New Delhi: While presenting the Union Budget 2025-26 in Parliament on Saturday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman listed investment as the third engine of growth in the country. She emphasised 'investing in people, investing in the economy, and investing in innovation'.
1. INVESTING IN PEOPLE
As part of investing in people, the government is focusing on the 'Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0' programme, which provides vital nutritional support to over eight crore children, pregnant women, lactating mothers, and around 20 lakh adolescent girls in aspirational districts and the Northeast region.
Enhanced Cost Norms For Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0: The Finance Minister announced that the cost norms for these nutritional support programmes will be enhanced appropriately. The Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 initiative is an integrated nutrition support programme aimed at addressing malnutrition among children, adolescent girls, pregnant women, and lactating mothers. Poshan 2.0 initiative aims to contribute to human capital development of the country, address challenges of malnutrition, promote nutrition awareness, encourage healthy eating habits for sustainable health and well-being.
Atal Tinkering Labs: 50000 Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs) will be set up in government schools in the next five years to cultivate the spirit of curiosity and innovation and foster a scientific temper among young minds, Sitharaman said.
Broadband connectivity to Govt Secondary Schools and PHCs: In another major announcement, Sitharaman said that broadband connectivity will be provided to all the government secondary schools and primary health centres in rural areas under the Bharat Net project.
Bharatiya Bhasha Pustak scheme: The Union government has proposed to implement Bharatiya Bhasha Pustak scheme to provide digital-form Indian language books for schools and higher education. This aims to help the students understand their subjects better and in their own language, she said.
National Centres Of Excellence for Skilling: Building on the initiative announced in July 2024 budget, five national centres of excellence for skilling will be setup with global expertise and partnerships to equip our youth with the skills required for Make for India, Make for the World manufacturing, Sitharaman stated.
Expansion of capacity in IITs: The finance minister highlighted that total number of students in 23 IITs has increased 100% from 65000 to 1.35 lakh in the past 10 years. "Additional infrastructure will be created in the five IITs started after 2014 to facilitate education for 6500 more students. Hostel and other infra capacity at IIT Patna will also be expanded," she said.
Centre of Excellence in AI for education: The government had in 2023 announced three centres of excellence in artificial intelligence (AI) for agriculture, health and sustainable cities. Now, a centre of excellence in AI for education will be setup with a total outlay of Rs 500 crore, she said.
Expansion of medical education: Sitharaman said, "Our government has added almost 1.1 lakh undergraduate and PG medical education seats in 10 years, an increase of 130%. In the next year, 10000 additional seats will be added in medical colleges and hospitals towards the goal of adding 75000 seats in the next 5 years."
Day-care Cancer centres in all district hospitals: Strengthening the healthcare infra, the finance minister said that the government will facilitate setting up of day-care Cancer centres in all DHHs in the next 3 years. Around 200 centres will be established in 2025-26 itself, she said.
Strengthening Urban Livelihoods: Giving priority to urban poor and vulnerable groups, Nirmala Sitharaman announced implementation of a scheme for socio-economic upliftment of urban workers to help them improve their incomes, have sustainable livelihoods and a better quality of life.
PM SVANidhi: Building on the success of PM SVANidhi, the scheme will be revamped with enhanced loans from banks, UPI-linked credit cards with 30,000 limit, and capacity building support, she said, highlighting that PM SVANidhi has benefitted more than 68 lakh street vendors giving them respite from high-interest informal sector loans.
Social Security Scheme for Welfare of Online Platform Workers: In recognition of the contribution of gig workers, the Government will arrange for their identity cards and registration on the e-Shram portal. They will be provided healthcare under PM Jan Arogya Yojana. This measure is likely to assist nearly 1 crore gig-workers, Sitharaman stated.
2. INVESTING IN THE ECONOMY
Public Private Partnership in Infrastructure: Each infrastructure-related ministry will come up with a 3-year pipeline of projects that can be implemented in PPP mode. States will also be encouraged to do so and can seek support from the IIPDF (India Infrastructure Project Development Fund) scheme to prepare PPP proposals.
Support to States for Infrastructure: An outlay of Rs 1.5 lakh crore is proposed for the 50-year interest free loans to states for capital expenditure and incentives for reforms, Sitharaman said.
Asset Monetization Plan 2025-30: Building on the success of the first Asset Monetization Plan announced in 2021, the second Plan for 2025-30 will be launched to plough back capital of Rs 10 lakh crore in new projects, the minister said, adding that regulatory and fiscal measures will be fine-tuned to support the Plan.
Jal Jeevan Mission: Sitharaman highlighted that since 2019, 15 crore households representing 80 per cent of India’s rural population have been provided access to potable tap water connections. To achieve 100 per cent coverage, she announced extension of the Mission until 2028 with an enhanced total outlay. The Mission’s focus will be on the quality of infrastructure and operation and maintenance of rural piped water supply schemes through 'Jan Bhagidhari' (public participation). Separate MoUs will be signed with states/UTs, to ensure sustainability and citizen-centric water service delivery, she said.
Urban Sector Reforms: Building on the July Budget proposals, urban sector reforms related to governance, municipal services, urban land, and planning will be incentivized, Sitharaman said.
Urban Challenge Fund: Sitharaman announced that the Government will set up an Urban Challenge Fund of Rs 1 lakh crore to implement the proposals for ‘Cities as Growth Hubs’, ‘Creative Redevelopment of Cities’ and ‘Water and Sanitation’ announced in the July Budget. This fund will finance up to 25 per cent of the cost of bankable projects with a stipulation that at least 50 per cent of the cost is funded from bonds, bank loans, and PPPs. An allocation of Rs 10,000 crore is proposed for 2025-26.
