Budget addresses global challenges for business: FM

Sitharaman said the Union budget has made provisions for food, fuel and fertilizer security

- Gireesh Chandra Prasad

The Union budget for FY27 has squarely addressed the challenges faced by Indian businesses due to higher tariffs and other global challenges, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman told Parliament on Wednesday, enumerating specific budget measures and countering charges made by Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi that the budget acknowledged these challenges but failed to tackle them.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will only speak and act in the interest of the nation, Sitharaman stated, countering Gandhi's charge that the government surrendered the country’s interest in the trade deal with the US.

Sitharaman also highlighted a 2013 trade facilitation agreement at the WTO Ministerial Conference in Bali, and a decision on public stockholding of food grains signed during the Congress-led administration, saying the National Democratic Alliance government reversed it in the interest of farmers.