The Tamil Nadu government has given in-principle approval for three extension projects — Chennai airport to Kilambakkam,  Koyambedu to Pattabiram, and  Poonamallee to Sunguvarchathiram — and recommended them to the Union government for approval and financial assistance. 
| Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO

New Delhi:

Calling the Union Budget 2025-26 “amazing”, Union Railways and Electronics and IT Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday said that with the big allocation to it, Indian Railways is all set to expand faster, safer and comfortable rail travel across the country.

The country can expect “200 new Vande Bharat trains, 100 Amrit Bharat trains, 50 Namo Bharat rapid rail and 17,500 general non-AC coaches in next two to three-years time”, the minister said.

Mr Vaishnaw thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for allocating Rs 2,52,000 crore for the financial year (FY) 2025-26 as gross budgetary support to the Ministry of Railways – the second time in a row.

“The new trains and modern coaches will go a long way in serving the low and middle-class people,” he added.

This year’s Budget mentions infrastructure development projects of Railways to the order of Rs 4,60,000 crore. Focusing on safety, the budget allocates Rs 1,16,000 crore for expenditure to augment the safety of Indian Railways through various projects.

Talking to the media after the presentation of the Union Budget in Lok Sabha, the minister said the budget “not only seeks to create employment by means of investment but gives a big relief to the middle class with reduced income tax burden”.

Reimbursement of losses on operation of strategic lines has been kept at Rs 2,739.18 crore in the Budget Estimates 2025-26 as against Rs 2,602.81 crore in last fiscal’s Revised Estimates 2024-25.

An amount of Rs 706 crore is provided in this fiscal year towards debt servicing of market borrowings for national projects.

With this, the net revenue expenditure of Indian Railways is placed at Rs 3,02,100 crore in this year’s Budget Estimates as against 2,79,000 crore in the Revised Estimates of last fiscal.

This fiscal’s gross budgetary support is almost 9 times of what it was, at only Rs 28,174 crore, in 2013-14.

The Indian Railways is all set to become the second highest freight carrying Railway, touching 1.6 billion tonnes of cargo by the end of this fiscal.

On the high-speed trains, India aims to have 7,000 km of high-speed rail network supporting a speed of 250 km per hour by 2047.

Talking about sustainability, the Railway Minister mentioned that India Railways will achieve 100 per cent electrification by the end of FY 2025-26. Besides as the Budget announced small modular reactors as a source of non-fossil energy, Indian Railways will take the lead in electrification efforts.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Signalling a commitment to research and development, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday allocated Rs 20,000 crore to the Department of Science and Technology as a corpus for a fund to promote private sector-driven innovation.

Nirmala Sitharaman had announced setting up of a Rs 1 lakh crore research and development fund in the budget last July.

The allocation in Saturday’s budget will kickstart the fund aimed at supporting research and development in deep tech and sunrise sectors.

“To implement the private sector-driven Research, Development and Innovation initiative announced in the July budget, I am now allocating Rs 20,000 crore,” Sitharaman said.

Presenting the Union Budget for the 2025-26 fiscal, the finance minister also said a Deep Tech Fund of Funds would be explored to catalyse the next generation start-ups as part of this initiative.

“The allocation this year will kickstart the fund and be a major boost to support research and development in the private sector in deep tech and sunrise sectors. This will be a major step towards creating strategic autonomy in some key technology sectors,” said Abhay Karandikar, secretary in the Department of Science and Technology.

The government had decided to step in to nudge the private sector to take up research and development, which had not picked up despite tax exemptions for the purpose.

The Economic Survey, presented in Parliament on Friday, had flagged concerns over the private sector’s disinterest to spend on research and development.

Addressing a press conference on Friday, Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran said the private sector’s expenditure on research and development was very low despite a lot of incentive schemes provided by the government.

The government contributes 50 per cent of the total research and development spending in the country whereas the business enterprises’ spending accounts for only 41 per cent, he added.

Mr Nageswaran also raised concerns regarding sector-centred investments on research and development by the private sector.

He said research and development was one area where the private sector should make improvements.

With the Department of Science and Technology being the nodal ministry driving this fund, its budgetary allocation witnessed a sharp increase from Rs 8,029 crore to Rs 28,508.90 crore.

