Indian finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday unveiled the budget for fiscal 2020-21, vowing to boost income of Indians and their purchasing power, in a bid to revive domestic economic growth that has slumped.
India estimates economic growth this fiscal year, which ends on March 31, will slip to 5.0 per cent - its weakest pace since the global financial crisis of 2008-09.
These are the initial highlights from Sitharaman's fiscal 2020-21 budget speech:
* India to allocate 2.83 trillion rupees ($39.82 billion) for agriculture and allied activities
* Approves 3.6 trillion rupees ($50.65 billion) for a federal water scheme
* To allocate 993 billion rupees ($13.97 billion) for the education sector in 2020/21
* Taxes from medical devices to used to fund healthcare infrastructure
* India to allocate 690 billion rupees ($9.7 billion) toward healthcare spending
* Scheme focused on encouraging manufacture of mobile phones, electronic equipment and semiconductor packaging to be introduced
* Milk processing capacity to be doubled by 2025