Samvaad 2023: FM Nirmala Sitharaman, top ministers decode Budget 2023 | Highlights

Responding to the Opposition's charge that there is nothing for the poor in the budget, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said that they (Oppn) is not realising that this budget is dedicated to 140 crore people. In this budget, on one hand there is free food grains for the poor, and on the other hand, there is something for the industries as well.

On the Opposition's criticism of the budget, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said that if they look deeply into this budget, then they will understand that there is nothing to criticize in it.

Union Minister Piyush Goyal said that we have the cheapest data in the world adding India is the frontrunner in the mobile technology sector.

Union Minister Piyush Goyal said that the government is monitoring inflation on a daily basis. Home Minister Amit Shah is also monitoring the prices of commodities on a daily basis and taking steps to control price rise.

Nirmala Sitharaman said that the then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had put petrol and diesel under GST, but it can be implemented only when the states decide its rate. Petroleum products are already in GST but this can happen only after the states fix their rates but they don't want that to happen.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that there was an epidemic due to which the economy was stalled all over the world. At that time, the state governments used to ask for money from the Centre... and that's why we had to borrow.

Nirmala Sitharaman said that in the Modi government, nobody is called and given tenders. There is full transparency, and everyone who applies has to go through proper scrutiny.

Speaking on Adani Group row, Sitharaman said that this is a matter of a company. There are regulators, they will look into the matter. SBI, LIC have clarified there's no threat.

Union Minister Sitharaman said that the Congress party today doesn't have the capacity to stand and raise questions in Parliament.

On the question related to senior Congress leader P Chidambaram's remark that Sitharaman did not mention poverty in the Budget speech, she said they used to take the name of poverty 1000 times but had they eliminated poverty from the nation. READ MORE

Further slamming the opposition, Nirmala Sitharaman said that they should be ashamed of showing the country in a negative light, raising questions over issues like Covid vaccine.

It is wrong to say that GST has increased prices of commodities, in fact, the prices have gone down. The Congress had supported GST in Parliament, and now their leaders are calling it 'gabbar singh tax', Nirmala Sitharaman said.

In the special episode of Aap Ki Adalat, Nirmala Sitharaman said she feels really sorry... India should have responsible opposition. They (oppn) is just levelling false allegations aginst the Modi government.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the Congress left India's economy in a fragile state. They ruined the good work done during the Vajpayee government.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman rejected Arvind Kejriwal's allegations that the government has reduced the education and health budget. She said that they did not reduce the health and education budget, but had given more than one lakh crore money last year and have increased it this year too.

Nirmala Sitharaman said that employment is not only provided through the MNREGA scheme only. She said that when the crop year is completed and farmers do not have work, then employment is provided through other schemes.

Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that Arvind Kejriwal indulges in irresponsible politics adding that his style is 'spit and run'.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman responded to the opposition's allegations on the budget in a special show of 'Aap Ki Adalat' and said that we are providing gas, toilet, house, electricity, water to the last person in the queue. Sitharaman said that PM Modi always lays emphasis on empowering the poor.

Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the entry of middlemen into the power corridors has ended in the Modi government.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in a special episode of Aap Ki Adalat said that the budget is a serious document and is not for excitement.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav told that PM Modi has given a target that the Train Control System (ATP) is still running on 2G and 3G technology and has tasked us to take it to 5G.

Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the Japanese Prime Minister's top official had recently visited India to check the progress of the Bullet train project. The minister said that the official was amazed to see the progress and its quality.

The minister further added that there target is to launch Bullet train by August 2026.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that hydrogen train is a very complex technology. The work is in progress and our target is to launch the first hydrogen train by December this year.

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the railways are coming with new Vande Bharat metro trains which will connect cities over short distances. It will be like a shuttle service with world-class facilities and quality.

Vande Bharat metro train design is advancing and our target is to launch it in around 12 months, the minister said.

Speaking on the production of Vande Bharat trains, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that in 2019, the first Vande Bharat train was launched and it was tested for lakhs of kilometers.

Now on average, a Vande Bharat train is being manufactured in 8-10 days and we are hoping that it may come down to a week.

Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that earlier huge announcements were made by the governments in railway budgets but there was less work on the ground.

However, in the Modi government, announcements are less and work is more.

Randeep Singh Surjewala hit out at the government saying that its policies are not encouraging people to save money. The Congress leader added that India is a consumption plus savings based economy but the present government wants people only to spend and not save.

Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said that the government has earned by imposing a tax on petrol and diesel. Those who don't do farming are talking about farmers who have been given a 'jhunjhunu' of Rs.6,000.

"Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana was a flop programme. Women were unable to fill the cylinder for the second time. At Rs 1100 per cylinder, they are not able to buy gas," Congress leader Randeep Surjewala said.

The budget is not for poor people and the salaried class, Congress leader Randeep Surjewala said.

"I kept finding a few things in the Budget 2023- unemployment, inflation and economic disparity. They were missing. I think, the finance minister forgot to include these words in the budget," Congress leader Randeep Surjewala said.

