Interim budget addresses aspirations of youth, women: Union Minister Meenakashi Lekhi

New Delhi: Union Minister Meenakashi Lekhi said that the 2024 interim budget has addressed the aspirations of youth and women and given importance to science, innovation, and technology.

"This is an interim budget, and Nirmala Sitharaman herself said that we will present the full budget on our own. This budget comes in a sequence that for the last 10 years the country has been moving to higher stages," Lekhi told ANI, reacting to the budget presented before the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

"Be it the youth, vulnerable sections, women, or farmers, the government has worked for all. The budget addressed the aspirations of youth and women. This is reflected in our budget. The happiest thing is that one crore women have become 'Lakhpati Didis'. The next target is to have 2 crore more Lakhpati Didis. The budget has also focused on science, innovation, and technology. The fact that the tax slab has not increased is also a big thing," she added.
Meanwhile, heaping praise on the budget, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said that the budget draws the roadmap to achieve PM Modi's vision of a developed Bharat by 2047.

In a post on X, Shah extended his gratitude to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
"The Union Budget draws the roadmap to achieve PM Modi's vision of a developed Bharat by 2047. The budget speech sheds light on the milestones achieved by the Modi government in the last 10 years on its journey to make Bharat the foremost nation in every sector during the Amrit Kaal. On the very foundation of these feats, the magnificent edifice of a Viksit Bharat is being built," he said.

"My heartfelt gratitude to Modi Ji for leading the nation through this journey of excellence and to FM Nirmala Sitharaman for the insightful budget speech," he added.
Sitharaman presented the interim budget in Parliament today.
She mentioned that the full budget will be brought in July.

"In the full budget in July, our government will present a detailed roadmap for our pursuit of Viksit Bharat," she said.
In a landmark announcement during the presentation of the Interim Budget 2024-25, Sitharaman revealed the government's ambitious plan to create a corpus of Rupees One lakh crore to propel private investment in sunrise technologies.
This corpus will herald what the Finance Minister described as a "golden era for our tech-savvy youth.
"The corpus will be established through a 50-year interest-free loan, providing a substantial financial boost to foster innovation and research in emerging technology sectors.

Sitharaman emphasized that the long-term financing or refinancing with extended tenors and low or nil interest rates will encourage the private sector to significantly upscale their efforts in research and innovation across sunrise domains.