SHIMLA: Chairman, CII Northern Region Abhimanyu Munjal said that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today presented a growth-oriented, expansionary budget that has indicated government’s focus on sustainable growth through enhanced capital expenditure.

According to CII, the balancing act will boost economy by way of increased capital expenditure, focus on creating physical infrastructure, healthcare spending and sustainable development.  Budget ticked all the right boxes of lives, livelihood and growth which would propel the economy to an inclusive growth trajectory, Munjal said.

“We welcome the allocation of Rs 1 lakh crore as fifty-year interest free loans to assist the states. This will further catalyse the states’ capacity to take capital expenditure and creation of assets”, he said.    

Speaking on the budget announcements for the Northern states, he said that many northern states are the hub of MSMEs, and there are many positives for the sector, such as extension of Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme up to 2023, additional credit of Rs 2 lakh crore for MSMEs, and announcement of the Raising and Accelerating MSME Performance (RAMP) programme. All these steps will help the MSME sector become more resilient, competitive and efficient, CII stated.  

 CII welcomes the announcement of the National Ropeways Development Programme which will improve connectivity and convenience, and will boost tourism, particularly in the northern region. Moreover, the additional funding of Rs 1,400 crore in 2022-23 for the Ken-Betwa river linking project is going to benefit the water-starved region of Uttar Pradesh, especially the districts of Banda, Mahoba, Jhansi and Lalitpur. 

The announcement of the Chemical-free Natural Farming Comprehensive Scheme to increase domestic production of oilseeds and the use of ‘Kisan Drones’ will greatly benefit the agrarian states of Punjab, Haryana, UP, Rajasthan, etc. In addition to this, the announcement of a fund to finance startups for agriculture & rural enterprise will spur the growth of Agri-based startups in northern states