Page 70 - Nirmala Sitharaman

Interim Budget: Housing scheme for 'deserving' middle class soon, says FM

FM Nirmala Sitharaman also said that India is close to achieving the target of 30 million houses under the rural housing scheme

Global affairs becoming more complex, challenging with wars: FM Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said the global situation is becoming more complex and challenging due to wars and conflicts in different parts of the world. The Russia-Ukraine conflict and the Israel-Hamas war have disrupted the global supply chains, impacting trade. The minister, while presenting the interim Budget, said that the new world order is emerging and India has successfully navigated the global challenges in fuel and fertiliser price spike. She also said that strengthening the financial sector in the country has helped make savings, credit and investments more efficient. All forms of infrastructure are being built in record time, she said. The government has also provided transparent, accountable, trust-based administration with a citizen-first approach.

Budget 2024: 'Governance, development, performance,' FM redefines GDP

Budget 2024: Emphasising the government's narrative of inclusive growth, Sitharaman said the next five years will have golden moments in the Indian economy

Interim Budget: Ayushman Bharat cover to be extended to all ASHA workers

Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana was launched in 2018 and provides health coverage of Rs 5 lakh to over 500 million beneficiaries

Proactive management helps keep inflation within manageable level: FM

Proactive inflation management has helped keep the country's inflation within the manageable range, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said while presenting the interim Budget on Thursday. She also said that the inflation has moderated. The Reserve Bank of India has been mandated by the government to ensure retail inflation remains at 4 per cent with a margin of 2 per cent on either side. Retail inflation rose at the fastest pace in four months in December 2023 at 5.69 per cent on account of an increase in prices of vegetables, pulses, and spices. The annual inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was at 5.55 per cent in November and 5.72 per cent in the year-ago month. As per the data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO), the rate of price rise in the food basket, which constitutes nearly half of the CPI, increased to 9.53 per cent in December 2023 against 8.7 per cent in the preceding month and 4.19 per cent in December 2022. In August 2023, inflation ha

430 mn loans aggregating to Rs 22.5 trn extended under PM Mudra Yojana: FM

The government has extended 43 crore loans aggregating to Rs 22.5 lakh crore were extended under the PM Mudra Yojana, Finance Minsiter Nirmala Sitharaman said on Thursday. Sitharaman in her pre-election Budget, which is technically a vote on account and is popularly termed an interim Budget, said direct benefit transfer of Rs 34 lakh crore through Jan Dhan accounts have resulted in savings of Rs 2.7 lakh crore. The finance minister also said 30 crore Mudra Yojana loans have been given to women in the last 10 years. Saturation approach of covering all eligible people is true and comprehensive achievement of social justice and this is secularism in action, she asserted. She added that India today has 80 chess grandmasters compared to 20 in 2010.

Expect our govt will be blessed again by people with resounding mandate: FM

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday expressed hope that the BJP-led government will be blessed again by the people with a resounding mandate in the forthcoming general elections. The elections to the Lok Sabha will be held in the next few months. "Based on stupendous work, we expect our government will be blessed again by the people with a resounding mandate," she said. She also said India overcame challenges of Covid-19, created foundations for self-reliant India. India was facing enormous challenges when the Modi government took office in 2014, and it overcame those in right earnest, Sitharaman said.

Budget 2024: Working to make India developed nation by 2047, says FM

The government is working to make India a developed country by 2047, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Thursday. Presenting the interim Budget 2024-25, Sitharaman also said minimum support prices for 'Annadata' (farmers) have been increased periodically and appropriately. She asserted that for the government, social justice is an effective and necessary model. The government is focussing on addressing systemic inequalities, she said, adding that the emphasis is on outcomes so that socio-economic transformation is achieved. "We focus on outcomes and not outlays," Sitharaman said. Poor, women, youth and farmers are four castes for the government, she added.

FM unveils interim budget, says economy going through profound change

Modi is leading the election race by a distance because of his personal popularity and the government is under little pressure to announce populist schemes, analysts say

Budget 2024: Sitharaman tables sixth budget, equals Morarji Desai's record

Budget 2024: This year's budget is an interim one, where the government only seeks advance grants to meet the country's expenditure till a new government takes charge after the Lok Sabha elections

Budget 2024: PM Modi-led Union Cabinet clears pre-election interim Budget

The Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday approved the pre-election budget 2024-25, sources said. Following this, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present her sixth budget in the Lok Sabha. She will equal the record of former Prime Minister Morarji Desai. Sitharaman, the first full-time woman finance minister of the country, has presented five full budgets since July 2019 and will present an interim or vote-on-account budget on Thursday. With this, she will surpass the records of her predecessors like Manmohan Singh, Arun Jaitley, P Chidambaram, and Yashwant Sinha, who had presented five budgets in a row. Desai, as finance minister, had presented five annual budgets and one interim budget between 1959 and 1964. The interim budget 2024-25 will be a vote-on-account that will give the government authority to spend certain sums of money till a new government comes to office after the April-May general elections.

Budget 2024: Political reactions pour in ahead of Sitharaman's speech

Here's what political leaders are saying ahead of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's Interim Budget presentation

Budget 2024: Nirmala Sitharaman meets President ahead of Budget speech

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday called on President Droupadi Murmu before presenting the pre-election Budget for 2024-25. As per established tradition, the finance minister met the President at the Rashtrapati Bhawan before heading to Parliament. "Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt Nirmala Sitharaman along with Ministers of State Dr Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad and Shri Pankaj Chaudhary and senior officials of the Ministry of Finance called on President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan before presenting the Union Budget," Rashtrapati Bhawan said in a post on X (formerly Twitter). President Murmu extended her best wishes to the finance minister. The Union Cabinet met thereafter to clear the Budget. Before the actual presentation in Parliament, the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will approve the Budget for fiscal year 2024-25 (April 2024 to March 2025). Expectations are running high as Sitharaman presents her sixth budget in the Lok S

FM Sitharaman set to present her 6th Budget, showcases digital 'bahi khata'

In 2019, Sitharaman did away with the traditional Budget briefcase and instead went for a 'bahi-khata' with the national emblem to carry the speech and other documents

Budget 2024: What has been the trend for interim budgets in last 2 decades

Budget 2024: Nirmala Sitharaman, at an event in early December, had said that there wouldn't be any "spectacular" announcements in the February 1 interim Budget as the country is in election mode

Union Budget 2023-24 highlights: Here's the complete overview of Budget

Ahead of Budget 2024, here is a recap of the Budget presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1, 2023

FM Sitharaman arrives at Finance Ministry ahead of interim Budget 2024

The last session before Lok Sabha polls, expected to be held in April-May this year, will have a total of eight sittings spread over 10 days

Budget 2024: What the nation wants from Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

All eyes have turned to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman ahead of Budget 2024. From boosting job creation to income tax reliefs, here's what the nation wishes for

Govt likely to lay out modest economic manifesto in pre-election budget

She is expected to highlight the Modi government's 10-year economic performance, but will hold back on expensive schemes to lower the fiscal deficit.

Budget 2024: What to expect from Sitharaman's interim budget presentation

This year's Budget is an interim budget as it will only focus on the government expenditure until a new government takes charge