Budget 2023 Highlights: Rahul Gandhi counters govt's 'Amrit Kaal' Budget with ‘Mitr Kaal’ jibe

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Budget 2023 LIVE: Kerala FM slams Union Budget for ignoring state's demands

Kerala Finance Minister K N Balagopal on Wednesday criticised the Union Budget 2023-24 saying the long-pending demands of the southern state were completely ignored and that the proposals were not beneficial for people at the grassroots level.

Balagopal also raised apprehension over the measures announced for the cooperative sector in the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament, noting that it needs to be studied to find out whether there was any move to encroach upon the rights of the states in the key sector.

Budget 2023 LIVE: Capex for energy transition to have multiplier effect on green sectors: Power players

The Rs 35,000-crore capex allocation for energy transition announced in the Union Budget will have multiplier effect in areas like green fuel, green energy, green farming, and green mobility, among others, power sector players said.

"Allotment of Rs 35,000 crore for priority capital investment for energy transition and net zero will help with multiplier effect spanning sectors such as green fuel, green energy, green farming, green mobility, green buildings and green equipment," Vineet Mittal, Chairman, Avaada Group, said in his reaction to the Budget.

Budget 2023 LIVE: NPCIL gets Rs 9,410 crore as India seeks to ramp up nuclear power capacity

NPCIL, India’s sole nuclear power plant operator, on Wednesday received an allocation of Rs 9,410 crore in the Union Budget for 2023-24 as it sets out to ramp up atomic power generation capacity in the country.

The allocation to the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) was an increase of Rs 2,859 crore (more than 43 per cent) over the revised estimate of Rs 6,551 crore of the current fiscal.

In addition to the budgetary allocation, the NPCIL will raise an additional Rs 12,863 crore through Internal and Extra Budgetary Resources, which constitutes the resources raised by the PSUs through profits, loans and equity.

Budget 2023 LIVE: Budget a good balance between optimism and caution: Ex-chief eco advisor Ashok Lahiri

Former chief economic advisor to the Union government Ashok Lahiri said that Wednesday's budget proposals for 2023-24 combined caution with optimism in the right doses.

Hhe said that it would have been imprudent to take more risks on the policy front, given the uncertainty over the geopolitical situation and energy prices.

Asked whether the budget could have been more aggressive on the fiscal deficit front, Lahiri, also a BJP MLA of West Bengal, said, "There are people who believe that the government should have spent more."

Budget 2023 LIVE: FMCG industry expects recovery in rural growth and consumer spending back on track

The FMCG industry expects the government's special focus on the agriculture sector in the Union Budget 2023-24 would help to regain rural growth while providing more disposable income to the middle class and reviving volume growth.

Terming the budget as "progressive and growth-oriented", leading FMCG companies such as Dabur, PepsiCo, Marico, Godrej Consumer, Mars, Wipro Enterprises, and Parle Products said, it has potential to revive the demand and propel long-term economic growth.

Budget 2023 LIVE: Rajasthan industry, trade organisations hail Budget as progressive

Industry and trade organisations have termed the Union budget progressive and growth-oriented for the business in the country.

However, some industry leaders also expressed disappointment on a few of their key issues.

"I would indeed call this budget a progressive one, paving the way for the next 25 years. The Government has focused hugely on infrastructure, which will boost the economy," Chairman, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Rajasthan, Gaurav Rungta said.

Budget 2023 LIVE: Allocation for IPR ecosystem up by 15% to Rs 329 crore

Allocation in the Budget for the intellectual property ecosystem, including the copyright office and Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks, has been increased by about 15 per cent to Rs 328.981 crore.

In the revised estimate (2022-23), the allocations stood at Rs 285.41 crore.

The budgetary allocation for the copyright office and Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks has been hiked to Rs 281.60 crore as against Rs 232.65 crore in the revised estimate, according to the Budget documents.

Budget 2023 LIVE: BoB chief says budget numbers highly doable, should push pvt cpaex cycle finally

Public sector Bank of Baroda chief executive Sanjiv Chadha said the budget push on public capex will nudge private companies which have been holding back investments for many years, to open their purse-strings now, leading to the much-awaited revival of an investment cycle.

The budget proposes to increase public spending on infrastructure by a full 33 percent to Rs 10 lakh crore next fiscal even as it guided towards fiscal prudence with fiscal gaps being pegged at 6.4 percent for FY23 and 5.9 percent for FY24 and at 4.5 percent by FY27.

Budget 2023 LIVE: Small farmers to benefit from this Budget, says agriculture minister

Small farmers across the country will benefit from the Budget 2023-24 in which emphasis has been laid on promoting modern farm technologies, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said on Wednesday.

Tomar said the overall budgetary allocation for his ministry has been increased to an estimated Rs 1.25 lakh crore for the 2023-24 financial year, which includes Rs 60,000 crore for the government's ambitious scheme PM-KISAN.

Budget 2023 LIVE: Budget 2023-24 will only immerse India in debt, says Manish Sisodia 

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia called the Union Budget 2023-24 announced by the BJP-led Centre on Wednesday nothing but a 'jumla' and said it would only immerse the country in debt, while labelling the exercise "depressing".

Sisodia, who is also the Finance minister of Delhi, said this budget will add a debt of Rs 15 lakh crore.

"Today's budget is dangerous for the country. Many budgets just depress people and this is one of those. In the long-term, this will be a very dangerous budget as it will push just push India in debt," he said.