Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman outlined a robust plan focusing on jobs, MSME, agriculture sector, startups, and economic growth amid global uncertainties while presenting Union Budget 2024-25 on Tuesday. She allocated Rs 1.52 lakh crore to the agriculture and allied sectors and emphasised the importance of research and development in the sector. The Union Budget 2024-25, presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday, has garnered positive reaction from various industries.
Deepak Ballani, Director General of the Indian Sugar & Bio-Energy Manufacturers Association (ISMA) is optimistic that it will help to enhance productivity. He said, “We appreciate the government’s inclusion of agricultural productivity and resilience, and energy security as part of their 9 key propriety areas in this years’ budget announcement. We are confident that the spotlight on transforming agricultural research will help enhance productivity including that of the sugar industry with renewed focus on research pertaining to higher-yielding and drought-resistant sugarcane varieties. As an industry body, we welcome the announcement and also look forward to future policies that will help boost production efficiency and sustainability for the sugar industry.”
Dr. Pramod Chaudhari, Executive Chairman and Founder, Praj Industries said, “The Union Budget brings a strong focus on Garib, Yuva, Annadata & Nari which will fructify in all-inclusive growth. Specific Policy document outlining appropriate energy transition pathways to strengthen India’s Energy Security while ensuring balance in the employment, growth, and environmental sustainability is a valiant initiative. Special emphasis on augmenting the service and manufacturing sector, specifically setting up twelve industrial parks with plug-n-play infrastructure will facilitate Viksit Bharat’s mission. Financing scheme for Private sector-driven research and innovation at commercial scale is a welcome step towards knowledge economy.”
Sanjiv Puri, President of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), lauded the budget for its wide-ranging investments across multiple sectors. He emphasized the budget’s focus on simplifying business processes and legislative frameworks.
Puri said, “It has brought in a lot of investments into a number of sectors right from agriculture, and manufacturing to services. A lot of focus is on ease of doing business, and a lot of areas are getting simplified. The Finance Minister also spoke about a comprehensive review of Tax legislation, to simplify it.”
“A very strong signal for greater ease of doing business and a very strong signal to bring in reform at the state level also. And very importantly the next generation reforms, look at all the factor costs, I think these are some of the very important, very strong statements, very strong announcements that are made,” added Puri.