Power Sector Reforms: The Minister proposed incentivizing electricity distribution reforms and augmentation of intra-state transmission capacity by states. This will improve financial health and capacity of electricity companies. Additional borrowing of 0.5 per cent of GSDP will be allowed to states, contingent on these reforms, she stated.
Nuclear Energy Mission for Viksit Bharat: A Nuclear Energy Mission for research & development of Small Modular Reactors (SMR) with an outlay of Rs 20,000 crore will be set up. At least 5 indigenously developed SMRs will be operationalized by 2033, Sitharaman said. She mentioned that development of at least 100 GW of nuclear energy by 2047 is essential for government's energy transition efforts, and moving towards this goal, amendments to the Atomic Energy Act and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act will be taken up.
Shipbuilding: Sitharaman stated that the Shipbuilding Financial Assistance Policy will be revamped to address cost disadvantages. This will also include Credit Notes for shipbreaking in Indian yards to promote the circular economy. Large ships above a specified size will be included in the infrastructure harmonized master list (HML). Shipbuilding Clusters will be facilitated to increase the range, categories and capacity of ships. This will include additional infrastructure facilities, skilling and technology to develop the entire ecosystem.
Maritime Development Fund: For long-term financing for the maritime industry, a Maritime Development Fund with a corpus of Rs 25,000 crore will be set up. This will be for distributed support and promoting competition. This will have up to 49 per cent contribution by the Government, and the balance will be mobilized from ports and private sector, she said.
UDAN - Regional Connectivity Scheme: Inspired by the success of UDAN, a modified UDAN scheme will be launched to enhance regional connectivity to 120 new destinations and carry four crore passengers in the next 10 years. The scheme will also support helipads and smaller airports in hilly, aspirational, and North East region districts, Sitharaman said. So far, the UDAN scheme has connected 88 airports and operationalised 619 routes, enabling 1.5 crore middle-class people to meet their aspirations for speedier travel.
Greenfield Airport in Bihar: Sitharaman said that Greenfield airports will be facilitated in Bihar to meet the future needs of the State. These will be in addition to the expansion of the capacity of Patna airport and a brownfield airport at Bihta.
Western Koshi Canal Project in Mithilanchal: Financial support will be provided for the Western Koshi Canal ERM Project benefitting a large number of farmers cultivating over 50,000 hectares of land in the Mithilanchal region of Bihar, she said.
Mining Sector Reforms: Mining sector reforms, including those for minor minerals, will be encouraged through sharing of best practices and institution of a State Mining Index. A policy for recovery of critical minerals from tailings will be brought out soon, stated the finance minister.
SWAMIH Fund 2: Under the Special Window for Affordable and Mid-Income Housing (SWAMIH), 50000 dwelling units in stressed housing projects have been completed, and keys handed over to home-buyers, while another 40000 units will be completed in 2025, further helping middle-class families who were paying EMIs on loans taken for apartments, while also paying rent for their current dwellings. Sitharaman announced establishment of SWAMIH Fund 2 as a blended finance facility with contribution from the Government, banks and private investors. This fund of Rs 15,000 crore will aim for expeditious completion of another 1 lakh units.
PM Gati Shakti Data for Private Sector: For furthering PPPs and assisting the private sector in project planning, access to relevant data and maps from the PM Gati Shakti portal will be provided.
Tourism for employment-led growth: Sitharaman also proposed to develop top 50 tourist destination sites in the country, in partnership with states through a challenge mode. Land for building key infrastructure will have to be provided by states, and hotels in those destinations will be included in the infrastructure HML, she said.
Following measures will be taken for facilitating employment-led growth:
⦁ Organizing intensive skill-development programmes for our youth including in Institutes of Hospitality Management;
⦁ Providing MUDRA loans for homestays;
⦁ Improving ease of travel and connectivity to tourist destinations;
⦁ Providing performance-linked incentives to states for effective destination management including tourist amenities, cleanliness, and marketing efforts; and
⦁ Introducing streamlined e-visa facilities along with visa-fee waivers for certain tourist groups.
⦁ Continuing with the emphasis on places of spiritual and religious significance in the July Budget, there will be a special focus on destinations related to the life and times of Lord Buddha.
Medical Tourism and Heal in India: The finance minister said that Medical Tourism and Heal in India will be promoted in partnership with the private sector along with capacity building and easier visa norms.
3. INVESTING IN INNOVATION
Research, Development and Innovation: The government has allocated Rs 20000 crore for implementation of private sector driven Research, Development and Innovation initiative announced in the July Budget.
Deep Tech Fund of Funds: A Deep Tech Fund of Funds will also be explored to catalyze the next generation startups as a part of this initiative, Sitharaman said.
PM Research Fellowship: In the next five years, under the PM Research Fellowship scheme, the government will provide ten thousand fellowships for technological research in IITs and IISc with enhanced financial support.
Gene Bank for Crops Germplasm: The 2nd Gene Bank with 10 lakh germplasm lines will be set up for future food and nutritional security. This will provide conservation support to both public and private sectors for genetic resources, said FM.
National Geospatial Mission: Sitharaman proposed to start a National Geospatial Mission to develop foundational geospatial infrastructure and data. Using PM Gati Shakti, this Mission will facilitate modernization of land records, urban planning, and design of infrastructure projects.
Gyan Bharatam Mission: A Gyan Bharatam Mission for survey, documentation and conservation of our manuscript heritage with academic institutions, museums, libraries and private collectors will be undertaken to cover more than one crore manuscripts. "We will set up a National Digital Repository of Indian knowledge systems for knowledge sharing," said FM Sitharaman.
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