New Delhi (TIP): Leaders of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) on Thursday said that there is “nothing” in the Union Interim Budget for the poor, women, and youth, while calling it a new “jumla.” Delhi Minister Atishi told ANI, “The budget proves that this is a ‘jumla’ government. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said in 2014 that he would provide 2 crore jobs every year, but not even one crore people got jobs. Today they have given a new ‘jumla’ that they will give 55 lakh jobs…”
“No step has been taken to reduce the inflation…” she alleged.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi told ANI that the budget has “poured cold water” on the expectations of the general public.
“There is a huge difference between saying and doing, this is what we have been seeing for the last 10 years… There is nothing in it for the poor, women and youth. This budget has poured cold water on the expectations of the general public” she said.
AAP MP Sushil Kumar Rinku told ANI, “The youth, Dalit and the people of the backward class had hopes that the budget will talk about them…BJP will have to face great loss in the 2024 elections due to this budget…”
Former Janata Dal (United) president Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) said, “This is an interim budget, and it reflects on the work done by the government in various sectors in the last five years. It also talks about their goals for the years ahead…”
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. 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.