On the allegations of the opposition regarding Budget 2023, the government is spending 7.5 lakh crore to 10.5 lakh crore in capital expenditure. This will lead to the construction of railways, highways, and ports, due to which employment will increase.

Apart from this, credit guarantee is also being given more in the MSME sector.

BJP MP Jayant Sinha said that the government is working to give 10 lakh jobs.

BJP MP Jayant Sinha while responding to the opposition's charge on Adani row said that the finance minister has spoken on the matter. She said that there is no systemic risk and all exposures are under control.

On Adani Group row, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said that they are not concerned with the ups and downs of any private company. The issue is that LIC, SBI participated in FPO of Adani Group.

When many questions were already being raised about the economy, then who put pressure on LIC and SBI. Gogoi said that when no mutual fund had invested in Adani Group then why did LIC and SBI have to.

Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said that students going to Ukraine, and other countries for medical education because it's getting expensive in India.

Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said that the government is repeating the same things every year in budget like increasing the capex but still there is inflation in the country.

Speaking at India TV's Samvaad, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi asked that why Modi govt is silent over the Adani Group row.

Thank God, this is the last full budget of the Modi government and this will be the last full budget of BJP for next 50 years, Congress leader Gourav Vallabh said.

Hitting out at the government over its policies and Hindenburg report, Gourav Vallabh said that people take Life Insurance Policies to secure their future but the condition of the country is such that the LIC is itself looking for its own 'insurance'.

Gourav Vallabh welcomed the government's decision to put money into capex but added that it will only be effective if this is utilised fully.

Congress' Gourav Vallabh hit out at the Modi government on the depreciating value of rupee, inflation adding that on the hunger index, India is behind Pakistan.

BJP's Rajya Sabha MP Sudhanshu Trivedi said that India has become the third-largest automobile industry after US and China. 

Congress' Gourav Vallabh hit out at the government saying that no country in the world has two different tax regimes.

Ajay Maken said that this government has reduced the subsidy by 28.4 percent in the present budget and by 42 percent if compared to the previous budget.

If there is reduction in subsidy and increase in GST, then inflation will increase. If the government wants to continue like this then what's the use of income tax relief, he added.

Maken said that in no way this budget is meant for the middle class. It's made for the top 1 percent and those who are rich have the advantage.

Ajay Maken alleged that the Modi government is only investing in those projects which will be handed over to private players in the future be it railway stations, trains, roads or airports.

Mentioning that the policies of the Modi government are flawed, Congress leader Ajay Maken challenged that the present government won't be able to provide home to everyone even by 2075.

Congress leader Ajay Maken slammed the Modi government saying that it's working only for the top 1 per cent rich people in the country. He said that the present budget is not for the middle class.

Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that during the pandemic, the Modi government provided free rations to 80 crore people under country's food security act.

Responding to the opposition's charge that the government is gradually decreasing subsidies, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that subsidy is taxpayers' money and it has to be degressive.

Speaking on LPG cylinders connections, the Union Minister said that till 2014 when UPA left the government, there were around 14 crore connections but now so far during the Modi regime, the connections have already reached around 31-32 crores.

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that the present budget is a bridge budget of the Modi government to move India forward on the path of development. 

He further said that India is likely to become second largest economy in the world by 2040.

Modi government has proved that good governance is also good politics. This Budget is 10/10 Budget, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said.

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that 9 years ago, the per capita income in India was 1 lakh but now it's 1.97 lakh which is almost double. 

Speaking at India TV's Samvaad, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that the Indian economy size increased to 5th largest from 10th largest in the past 9 years.

The fact is, Muslim voters did not want to vote for them. This was clear when they lost the assembly and Lok Sabha elections from Rampur. The people of Rampur are replying to the state of anarchy that was prevalent earlier. They were muzzled and persecuted.

This is a crude attempt to divert the attention of the people from development. They want to dilute our development agenda. They are doing disservice to the state, said the UP CM on the recent controversy over Tulsidas' Ramcharitmanas with SP leader Swami Prasad Maurya demanding deletion of some lines in which women and Shudras have been mentioned.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said, Samajwadi Party "should express gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the central government for conferring Padma Vibhushan to Late Mulayam Singh Yadav posthumously, but, it is sad that the word 'gratitude' does not exist in their dictionary". READ FULL INTERVIEW

The Indian middle class is elated over Income Tax relief, rich taxpayers are also happy, while women, senior citizens, youths and farmers have welcomed the new schemes, writes India TV Chairman and Editor-in-Chief Rajat Sharma. | READ MORE

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram does not know definition of 'inclusive', said Union Minister Smriti Irani. Chidambaram had said that the Budget was authored by someone navigating a journey looking at the rear view mirror. READ MORE HERE

The Prime Minister categorically called the budget a foundation stone for the "Amrit Kaal" which helps in prioritising the dreams of deprived sections. WATCH HERE

From tax relief to the middle-class income group to financial support for MSMEs, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had something for everyone in the Union Budget 2023. READ MORE