India's Modi government says focus on employment and middle class in first post-poll budget
World
The government will allocate 2 trillion rupees ($24 billion) for job creation over the next 5 years
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first post-election budget will focus on employment and the middle class, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday as she began presenting the final financial statement for 2024-25.
The government will allocate 2 trillion rupees ($24 billion) for job creation over the next five years, Sitharaman said.
Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) failed to secure a majority in the election last month, making it dependant on allies to form a government for the first time since he came to power more than a decade ago.
"This budget will decide the direction of our work for the next five years and this will lay the foundation of fulfilling our objective to make India a developed country by 2047," Modi said on Monday ahead of the budget.