PM Narendra Modi redefines future, says Budget 2017 aims to fulfill dreams of all

NEW DELHI: The Budget presents the "future", Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today, while asserting that it is an important step towards overall development of the nation with focus on fulfilling the "dreams" of every section, including the poor, the farmers and the under-privileged.

He said the Budget will create new employment opportunities, help in overall economic growth and help in raising the income of the farmers.

Modi, whose government presented the third Budget, said it is a reflection of the development measures undertaken over the past two-and-a-half years and the vision to carry forward the momentum in this direction.

"In a way, it is a reflection of our ongoing efforts to see to it that the speed with which our country is changing, gathers momentum," the Prime Minister said, while describing it as an "excellent" and a "historic" Budget.

"It is my belief that the Budget will carry forward the development agenda of the government, generate a new climate of confidence and help the nation to scale new heights," he said.

Contending that this Budget was "associated with our aspirations, our dreams and in a way depicts our future", he said, "This is the future of our new generation, the future of our farmers."

Explaining about the "future", he said it has a meaning in each of its letters.

"In FUTURE, the letter 'F' stands for the farmer, 'U' stands for underprivileged which includes dalit, oppressed, women etc., 'T' stands for transparency, technology upgradation - the dream of a modern India, 'U' stands for urban rejuvenation - the urban development, 'R' stands for rural development and 'E' stands for employment for youth, entrepreneurship, enhancement to give a push to new employment and boost to young entrepreneurs," Modi said.

Underlining that the Budget will empower the poor and live up to the expectations of all, he said "It will provide an impetus to infrastructure, strength to the financial system and a big boost to the development."

Modi said the budget has provisions to "fulfill the expectations of everyone - from construction of highways to expansion of I-ways, from the cost of pulses to the data speed, from the modernization of railways to simple economic constructions, from education to health, from entrepreneurs to industry, from textile manufacturers to tax deduction."

The Prime Minister said the merger of the Railway Budget with the general Budget is a major step, which will help in integrated planning of the transport sector.

Railways, he said, can now contribute in a much better way in meeting the transport needs of the country.

"The focus of the budget is on agriculture, rural development and infrastructure which is also a reflection of the government's commitment to raise investment and create employment opportunities," Modi said.

He said the allocation for the schemes in these categories has been hiked substantially and outlay for Railways and Road transport sector has also been substantially increased.

"The government's aim is to double the farmers' income by 2022 and the policies and schemes have been designed keeping this in mind," he said, while emphasising that "Maximum emphasis in this budget has been on the farmers, villages, poor, dalit and the underprivileged sections of the society."

Agriculture, animal husbandry, dairy, fisheries, watershed development, Swachcha Bharat Mission are the areas which hold lots of potential to uplift the economic situation in rural India and also bring a sea change in the quality of life there, Modi said.

The Budget has laid emphasis on increasing the employment opportunities, he said, adding special allocation has been made for the sectors like electronic manufacturing, textiles which create new job opportunities.

Provisions have been made to bring in the people working in the unorganized sector to the organized sector.

Budget allocation for skill development has been enhanced considerably keeping in mind the youth of our country and the need to gain the advantage from the demographic dividend.

"Record allocation - the highest ever has been made for Mahatma Gandhi National Guarantee Scheme," he said.

Underscoring that women's welfare is a priority for his government, the Prime Minister said budgetary outlay for the schemes related to women and children has been enhanced.

There has been a considerable hike in the allocation of budget for health and higher education, he added.

Noting that housing and construction sector plays a major role in the growth of economy and creating new employment opportunities, Modi said this budget will provide an impetus to the housing sector in rural as well as urban areas.

"The Comprehensive package on digital economy will curb the tax evasion and check the circulation of black money," he said while noting that the government has undertaken the exercise to launch digital economy in a mission mode which will go a long way in achieving the target of 2500 crore digital transactions in 2017-18.

Referring to the tax reforms and amendments, Modi said these will provide relief to the middle class, result in setting up of industries, create job opportunities/

It will also put an end to discrimination and will provide incentives for private investments, he said.

"The move to reduce the personal income tax is significant as it touches the middle class most. Bringing down the rate from 10 to 5 percent is a bold move. Most of the taxpayers in India would be benefitted by this decision," he said.

The Prime Minister referred to the provision in the Budget capping at Rs 2000 per person the cash donation that a political party can receive and said it "is along the lines of the hopes and aspirations of the people in our fight" against the black money.

"You would have seen, my fight against black money and corruption is on. Political funding has always been a matter of discussion. Political parties are always under the scanner in this regard," he said.

Noting that the small and medium industries across the country have been a major source of employment generation, he said these enterprises have been saying that they face difficulties in competing at the global level and if the taxes are lowered, then around 90 percent of the small scale industries would be benefitted.

"Therefore, the government has amended the definition of small scale industries, widened their scope and reduced the tax rate from 30 to 25 percent. This implies that over 90 percent of our small scale industries will be benefitted. I am hopeful that this decision will help a lot in making our SSIs globally competitive," Modi said.

"This budget is an important step towards overall development of the nation. It will create new employment opportunities, help in overall economic growth and will be complementary in raising the income of the farmers," he said.

"In order to ensure quality of life for the citizens, the best possible facilities of education, health and housing can be organized. It is an effort to raise the purchasing power of the middle class without increasing the fiscal deficit," Modi said.