India Allocates 3 Billion Indian Rupees in Financial Aid to Sri Lanka in Latest Budget

COLOMBO (News 1st) -The 13th budget of the Narendra Modi administration was presented to Parliament this morning. 

This marks the 9th budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and, notably, the first time in Indian history a budget has been delivered on a Sunday.

Framed under the theme of a "Self-Reliant India" (Atmanirbhar Bharat), the proposal focuses on three strategic pillars:

Accelerating economic growth to withstand global instability.

Engaging citizens as partners in national prosperity.

Ensuring equitable distribution of resources across every region and family.

Under the financial assistance program for neighboring countries, this budget has allocated 3 billion Indian rupees for Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, 20.68 billion Indian rupees have been allocated for Bhutan, 7 billion for Nepal, and 4 billion for the Maldives.

A significant highlight of this budget is the reduction of tax rates paid by the middle class to the government. This also marks the first time in Indian history that a budget has been presented on a Sunday. Special attention has been focused on job creation, the manufacturing sector, and modern technology in the march toward "Viksit Bharat" or a Developed India.

A notable feature for the middle class is the provision of tax relief, exempting individuals with an annual income of up to 700,000 rupees from income tax. 

Furthermore, the short-term loan limit for 77 million for farmers, fishermen, and dairy farmers has been increased to 500,000 rupees. 

The budget also proposes a total exemption of import duties on 36 types of life-saving medicines and provides tax concessions for raw materials used in the production of lithium batteries for mobile phones and electric vehicles (EVs).

Other key proposals include the construction of new high-speed rail lines connecting financial and technical hubs and the establishment of an AI center for the education sector. 

India, the world’s second-largest gold buyer, has also proposed reducing the import duty on gold and silver to 6 percent.

Additionally, the tax rate for foreign companies has been reduced to 35 percent.