Budget will make India self-reliant: Amit Shah

New Delhi, Feb 1 Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said that the Union Budget will make India self-reliant and lay the foundation for a new India of the 100th year of Independence.

Congratulating Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in a series of tweets, Shah said, "This Budget will make India self-reliant and lay the foundation for a new India of the 100th year of independence. I congratulate @narendramodi and @nsitharaman for this."

Shah said that the budget size of Rs 39.45 lakh crore, shows that the Indian economy is rapidly growing even in the Covid period. "Reducing the fiscal deficit target from 6.9 per cent to 6.4 per cent is a huge achievement, and through it, India will be able to bring down the fiscal deficit below 4 per cent under the leadership of Narendra Modi," he said.

He claimed that the union budget will help in making India the world's leading economy under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi. "The prime minister has reduced the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) rate in the cooperative sector from 18.5 per cent to 15 per cent and the surcharge from 12 per cent to seven per cent, ending the injustice done to the cooperative sector for decades and bringing it at par with other sectors. This will help in achieving Prime Minister Modi's resolve of prosperity with cooperation," Shah said.

He also hailed several announcements in the budget like zero budget farming, natural farming, river linking, one station-one product and farmer drones are important in realising Prime Minister Modi's resolve to make the agriculture sector modern and self-reliant along with giving benefits to our farmer brothers. "I congratulate Narendra Modi for increasing the capital investment by 35 per cent to Rs 7.5 lakh crore. At the same time, increasing the amount given to the states from Rs 15,000 crore to Rs 1 lakh crore testifies to the efforts made by Modi ji to continuously strengthen the federal structure," he said.

The Home Minister appreciated the proposal to connect all 1.5 lakh post offices with core banking to promote financial inclusion and said it will greatly benefit the rural people and senior citizens. "The development of the North-eastern region has always been the top priority of the Modi government. The announcement of the 'PM Development Initiative' for the Northeast will go a long way in realising PM Modi's vision of a prosperous northeast," he said.