Growth was 'predominant focus' of Budget 2023, says Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

The finance minister said that PM Narendra Modi, too, wanted to prioritise India's growth

The government on Wednesday made growth a priority in this year's 'Amrit Kaal' Budget.

In fact, India's growth was the "predominant focus" during the preparation of the Union Budget 2023, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.

As per a report by the The Indian Express, the finance minister said that PM Narendra Modi, too, wanted to prioritise growth. "He said growth ka momentum rakhna chahiye (we need to keep the growth momentum). If anything, we need to speed it up, oil it better and run it better, and that is why this number of Rs 10 lakh crore for capital expenditure came up,” Sitharaman said.

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Sitharaman said she believed that this was a “golden opportunity” for India and this time “we should really not miss the bus.”

Presenting the Budget on Wednesday, Sitharaman had wooed taxpayers by increasing the rebate slab to Rs 7 lakh, along with making other shake-ups to the new tax regime.

The finance minister said she expected about 50-55 per cent of taxpayers to shift to the new exemption-free income tax regime.“For those utilising the maximum available exemption (in the old regime), the new regime without exemptions would be attractive,” she told the publication.

She further addressed claims that she didn’t push the envelope on some of the difficult reforms like land, farm and labour. “The government’s commitment and its intent on reforms is intact. But the fact remains that many of those, who supported it earlier, reneged," she said.