Departing from a British tradition passed on to India, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman carried a 'bahi khata' (ledger) instead of a briefcase. While presenting her maiden Budget speech in Parliament, Sitharaman expressed confidence that India will become a $3-trillion economy in the current year. Here are the key takeaways from Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget speech, so far
INVESTMENT
- India will ease foreign direct investment restrictions in single-brand retail
- Will open up FDI in aviation, insurance, media and animation sectors
- Important to get retail investors to invest in treasury bills
ECONOMY AND INFRASTRUCTURE
- India will become a $3trn economy in the current fiscal year, and a $5trn economy in the next few years
- India to invest heavily in infrastructure and job creation
- The government will carry out a restructuring of highway building programme to ensure enough capacity is created
- Railway infrastructure will need an investment of $72bln between 2018 and 2030
- India will enter into aircraft financing and leasing activities
EDUCATION - STUDY IN INDIA
- By concerted efforts, India have now 3 institutions -- two IITs and IISc Bengaluru -- in top 200 institutes in the world
- Govt will improve the performance of higher learning institutes
- India has the potential to become the hub of higher education. Govt will strive to invite students globally to study in India