The finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while announcing the budget for the financial year 2020-21 said the public institutions, like anganwadis, health and wellness centres, government schools, public distribution system outlets, post offices and police stations in gram panchayats would be provided with digital connectivity. Through the Bharat Net programme, 100,000 gram panchayats across the country would benefit from this. Under this, Rs 6,000 crore would be allocated for 2020-21.
The finance minister proposed that the Rural Development and Panchayati Raj ministry would get Rs 1.23 lakh crore, Rs 3,000 crore for ‘Skill India’, which would provide relevant skill training to the youth in the country.
The National Skill Development plan will provide employment opportunities for India’s youth in construction, operation and maintenance of infrastructure.
Considering the entrepreneurship skills of the youngsters in the country, the finance minister proposed an Investment Clearance Cell that will provide “end to end” facilitation and support at both Centre and State level. This would create more job opportunities and remove roadblocks from their path. For this, the government would develop five new smart cities in collaboration with states in public private partnership mode.
To further the global growth of the country in textiles, the government proposed a National Technical Textiles Mission. This would curb the import of textiles, which is US$ 16 billion a year, as of now. The budget of Rs 1,480 crore has been allocated for this.
The government aims that each district should develop as an export hub. To ensure higher export credit disbursement, NIRVIK is being launched, which would provide higher insurance coverage, reduction in premium for small exporters and simplified procedure for claim settlements.
A single platform for procurement of goods, services and works would be provided under Government e-Marketplace (GeM). It would give opportunities for Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises (MSMEs). The finance minister said that 3.24 lakh vendors are already on this platform. The government proposed to take its turnover to Rs 3 lakh crore.
The finance minister proposed to provide about Rs 27,300 crore for development and promotion of Industry and Commerce for 2020-21.
The government plans to invest Rs 100 lakh crore on infrastructure over the next five years. The new projects will include housing, safe drinking water, access to clean and affordable energy, healthcare for all, world-class educational institutes, modern railway stations, airports, bus terminals, metro and railway transportation, logistics and warehousing, irrigation projects, etc.
