Right balance between economic growth and fiscal prudence

Budget 2024 has charted the course for transforming India into 'Viksit Bharat' by 2047 in the 'Amrit Kaal' with sustained efforts and special focus areas on poor, women, youth and farmer and on nine priority areas: productivity and resilience in agriculture; employment & skilling; inclusive human resource development and social justice; manufacturing & services; urban development; energy security; infrastructure; innovation, research & development and next generation reforms.

- YEZDI NAGPOREWALLA

It places special emphasis on education, employment generation and skill development recognising these as crucial components for sustainable economic growth and social welfare.

The Finance Minister gave a significant impetus to the MSME sector to enable them to grow and compete on the global stage. In a welcome move public sector banks have now been tasked to build inhouse capabilities to assess the MSME credit based on their digital footprint in the economy, rather than traditional modes of assessing based on assets and turnover criteria.

Realising the importance of innovation in economy, it is proposed that the government will come up with an economic policy framework that would steer next-generation reforms aimed at speeding up the economic expansion. The government also proposes to provide appropriate fiscal support for land reforms over the next three years.