From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bengaluru, Feb 1: As expected the ministers in Basavaraj Bommai cabinet have wholeheartedly welcomed Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s budget for the year 2023-24 and showered it with praises.
While Large and Medium Industries Minister Murugesh Nirani described the budget as ‘’a revolutionary package contributing to the development of the country and Karnataka,’’ Higher Education as well as IT/BT and Skills Development Minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan praised it as ‘’a comprehensive package’’ for the country’s growth and the Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr K Sudhakar felt the budget ‘’addresses the concerns of the hard working middle class families.’’
``Multitude of announcements have been made in this Union Budget, including significant measures which will contribute to the development of our Karnataka,’’ Nirani said the budget ‘’enhance the export competitiveness of marine products, particularly shrimps, by reducing duty on key inputs for domestic manufacture of shrimp feed shall contribute to the growth of marine exports from Karnataka. The state produced approximately 1000 tonnes of Tiger Shrimp in 2021 and has also been dealing with a decline with in our overall marine exports.’’
He said the announcement for relief in customs duty on import of certain parts and inputs like camera lens and continue the concessional duty on lithium-ion cells for batteries for another year, and the decision to reduce the basic customs duty on parts of open cells of TV panels to 2.5 per cent will further add to state’s electronics manufacturing, as Karnataka continues to have lion’s share in India’s electronics and mobile phone manufacturing revolution.
Pointing out on budget’s focus on promoting green energy, Nirani said the target to achieve an annual production of 5 MMT of Green Hydrogen by 2030, as well as allocation of 35,000 crore for priority capital investments towards energy transition will be in tandem with the Karnataka’s growth in Green Energy, which attracted the highest investments during the Global Investors Meet held on November last year.
Touching upon tax benefits the industries minister said the decision to extend the date of incorporation for income tax benefits to the start-ups till March 2024 will be a booster shot for furthering the development of Karnataka’s fledgling hub of startups and entrepreneurs.
Panchamrit for making India Net Zero
The Union Budget 2023 has also announced systematic measures and strategies which set the infrastructure for making India future ready, focused on enhancing the capacity of our youth, industrial ecosystem, and contributing to the vision of India’s Panchamrit for making India a net-zero country by 2070, Nirani added, Dr Sudhakar said the first budget of Amrit Kaal era ``is futuristic, growth oriented and has laid a strong foundation for India@100 in 2047 and has addressed the concerns of hardworking middle-class citizens.’’
``I thank PM Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for central assistance of Rs 5,300 crore for the Upper Bhadra Project. This will immensely benefit the people of Chikkamagaluru, Chitradurga, Tumkur and Davangere districts by providing irrigation facility to farmers and recharging the groundwater table to provide drinking water in drought-prone taluks of these districts,’’ he said.
The budget proposal to establish one hundred and fifty-seven new nursing colleges in co-location with the existing 157 medical colleges established since 2014 is a welcome move to address the increasing human resource needs in healthcare sector.
The mission to eliminate Sickle Cell Anaemia by 2047 with universal screening of 7 crore people in the age group of 0-40 years in affected tribal areas, and counselling through collaborative efforts of central ministries and state governments is yet another step towards healthier India. The decision to make facilities in select ICMR Labs available for research by public and private medical college faculty and private sector R&D teams will encourage collaborative research and innovation in a big way making us battle ready for future healthcare challenges.
Launching dedicated multidisciplinary courses for medical devices will go a long way in ensuring availability of skilled manpower for futuristic medical technologies, high-end manufacturing and research.
The special focus on promoting millets will not only ensure better nutrition and health among citizens but will also boost our fight against climate change. This is a great step towards ensuing food and water security for our future generations.
Comprehensive Vision, Perfect Budget
Dr Narayan said the budget has comprehensive vision and is a complete and perfect economic document. The Centre has come out with constructive proposals and benefits farmers, Dalits, poor, women, artisans, youth and industrialists while taking care to empowering the taxpayers.
Apart from sanctioning Central grant of Rs 5,300 crore for the Upper Bhadra Project, Dr Narayan welcomed the decision of starting the Agri Accelerator Fund and allocating Rs 20 lakh crore for agricultural credit, which would give a boost to the farm sector.
The minister said the Modi government has tried to set right the regional imbalances and has a comprehensive national development focus besides giving a boost the infrastructure development. The budget gives a boost to Modi government’s thrust of Sabka Saath, Sabka Prayaas, he said.