Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said Indian economy is on the right track and is heading towards a bright future, while presenting the Union budget 2023.
During Covid-19 pandemic we ensured no one would go hungry through a scheme that provided food for 800 million Indians for over 28 months, she said.
The minister said the economy has become more formalised as shown by the EPFO data. India's growth at 7 per cent in current fiscal highest among major economies, she observed.
In her fifth Union budget, Sitharaman faces the challenge of doing a tightrope walk between staying fiscally prudent and meeting general public expectations of lower taxes and a wider social security net, while at the same time firing the engines of the economy.
Dressed in a red saree with black and golden border, Sitharaman continued with the tradition she set in 2019, carrying the budget speech in a 'bahi-khata', which she used after ditching the briefcase. She kept a digital tablet in a red bahi khata style pouch.
As per established tradition, the Finance Minister met the President at the Rashtrapati Bhawan before heading to Parliament.
While traditionally, copies of the budget are brought to the Parliament complex before the Finance Minister arrives, this year no document has been printed following the COVID-19 protocol.
Instead, the budget copies will be disseminated electronically, with documents being uploaded on the government website as well as being made available on a special app developed for the same.
