NEW DELHI: The Skill India Mission has trained 1.4 crore youth, upskilled and reskilled 54 lakh youth, said Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman while presenting the interim budget for 2024-25.
“The government of India established 3000 new ITIs. A large number of new institutions of higher learning, namely 7 IITs, 16 IIITs, 7 IIMs, 15 AIIMS and 390 universities, have been set up”, added the Finance Minister.
Speaking about PM MUDRA Yojana, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, “PM Mudra Yojana has sanctioned 43 crore loans aggregating to `22.5 lakh crore for the entrepreneurial aspirations of our youth. Besides that, Fund of Funds, Start-Up India, and Start Up Credit Guarantee schemes are assisting our youth. They are also becoming ‘rozgardata’.”
Meanwhile, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman pegged the fiscal deficit target for 2024-25 at 5.1 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). In 2023-24, the government pegged the fiscal deficit target for 2023-24 at 5.9 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). Today, Sitharaman said that the fiscal deficit of 2023-24 was downwardly revised to 5.8 per cent.
The difference between total revenue and total expenditure of the government is termed as fiscal deficit. It is an indication of the total borrowings that may be needed by the government.
The government intends to bring the fiscal deficit below 4.5 per cent of GDP by the financial year 2025-26. The government proposed to increase capital expenditure outlay by 11.1 per cent to Rs 11.11 lakh crore in 2024-25. A capital expenditure, or capex, is used to set up long-term physical or fixed assets.
Last year, which was the last full Budget under the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government’s second term, the government proposed to increase capital expenditure outlay by 33 per cent to Rs 10 lakh crore in 2023-24, which was estimated to be 3.3 per cent of the GDP.
With this budget presentation, Sitharaman equalled the record set by former Prime Minister Morarji Desai, who as finance minister, presented five annual budgets and one interim budget between 1959 and 1964.
The Indian economy is projected to grow close to 7 per cent in the financial year 2024-25 which starts this April, said the Ministry of Finance in a review report. India’s economy grew 7.2 per cent in 2022-23 and 8.7 per cent in 2021-22. The Indian economy is expected to grow 7.3 per cent in the current financial year 2023-24, remaining the fastest-growing major economy. (ANI)