New Delhi, 01 February: The Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the eighth consecutive Union Budget 2025-26 in Parliament at 11 am today.
Sitharaman started the budget speech amid protests from Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and some other members. The Finance Minister said that the development measures proposed in this budget are in 10 broad areas. The budget focuses on the poor, youth, farmers and women.
She said that the country’s economy is growing fastest among all major global economies. Our development track record and structural reforms of the last 10 years have attracted global attention. Confidence in India’s potential and prospects has increased during this period.
Finance Minister said that in partnership with the states, 100 low-productivity districts will be covered under the Dhan-Dhanya Agriculture Scheme. This will help 1.7 crore farmers to create rural prosperity. Ample opportunities will be created in rural areas.
Finance Minister Sitharaman said that Makhana Board will be formed in Bihar. Its purpose is to improve Makhana production, processing, value addition and marketing. People engaged in this work will be organized as FPO.
She said that the government will launch PM Dhan-Dhanya Krishi Yojana. Its aim is to promote development programs in agricultural districts. Through the convergence of existing schemes and special measures, the program will cover 100 districts with low productivity, medium crop intensity and below average loan parameters. Its main objective is also to increase cultural productivity.
She said that Kisan Credit Card provides short term loan facility to 7.7 crore farmers, fishermen and dairy farmers. Under the revised interest subsidy scheme, the loan limit for loans taken through Kisan Credit Card (KCC) will be increased from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh.
Sitharaman said that the investment and turnover limits for the classification of all MSMEs will be increased by 2.5 and two times respectively. This will boost the confidence of the youth for employment.
She added that for self-sufficiency in urea production, our government has restarted three defunct urea plants in the eastern region. To increase the urea supply, a plant with an annual capacity of 12.7 lakh metric tonnes will be set up in Namrup, Assam.
