Viksit Bharat, top priority for Centre: BJP
VIJAYAWADA: Estimating that the Union Budget for 2024-25, to be presented in Parliament on Tuesday, would to be in the range of Rs 48 lakh crore to Rs 50 lakh crore, AP BJP chief spokesperson Lanka Dinakar said that it would be the first step towards the primary goal of Viksit Bharat.
In a press release on Sunday, Dinakar termed the Union Budget as ‘Vikasita Sankalpa Bharat Budget’ and stated that the nation’s target was to achieve a $5 trillion economy, the third-largest in the world. For this objective, the contribution of every state would be significant, Dinakar said.
He noted that the direct and indirect estimated capital expenditure in the interim Budget was at a record Rs 15 lakh crore, and will continue to be at the same level in the upcoming Budget.
Dinakar stated that over the past 10 years, the Centre, especially in the post-Covid period, had accelerated the pace of building roads, railways, ports and industrial infrastructure by increasing capital expenditure in the form of the Gati Shakti Yojana. This will continue at a much faster pace, he said.
“There is likely to be a budgetary priority for rural economic development, employment opportunities, and generation for MSMEs, agri-based sectors, and women empowerment,” the BJP leader stated.
He said AP Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu had taken the first step by preparing a vision document for Viksit Andhra, to contribute to Viksit Bharat. Naidu handed it over to the Niti Aayog chairman, as stated in the election campaign by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the double engine sarkar, Dinakar state.
“We had given a vision document for Viksit Prakasam district to Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, linking various ancillary aspects for inclusive development of the district before the 2024 elections. We will soon present the document to Chief Minister Naidu,” Dinakar said.
The BJP leader said that, as per the revised estimates, the gross domestic product at current prices was 11 per cent, and efforts were likely being made to limit the fiscal deficit to 5 per cent. He added that a full-scale Budget adjustment will be made considering the impact of growth in income-tax and GST collections in the previous quarter of the current financial year. Dinakar added that the forthcoming Budget would be inspired by Prime Minister Modi’s slogan of ‘Sabka Saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas, sabka prayas.”