New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday hailed the Union Budget as ‘visionary’ and said it will help making India the world’s leading economy under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In a series of tweets in Hindi, Shah said by increasing the size to Rs 39.45 lakh crore, the Budget has shown that the Indian economy is rapidly growing even in the corona period.

“This Budget, brought by the Modi government, is a visionary budget, which will prove to be a budget to change the scale of India’s economy,” he said.

With the hashtag ‘#AatmanirbharBharatKaBudget’, Shah said the Budget, presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, will be helpful in making India the world’s leading economy under the leadership of PM Modi by exploiting the opportunities that have arisen in the global economic world after COVID-19 pandemic.

“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,” he said.

The home minister said reducing the fiscal deficit target from 6.9 percent to 6.4 percent is a huge achievement, and through it, India will be able to bring down the fiscal deficit below 4 percent under the leadership of Narendra Modi.

Shah, who also holds the charge of the newly created Ministry of Cooperation, said the prime minister has reduced the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) rate in the cooperative sector from 18.5 percent to 15 percent and the surcharge from 12 percent to seven percent, ending the injustice done to the cooperative sector for decades and bringing it at par with other sectors.

“This will work to prove the resolve of prosperity with the cooperation of Modi,” he said.

Shah said various efforts like zero budget farming, natural farming, river linking, one station-one product and farmer drones are important in realising Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s resolve to make 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 percent 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 hailed the move 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.

“Along with this, 75 digital banks will also be set up in 75 districts to encourage digital payments, he said.

Shah said the development of the Northeastern 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.

Press Trust of India