The Department of Biotechnology has been allocated Rs 3,446.64 crore, a hike of Rs 1,170.94 crore over the budgetary allocation of Rs 2,275.70 crore in the July budget.

The Department of Scientific and Industrial Research has received an allocation of Rs 6,657.78 crore against Rs 6,323.41 crore in the 2024-25 fiscal.

The Department of Atomic Energy has received an allocation of Rs 24,049.10 crore against Rs 24,968.98 crore.

The Department of Space has been allocated Rs 13,416.2 crore, up from Rs 13,042.75 crore.

The budget has allocated Rs 10,230.2 crore to various Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) centres such as the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, UR Rao Satellite Centre, the Human Spaceflight Centre and various projects, including launch vehicle development.

Space applications received the second-largest share with Rs 1,706.8 crore, supporting centres such as the Space Applications Centre, Development and Educational Communication Unit, and the National Remote Sensing Centre.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The government on Saturday proposed to create new tariff lines for makhana products and rice based on process and varieties.

These changes under the Customs Tariff Act 1975 will come into effect from May 1, this year.

According to the Budget document for 2025-26, the government has proposed provision for creating new tariff items for rice based on process (paraboiled, others) and on variety (rice recognised by geographical indications registry, basmati and others) under sub-headed HS code 1006-30.

The government has proposed creating new tariff items and supplementary notes for identification of certain technical-grade pesticides and certain goods covered by international conventions.

It also provided for the provision to separately identify waste oils containing different levels of concentration of levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated terphenyls (PCTs) or polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs) under sub-heading HS code 2710-91.

A tariff line is a specific entry in the customs tariff schedule that corresponds to a particular product or category of goods. Each line has a unique code and associated duty rate, which determines the amount of customs duty payable upon importation or exportation.

New tariff lines allow for better identification and categorisation of products, especially as markets evolve and new goods are introduced. It also helps in adhering to international standards and agreements.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Union Budget 2025: What’s in it for the energy sector?

| Video Credit:
The Hindu

A look at what the Union Budget 2025 had in store for renewable energy, solar power and nuclear energy.

Video: Sabika Syed

Editing: Tayyab Hussain

New Delhi:

The Rural Development Ministry has been allocated Rs 1.88 lakh crore in the Union Budget for 2025-26, around 5.75 per cent more than the allocation in the previous budget.

According to the budget proposals made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday, the Rural Development Ministry has been earmarked Rs 1,77,566.19 crore against Rs 1,77,566.19 crore allocated in the Budget for 2024-25.

However, the 2024-25 Revised Estimate, a midyear review of the expenditure done by the ministry, stood at Rs 1,73,912.11 crore, Rs 3,654.08 crore fewer than the initial allocation.

The allocation for flagship rural employment scheme Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Development Scheme (MGNREGS) was Rs 86,000 crore, the same as the last year. In 2023-24, the allocation for MGNREGS was Rs 60,000 crore, but additional funds were provided and the actual expenditure stood at Rs 89,153.71 crore, the Budget document showed. No additional allocations for MGNREGS were made in 2024-25. The scheme provides guaranteed 100 days of wage employment in a financial year to at least one member of every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. It keeps at least one-third of jobs for women.

In the Covid pandemic year of 2020-21, when MGNREGS proved a lifeline in providing employment in rural areas amid huge reverse migration in the lockdown period, Rs 1,11,169 crore was spent on the scheme, according per previous budget documents.

In her Budget speech, N Sitharaman announced that a comprehensive multi-sectoral ‘Rural Prosperity and Resilience’ programme will be launched in partnership with states. She said it will address underemployment in agriculture through skilling, investment, technology, and invigorating the rural economy.

“The goal is to generate ample opportunities in rural areas so that migration is an option, not a necessity. The programme will focus on rural women, young farmers, rural youth, marginal and small farmers, and landless families,” the minister said.

Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan lauded the Budget, saying it aims at creating an “Atmanirbhar Bharat” or self-reliant India.

“This is the Budget of 140 crore Indians. It is a Budget for creating an Atmanirbhar Bharat. Every section of society has been taken care of,” Chouhan said.

The minister said creating poverty-free villages for a poverty-free India is the focus of the government.

“For a poverty-free India, we need poverty-free villages. The finance minister announced the Rural Prosperity and Resilience Programme. For this, rural women, youths, farmers, landless labour, will all be brought together, along with state governments” he said.

