"It talks about developed India" : Niranjan Hiranandani MD, Hiranandani Group on Interim Budget

"I think there are four parts to this budget. The first part of the budget recounts all the achievements that the government has made since 2014 and lays down that this is the kind of direction in which the government has intended to go. So whether it is housing, agriculture, infrastructure, education or other sectors, I think it indicates that this is what we have achieved and this is the direction in which you are going to go forward for the next couple of years as this government comes back to power. It also talks about the Viksit Bharat or developed India and the developed Bharat. That is extremely important because it says that we want to be a developed country by 2047 " Niranjan Hiranandani said.

"The third important thing that I think the Finance Minister has said in the budget is that she has been able to improve the fiscal target, coming down to 5.1 per cent. And I think that's extremely important because the ultimate target, which is for the next couple of years, is 4.5. If that is so, and the achievement happens, then the capital and debt available from the banking system will certainly grow and will bring down interest rates even otherwise, or the availability of funds for debt will increase in the banking system and another system because otherwise, the government was taking away this money for their development and statement. So I think that is an extremely important part," Niranjan Hiranandani added.

Lauding India's leadership for economic growth, Niranjan Hiranandani said, "And the last part of it is the fact that the leadership that India is taking in every aspect of the thing, like for instance, in the railways, talks about 40,000 rail coaches, which will take the next step in terms of upgrading. We talked about tourism, including Lakshmadeep, temple tourism and all those aspects of it, infrastructure, manufacturing--all these aspects of it are put together into a package deal. So I think these are the fundamentals of the budget, which is what I call a directional budget, which gives a positive aspect to the entire economy for an interim budget. I think it's an excellent statement that puts across clearly what the government has done. But more gives us an indication to the entire people of India, Bharat, that what's going to happen in the next five years as an indicative model."

Meanwhile, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman pegged the fiscal deficit target for 2024-25 at 5.1 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

In 2023-24, the government pegged the fiscal deficit target for 2023-24 at 5.9 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). Today, Sitharaman said that the fiscal deficit of 2023-24 was downwardly revised to 5.8 per cent.

The difference between total revenue and total expenditure of the government is termed as fiscal deficit. It is an indication of the total borrowings that may be needed by the government.

The government intends to bring the fiscal deficit below 4.5 per cent of GDP by the financial year 2025-26.

The government proposed to increase capital expenditure outlay by 11.1 per cent to Rs 11.11 lakh crore in 2024-25.

A capital expenditure, or capex, is used to set up long-term physical or fixed assets.

Last year, which was the last full Budget under the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government's second term, the government proposed to increase capital expenditure outlay by 33 per cent to Rs 10 lakh crore in 2023-24, which was estimated to be 3.3 per cent of the GDP.

With this budget presentation, Sitharaman equalled the record set by former Prime Minister Morarji Desai, who as finance minister, presented five annual budgets and one interim budget between 1959 and 1964.

The Indian economy is projected to grow close to 7 per cent in the financial year 2024-25 which starts this April, said the Ministry of Finance in a review report. (ANI)