free electricity."

3) "In the language of economists, in a way it's a sweet spot. This Budget will create countless new employment opportunities for the youth along with the creation of modern infrastructure of the 21st century in India," says PM Modi in his remarks on Union Budget 2024.

READ: Budget 2024: Industry leaders 'happy' with Modi govt's 'prudent' budget

4) "We had set the target to make 20 million women' lakhpati didi'. Now, this target has been increased to 30 million…We have built over 40 million houses for the poor in villages and cities, and now we have set a target of building 20 million more houses."

5) "Along with this, today's Budget has taken significant decisions for farmer welfare…. Today's Budget will empower the four significant pillars of Viksit Bharat - youth, poor, women and farmers…This Budget is a guarantee to strengthen the very foundations of Developed India by 2047.

6) In today's Budget, an amount of Rs 1 trillion has been announced for creating a fund for strengthening research & innovation in the country…The historic amplification in capital expenditure to the tune of Rs 11,11,111 crore has also been ensured.

7) "Today's interim Budget is inclusive as well as innovative….This Budget has a confidence of continuity."