by This was the fourth time she presented the Union Budget in Parliament.
The speech — roughly 9,200+ words long — was peppered with words like “digital”, “infrastructure” and “tax”, indicating the government’s focus on infra spending and digital assets.
Compared to last year, there was not much impetus on farmers and agriculture. The words “farmers” and “agriculture” were mentioned 12 and 4 times respectively, compared to 13 and 8 in 2021.
Instead, there was a focus on terms like “urban” and “customs”.
Sitharaman announced that customs duty rates are being calibrated to provide a graded rate structure to facilitate domestic manufacturing of products like wearables and electronic smart meters.
There was also a renewed push for urban planning with a focus on sustainable measures and public transport.
Expectedly, the word GatiShakti was mentioned as many as 13 times in the speech.
The PM GatiShakti plan was launched by Narendra Modi launched a year. The ambitious Rs 100 lakh crore master plan will lay the foundation to steer the Indian economy for the next 25 years.
Last year, “tax”, “infrastructure” and “health” were the most used words in Sitharaman’s speech.
Recommended readings:
Union Budget: How India earns money
Union Budget of India: How government allocates funds
State of the Indian Economy
