Union Budget 2024: The government has unveiled a corpus of Rs 1 lakh crore to support and finance young entrepreneurs aiming for long-term growth in emerging industries. This initiative, presented in the Interim Budget by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, is geared towards providing financial backing and refinancing options for youth-led innovations.
Long-term Financing for Innovation
"For our tech savvy youth, this will be a golden era. A corpus of rupees one lakh crore will be established with fifty-year interest free loan. The corpus will provide long-term financing or refinancing with long tenors and low or nil interest rates," Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.
The allocated corpus aims to offer "long-term low or nil interest rates," facilitating innovation at a substantial scale. FM highlighted the importance of innovation in development, emphasising that this financial boost would usher in a golden era for tech-savvy youth.
50-Year Interest-Free Loans
Particularly noteworthy is the inclusion of 50-year interest-free loans within the corpus, providing a unique opportunity for the private sector to engage in extensive research within sunrise sectors. The goal is to encourage and support research initiatives that can lead to significant advancements in various industries.
"This will encourage the private sector to scale up research and innovation significantly in sunrise domains. We need to have programmes that combine the powers of our youth and technology," She added.
Empowering MSMEs and Deep-Tech for Defence
The government's priority lies in empowering Indian Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to compete globally. To achieve this, they plan to launch a new scheme, promoting innovation and growth at scale for MSMEs. Additionally, a scheme focused on boosting the deep-tech sector for defence purposes is in the pipeline.
While the full-fledged budget will be presented by the new government post-elections, this interim announcement signals a clear focus on supporting youth-led innovation, MSMEs, and advancements in technology for defence purposes.
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