Reaching new heights: Modi hails India's ‘success story’ in post-Budget address | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
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Reaching new heights: PM Modi hails India's ‘success story’ in post-Budget address

Written by Joydeep Bose, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
Feb 02, 2022 12:17 PM IST

The Union Budget has been appreciated across multiple quarters, said the Prime Minister, adding that the policies are aimed at expanding the central government's vision in the last seven years.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday addressed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers over Union Budget 2022-23, which was announced by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman a day prior.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers on Wednesday, February 2, 2022. (Photo via @PBNS_India on Twitter)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers on Wednesday, February 2, 2022. (Photo via @PBNS_India on Twitter)

Beginning his televised address with a word on the “unprecedented pandemic”, Prime Minister Modi said that new world order is now in the making, where many of the things from a pre-Covid society is going to change.

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“Post-pandemic, things are meant to change,” he said. “India, too, is seeing itself in a new light. The world's perspective of looking at India has also changed a lot these days. It is imperative for us to take the country forward at a rapid pace by strengthening our economy with the goal of achieving Aatmanirbharta (self-dependency).”

Also Read | Budget 2022: Focus on urban planning to push growth in cities

The Prime Minister said that it is extremely important for India, as a modern nation, to be self-reliant. The nation's economy is “continuously expanding” in the direction of modernity, he said.

Speaking on the Union Budget, Modi said, “Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has already explained the policies in a comprehensive manner. It (the Union Budget) has several important provisions that will take India forward in the direction of modernity.”

The Union Budget has been appreciated across multiple quarters, according to the Prime Minister, and it is aimed at expanding the various policies that the central government formulated and envisioned in the last seven years.

Also Read | Union Budget 2022: What becomes cheaper, what's costlier

“Prior to this seven-year period, India's gross domestic product (GDP) was 1,10,000 crore,” said the Prime Minister. “But today, it is about 2,30,000 crore. Even the country's forex reserves have increased to $630 billion from $200 billion.” 

“All of this is due to our government's effective policies,” said Modi, addressing his fellow BJP colleagues across the country.

Highlighting a few notable points from the Budget, the Prime Minister said that the policies this year are also focused on, among other things, modernising Indian agriculture with a focus on organic farming.

“This will make farming more lucrative; things like Kisan drones, solar pumps, and other machinery will be made available to the farmers at reasonable prices,” he said.

Another notable feature of the Union Budget is that it focuses on the development of the villages at the border. Addressing this point, Modi said, “National Cadet Corps (NCC) centers will be built in schools situated at the border.”

From initiating 5G services to an expanding optical fiber network making its way to every village, India is modernising at an incredible pace and travelling into the future, said the Prime Minister.

He also touched upon another key highlight from the Budget – a blockchain-based digital rupee that India will soon be introducing to keep up with the rapidly changing financial scene that is increasingly dealing with cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and other forms of digital assets.

“Digital payments will be regulated, much like standard currency is regulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI),” the Prime Minister said. “Such payments are more secure, efficient, and safe, and goes a long way towards paving the way for a global digital payments' infrastructure.”

Finance minister Sitharaman had a day prior unveiled the 39.45 lakh crore budget, with higher spending on highways to affordable housing to fire up the key engines of the economy to sustain a world-beating recovery from the pandemic. Although she primed up spending on infrastructure to create jobs and boost economic activity, the finance minister did not tinker with income tax slabs or tax rates.

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