Union Budget 2023: Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, while speaking to India TV on Wednesday, said the Union Budget is a new engine of growth for the nation.
Considering the global situation in which major economic power are witnessing a slowdown, India has emerged as a bright spot, he asserted.
The budget aimed at employment generation and long-term growth, Vaishnaw said.
It's a visionary and inclusive budget, he added.
Vaishnwav, who also holds the Telecom Ministry office thanked the Modi government for focusing on the growth of BSNL. State-run BSNL, which is expected to roll out 4G and 5G services this year, will get Rs 52,937 crore capital infusion from the government in 2023-24.
What's for the telecom sector?
Rs 1.23 lakh crore was allocated for postal, telecom projects. The government on Wednesday allocated Rs 1.23 lakh crore for postal and telecom projects including Rs 52,937 crore capital infusion in state-run BSNL.
Total allocation includes Rs 97,579. 05 crore for the Department of Telecom and Rs 25,814 crore for Postal projects, the Budget document presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday.
The government has allocated Rs 2,158 crore for Optical Fibre Cable based network for Defence Services and Rs 715.8 crore for telecom projects in the North Eastern states. The Department of Posts has been allocated Rs 25,814 crore and includes Rs 250 crore capital infusion in the India Post Payments Bank.
What's for railways in Budget
Earlier, the Modi government announced that it has fixed capital outlay of Rs 2.40 lakh crore for railways in financial year 2023-24, as the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented her 5th budget in the Parliament. This will be the highest-ever allocation for railways since 2013-2014, she said. Among other announcements regarding the infrastructure development, Sitharaman said that the states and cities will be encouraged to take up urban planning. 100 critical transport infrastructure project have been identified for implementation.
The government will create Urban Infrastructure Development Fund on the lines of the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund that will be managed by NHB. Cities will be encouraged to increase creditworthiness for municipal bonds, the minister said.
For enhancing the ease of doing business, more than 39,000 compliances have been reduced, and over 3,400 legal provisions decriminalised, she added.
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