'GOBARdhan' to 'Saptarishi': Unique terms used by FM in her Budget speech

Apart from headline-making announcements, the Budget speech is renowned for unique terms, couplets and poems

Who needs rhymes and frills, when you have interesting terminology - and no, we are not talking about Budget jargon.

Scroll for a list of unique terms that this year's Budget referenced:

Amrit Kaal

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday presented "the first budget of Amrit Kaal" - a term she repeated with grating effect throughout her one-hour-and-twenty-six-minute long speech.

The word 'amrit' literally translates to “nectar of immortality”​ in Sanskrit while "kaal" refers to a specific time period. The term "amrit kaal" however cannot be understood in these literal terms.

Read | Budget 2023: Read Nirmala Sitharaman's full speech here

In ancient Indian texts, it refers to a divine time when the portals to greater pleasure for humans, angels, and other creatures open. It is regarded as the most fortunate time to begin any new work.

The term was first introduced by PM Narendra Modi in 2021 on Independence Day. At the time, Prime Minister Modi stated that Amrit Kaal's goal was to improve the quality of life for Indian inhabitants and close the development gap between rural and urban areas.

Shree Anna

2023 has been declared by the United Nations as the International Year of the Millet and in India, the millet has been bestowed a brand new designation.

While announcing the goal of positioning India as a global hub for millets, the finance minister referred to the grain as "Shree Anna".

The word for "grain" in Sanskrit is "Annam" and in Hindi "Anna'. Meanwhile, the word 'Shree' is used widely as an honorific or as a prefix to a person or object to signify respect.

Read | Budget 2023: Journey of briefcase to digital 'bahi khata'

India is currently at the forefront of popularising millets whose consumption furthers nutrition, food security and welfare of farmers, Sitharaman noted. The millet is indeed poised to be an auspicious grain for India.

GOBARdhan

In her Budget presentation, the finance minister outlined a scheme GOBARdhan under which 500 new ‘waste to wealth’ plants would be established.

Not to be confused with 'gowardhan' ('go' translates to 'cows' and 'vardhana' translates to 'nourishment'), GOBARdhan is simply an acronym for Galvanising Organic Bio-Agro Resources Dhan. The scheme aims to support villages in safely managing their cattle waste, agriculture waste and organic waste.

Saptarishi

Right at the outset of her speech, the finance minister outlined the seven priorities of this year's Union Budget. These priorities, in her words, would act as "the 'saptarishi' guiding us through the Amrit Kaal"

Read | Budget 2023: Nirmala Sitharaman dons Karnataka's Ilkal saree with kasuti design

In Hindu literature, the Saptarishi are the seven rishis or sages of ancient India. Born from the mind of Brahma, the Creator, they guide the human race through the four yugas.

The Union Budget's seven sages are known by these names: inclusive development, reaching the last mile, infrastructure and investment, unleashing the potential, green growth, youth power, and financial sector

Amrit Peedhi

Drawing on the 'amrit kaal' analogy, Sitharaman, in her speech, referred to the youth of India as ‘Amrit Peedhi’. The Budget this year, aims to empower our youth and "help the ‘Amrit Peedhi’ realise their dreams", she said.

The term roughly translates to "great beings".

Panchamrit

India is moving forward firmly for the ‘panchamrit’ and net-zero carbon emission by 2070 to usher in green industrial and economic transition, Sitharaman had said. This Budget builds on our focus on green growth.

Another Sanskrit term, 'Panchamrit' refers to the five nectar elements. PM Modi had first alluded to this term when he outlined his five-point climate campaign agenda at CoP-26.

The 'Panchamrit' he stated, included increasing India’s non-fossil energy capacity to 500 gigawatts by 2030 and reducing its total projected carbon emissions by 1 billion tonnes.

MISHTI

Another scheme that displays the Centre's love for acronyms is the MISHTI scheme.

Mishti means sweetmeats in Bengali - but the scheme that Sitharam dished out on Wednesday, refers to the ‘Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats & Tangible Incomes’.

Under this scheme, the government will take up mangrove plantation along the coastline and on salt pan lands, wherever feasible, through convergence between MGNREGS, CAMPA Fund and other sources.