NEW DELHI:  Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Februay 4 said growth is the main focus of the budget for FY24 presented by her recently. The budget proposals set up both fiscal consolidation and growth, particularly inclusive growth, Finance Minsiter  said during her maiden interaction with stakeholders outside New Delhi since presenting the budget on February 1.

"Growth is the primary goal. At the outreach event, Sitharaman remarked alongside the senior ministry officials, "We want to sustain that recovery, sustain that growth." The people of the nation, who assimilated the government's relief and policy measures since the start of the pandemic to make India the second-fastest expanding economy, were credited for ensuring growth.

The finance minister claimed that the increased public capital expenditure was the "direct desire" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which is why she has recommended a bigger outlay of Rs 10 lakh crore under the head.

By offering income tax relief to the salaried and middle class, including an enhanced threshold for personal income taxes for residents who have chosen the new tax regime, the FM has also aimed to boost private consumption. People who earn less than Rs 7 lakh per year will no longer be required to pay income tax under the new system. The tax policy will put money in people's hands at a time when inflation has been reducing disposable incomes, which is likely to increase consumption.

In order to further increase the convenience of taxpayers, she suggested the introduction of a new Common IT Return Form. The Indian pharmaceutical industry has been pleading with the government to prioritise programmes that support R&D in advanced therapeutics like biologics, biosimilars, precision medicine, cell and gene therapy, mRNA vaccines, genomics, orphan drugs, complex generics, antimicrobials, and others in order to increase its market share and value in the global pharmaceutical trade.

The Finance Minsiter also thanked the budget-making team for making it possible to devote such a high quantum of resources for the task amid the myriad challenges like the need for fiscal consolidation. ''Mumbai should be liking the proposals,'' Sitharaman said.

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