Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Budget 2023 on February 1. But a close look at the announcements requires a lot of decoding for the common man. How do the measures help the common man? How will the Union Budget 2023 help the economy? To explain this and more, who’s who of finance and economy including FM Sitharaman, Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal, Ashwini Vaishnaw, secretaries TV Somanathan, Sanjay Malhotra, Ajay Seth, Tuhin Kanta Pandey, HDFC Chief Economist Abheek Barua, SBI Group Chief Economic Advisor Soumya Kanti Ghosh, and more are participating in the Business Today Budget Roundtable 2023 event.
The event kickstarted with Nitin Gadkari’s session on the ‘Road to Prosperity’. ‘The Budget Makers’ TV Somanathan, Sanjay Malhotra, Ajay Seth, Tuhin Kanta Pandey discussed the intricacies of the Union Budget 2023. The event will culminate with FM Sitharaman’s session where she will share her vision on ‘The Road to Amrit Kaal’.
Follow the BT Budget Roundtable 2023 updates here
Speaking on GDP growth numbers, Finance Minister Sitharaman says two major problems - the Ukraine war and Covid - are still not coming to an end. "It is very difficult to predict any growth number...there is huge uncertainty in the world."
FM Nirmala Sitharaman on Adani row: "The regulators in India are doing their job, they should be on their toes to do their job."
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman: "New tax regime was brought in to have a simplified and compliance-easy system. Will make it to make it more attractive so that more people can join."
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on jobs: Jobs are there but people are not skilled for the new requirements industries are looking for.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on defence modernising: "Between 2016 and now, look at the Air Force's capability. There are many things happening for procurement of equipment."
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman: "The programmes we do are aimed at 'Sabka Saath-Sabka Vikas'. This is not a populist budget, as we have built houses in the last four years as well under PM-Awas Yojna."
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman: "I invite them (P Chidambaram and other critics) to go into details. Capital expenditure is not at the cost of social welfare schemes. Look at the past records, there has never been any drop in funding for social welfare schemes."
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is in conversation with India Today's Rahul Kanwal, Udayan Mukherjee, Siddharth Zarabi, and Anjana Om Kashyap.
Ashwini Vaishnaw: "No one except the government should issue any currency, so crypto, as a currency is clear no, it as a technology is a thing we should promote."
Budget 2023 Roundtable LIVE: India is reaching smartphone exports worth $9 billion in 2022 and the country is strong, the semiconductor policy is focussed on making the country as a producer: Ashwini Vaishnaw
Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw says railways is a strategic sector, it will not be privatised.
Speaking on cryptocurrency, minister Ashwini Vaishnaw says crypto should be backed as technology, not currency.
Ashwini Vaishnaw: Railways had a huge budget deficit for many years. After 2014, it changed and the budget has been increased.
Ashwini Vaishnaw on govt support to big industries: "I am ready to debate with former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan. Earlier, it was advocating for credit. But since 2014, he has changed his stance. He is giving politically couloured statements."
India Today-Aaj Tak News Director Rahul Kanwal is in conversation with Minister of IT, Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw.
TV Somanathan, Finance Secretary on 10 per cent GDP growth: "10 per cent growth in the present era is not feasible. What is realist growth target is also a function of global factors. We should not target 10 per cent growth. New opportunities are not opening up now the way they were there after 1995."
TV Somanathan, Finance Secretary on fiscal deficit: Govt is sticking to the path of fiscal consolidation. We are complying with the FRBM Law. The rigid adherence to numbers is not feasible in real life, they only exist in economic textbooks.
Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Secretary DIPAM: The government is focusing on calibrated disinvestment strategy.
TV Somanathan, Finance Secretary: Confident that the Rs 10 lakh crore capital expenditure target in the Budget is quite achievable. Three main areas (for maximum spending) are - railways, and highways, and there are some specific sectors like the petroleum sector. Most of the capex will be used.
Business Today TV's Managing Editor Siddharth Zarabi is in conversation with TV Somanathan, Finance Secretary; Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Secretary DIPAM' and Sanjay Malhotra, Secretary, Department of Revenue.