Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], February 2 (ANI): Mukesh Mahaling, the Minister for Health and Family Welfare of Odisha, on Saturday expressed gratitude to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that the Union budget 2025 supports the middle class and will be significant to the resolve of Viksit Bharat.
He said that the budget will be very helpful in fulfilling PM Modi’s resolve of making ‘Viksit Bharat’ by 2047 and also highlighted PM Modi’s encouragement for investment in Odisha.
Speaking to ANI, Odisha Minister Mukesh Mahaling said, “I am grateful to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the budget is in favour of the middle class.”
“5 things have been prioritised in the budget, first is accelerating the growth of the country, wherein the focus is on Viksit Bharat. The other is inclusive development, third is promoting private sector investment, fourth is uplifting household sentiments and fifth is enhancing the spending power of the country’s rising middle class,” said Mahaling.
“In the context of Odisha, PM Modi had said that this is the right time to make investments in the state and this has also been reflected in the Union Budget. The budget will be very helpful in fulfilling PM Modi’s resolve of making ‘Viksit Bharat’ by 2047,” he added.
The Union Budget 2024-25, presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament on Saturday, provided major relief to the salaried class with no income tax on an average monthly income of up to Rs one lakh to boost household savings and consumption with the government also giving thrust to four engines of development – agriculture, MSMEs, investment and exports.
The Finance Minister’s announcement on tax relief means that the salaried class will pay nil income tax up to Rs 12.75 lakh.
However, Opposition parties slammed the Budget, saying it was silent on the problem of unemployment and accused the government of “throttling MGNREGA”.
The Finance Minister announced an increase in the threshold for Tax Deduction at Source (TDS) on rent from Rs 2.40 lakh per annum to Rs 6 lakh per annum.
She also announced the launch of the second Asset Monetization Plan for the period 2025-30.
In a move aimed at providing relief to patients battling severe chronic ailments, Sitharaman announced the expansion of the list of lifesaving drugs and medicines fully exempted from Basic Customs Duty (BCD) in the Union Budget 2025-26, among others.
Sitharaman received warm facilitation from BJP members and the party’s allies soon after her speech with Prime Minister Narendra Modi also congratulating her.
Union Ministers JP Nadda and Jyotiraditya Scindia were among those who greeted the Finance Minister.
PM Modi walked up to Sitharaman’s seat as she was surrounded by elated NDA MPs and had a brief interaction with her.
Sitharaman also met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in the Parliament House after presenting the Budget.
Congress and other opposition parties slammed the Union Budget.
Congress leader and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram said Sitharaman is walking on “a worn-out path” and she and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have not followed the advice of the Chief Economic Advisor on the need to deregulate and that the government’s “stranglehold” on the activities of the people is getting tighter.
Addressing a press conference, Chidambaram said the economy will trudge along on the old path and deliver no more than the usual 6 or 6.5 per cent growth in 2025-26.
Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee said the budget is nothing but a political document “aimed at securing votes in Bihar, while completely disregarding the needs of Bengal”.
The Budget “is not for the poor, not for balanced growth, and certainly not for the principles of federalism,” Trinamool Congress said in a post on X. (ANI)
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