Budget 2023-24: Sitharaman's big announcement; Allocation for PM Awas Yojana raised by 66 percent

This is a significant increase considering Sitharaman, in the Budget 2022-23, had proposed an allocation of Rs 48,000 crore for the Housing for All initiative of the government.

This year's budget is significant being the last full budget of Modi government's second tenure as the general elections are scheduled for next year.

The government, last year, had promised that 80 lakh houses will be completed for the identified eligible rural and urban beneficiaries of PMAY.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2023-24 in the Parliament on Wednesday.

The Finance Minister announced that the government proposes to increase capital expenditure outlay by 33 per cent to Rs 10 lakh crore in 2023-24, which would be 3.3 per cent of the GDP, said Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

"(This overall outlay) would be 3.3 per cent of GDP, almost three times the outlay made in 2019-20. With the substantial increase, it is central to the government's efforts to enhance growth potential and job creation, the crowd in private investments and provides a cushion against global headwinds," Sitharaman said in her Budget speech.

For the agriculture sector, which is said to be the backbone of Indian economy, the government has proposed to increase the credit target to Rs 20 lakh crore with a focus on animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries. The country's agriculture sector has been growing at an average annual growth rate of 4.6 per cent in the last six years, Sitharaman told Parliament.

The government will also launch a sub-scheme of the existing PM Matsya scheme to improve value chain efficiencies, she said.

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Urban (PMAY-U), a flagship Mission of Government of India launched in 2015, is being implemented by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), aims to provide housing for all including the slum dwellers.

According to a government data, out of the overall target of 2.95 crore houses, a target of 2.92 crore houses had been allocated to States/Union Territories UTs), out of which, 2.49 crore houses have been sanctioned to beneficiaries by various States/UTs and 2.10 crore houses have been completed as on December 07, 2022. The Economic Survey, tabled in the Parliament on Tuesday, noted India's GDP is expected to grow in the range of 6 to 6.8 per cent in the coming financial year 2023-24. This is in comparison to the estimated 7 per cent this fiscal and 8.7 per cent in 2021-22. (ANI)