The aim is to boost domestic employment, create jobs, and ensure a high and sustained increase in India’s share in the global GDP over the next five years, she added.
Replying to the discussion on Union Budget 2024-25 and Union Territory of J&K in Rajya Sabha, Sitharaman said the government is well on track to achieve the fiscal deficit target of 4.5% of GDP by 2025-26. “The government has always maintained fiscal prudence as one of the important governance principles… From 2026-27 onwards we will adhere to a path to ensure that the central government debt as a percentage of GDP is at a declining trend,” she said.
Cooperative Federalism
Sitharaman dismissed the opposition allegation of ignoring the opposition ruled states while asserting unflinching support to cooperative federalism. “I would like to underline our unflinching commitment to cooperative federalism,” She said. The total resources proposed to be transferred to the states in 2024-25 is estimated at ?22.91 lakh crore, she said.
Sitharaman stated that the Finance Commission recommends the devolution of taxes as a percentage of the ‘net proceeds’, as defined in Article 279 of the Constitution, which are calculated by deducting cesses, surcharges, & the cost of collection from the gross tax receipts. “It is wrong to calculate devolution based on gross tax receipts, and then claim that the centre is devolving less than what is suggested by the Finance Commission,” she said.
Inflation Management
Sitharaman noted that the government took measures leading to a reduced average inflation of 4.5% from FY 2014-15 to FY 2018-19, well within the RBI’s target range of 2-6%.
The government, she said, managed to contain inflation at 5.7% from FY 2019-20 to FY 2023-24 despite challenges like the Covid-19 pandemic while many countries faced 3 or 4 decade high double-digit inflation after the pandemic.
Agnipath Scheme
The finance minister defended the Agnipath scheme countering opposition’s demand to roll it back, saying it would ensure that the country has fit soldiers at the frontline. “This means that armed forces will have a much younger force, thus reducing the average age of the Indian soldier,” she said, adding that it was with the acceptance of armed forces that this scheme was brought.
NEET
Sitharaman observed that the Supreme Court did not scrap the NEET exam and that it had ensured cost-effective medical education for backward families and hurt certain vested interests and listed names of several students from humble backgrounds who had cleared the exam.