PM Modi’s budget promises growth, future

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday hailed the Union Budget for its measures for every section of society, asserting that it has heralded better growth and a bright future.

“The budget will act as a catalyst in making India the third-largest economy in the world and will lay a solid foundation for a developed India,” he said in his televised remarks after Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the budget in Parliament.

Modi lauded the budget’s “sharp focus” on the youth, backward sections, women and middle class as well as on manufacturing and infrastructure sectors, and asserted that the proposed employment-linked incentive schemes will create crores of new jobs. Through this he the government’s commitment to generating employment and self-employment opportunities.

The employment-linked incentive scheme will create crores of jobs, he said, noting that the first salary of the first job of a youngster will now be borne by the government. He also mentioned provisions for higher education and the scheme for internships for 1 crore youths.

The rise in the limit of collateral-free loans under the Mudra scheme from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh will greatly benefit small businessmen, women, Dalits, backwards and the deprived, he added.