Guwahati, Feb 18: Union minister for law and justice Arjun Ram Meghwal said the Union Budget 2025-2026 has adequately touched upon development of the agriculture sector, and the people of Assam and the Northeast region as a whole would reap the benefits.
Addressing mediapersons here on Tuesday, Meghwal said the Budget is a roadmap for “Viksit Bharat 2047”, having four main engines – agriculture development, investment, MSME and export and industrial development.
On investment as a growth engine, Meghwal said there are two types of investment – public and private.
The Union minister said under public investment, facilities in government hospitals would be spruced up, infrastructure would be upgraded while seven railway stations in Assam would be revamped under Amrit Bharat Station apart from a re-development plan of railways at a cost of Rs 872 crore and other initiatives.
On MSME as the third growth engine, he said micro and medium enterprises have contributed to GDP growth while consumption levels will remain steady between 62 to 68 percent and investment in the range of 25 to 28 percent.
Meghwal said under MSME, the loan limit has been raised, and the terminologies pertaining to definition and turnover have been changed. “If MSME grows, production will go up, employment will be generated while the GDP will remain steady,” he said.
Terming export and industrial development as the fourth engine of growth, the Union minister said exports would grow and there would be industrial development.
The Union minister further said the Budget has touched upon all aspects of Industrial Revolution 1.0 (steam), Industrial Revolution 2.0 pertaining to electricity, Industrial Revolution 3.0 pertaining to IT, and Industrial Revolution 4.0 pertaining Robotics, AI and 3-D Printing.
He further said the financial outlay in the Union Budget has been raised from four to six times.
“Under the state devolution fund, Rs 45,000 crore alone has been allocated to Assam under the Bharat Amrit Station for railway infrastructure, besides a host of initiatives under UDAN and development of national highways,” the minister said.