“This Budget will be crucial in removing poverty from rural India,” Chouhan said. Among key schemes of the Rural Development Ministry, Rs 19,000 crore has been allocated for the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna, almost 58 percent more than Rs 12,000 crore allocated in the last Budget, but 31 percent more compared to the revised estimate, which stood at Rs 14,500 crore. The allocation for the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) was Rs 19,005 crore, 26 percent more than the last year’s Budget allocation of Rs 15,047 crore.

For the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G), the allocation is Rs 54,832.00 crore, almost the similar amount as the last budget’s allocation of Rs 54,500.14 crore.

The revised estimate, however, was Rs 32,426.33, which reflected the actual spending by the ministry.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The Centre has earmarked Rs 5 crore in the 2025-26 budget for providing financial assistance to the prisoners who languish in jail because they could not afford their bail money.

Under the ‘Model Prisons and Correctional Services Act’ 2023, State Legal Services Authorities have established Legal Service Clinics in jails to provide free legal assistance to persons in need.

The Legal Service Clinics are managed by empanelled Legal Services Advocates and trained Para-Legal Volunteers.

The budget documents, presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament on Saturday, show that Rs 5 crore funds have been reserved to help prisoners unable to afford the penalty or the bail amount.

The Centre had kept Rs 20 crore in the previous budget but only Rs 1 crore could be put to use as states and union territories did not come with cases for clearance under the scheme, an official said.

The Home Ministry had last year said that each state should open a dedicated account for seamless flow of funds from the Central government to state headquarters to disburse it to the needy.

“The Ministry of Home Affairs has made a provision for an amount of Rs 20 crore annually which the states and UTs can make use of for providing financial assistance to poor prisoners to seek release from jail,” the last year’s official communication to the states and UTs had said.

For efficient implementation of the scheme and a seamless flow of funds from the Centre, the states were asked to take a number of steps in this regard.

According to the communication, all states and UTs were asked to constitute ‘Empowered Committees’ in all districts and an ‘Oversight Committee’ at the state or UT headquarters level with the indicative composition of such committees as provided in the guidelines.

Each state and UT had to appoint a nodal officer at the state or UT headquarters level who may engage with the Ministry of Home Affairs or the Central Nodal Agency (CNA) — National Crime Records Bureau — to seek any clarification or amplification about the procedure or guidelines.

Each state and UT had been asked to open a subsidiary account at the state or UT headquarter level under the CNA’s account (NCRB) and have it mapped on Public Financial Management System (PFMS) on most urgent basis as all funds from the Centre will flow through this account.

The states were told by the MHA that district level ‘Empowered Committee’, with the assistance of District Legal Services Authority and prison authorities, shall examine cases of eligible prisoners and shall have the power to sanction the amount required for paying fine or bail amount within the parameters of the guidelines prescribed on the subject.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Ushering in reforms, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday proposed to open up the nuclear power sector for private players and announced a Rs 20,000 crore Nuclear Energy Mission for research in the field, with an aim to set up five small and modular reactors by 2033.

Presenting the Union Budget for 2025-26, Sitharaman said producing at least 100 GW of nuclear power by 2047 was essential for India’s energy transition efforts.

“For an active partnership with the private sector towards this goal, amendments to the Atomic Energy Act and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act will be taken up,” she said.

“A Nuclear Energy Mission for research and development of Small Modular Reactors (SMR) with an outlay of Rs 20,000 crore will be set up. At least five indigenously-developed SMRs will be operationalised by 2033,” Sitharaman said.

India currently produces 8.1 GW of nuclear power through 24 atomic power plants across the country and hopes to increase it to 20 GW by 2032.

The state-run Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) is the operator of nuclear power plants in the country.

The Atomic Energy Act does not allow participation of private sector investment in the nuclear industry.

The NPCIL has started joint venture companies with the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and the Indian Oil Corporation to build nuclear power plants.

“In terms of reforms, many important steps have been taken in this budget. Encouraging the private sector in nuclear energy is historic. It will ensure a big contribution of civil nuclear energy in the development of the country,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his remarks on the Union Budget.

Former Atomic Energy Commission chairman Anil Kakodkar welcomed the announcement to launch the Nuclear Energy Mission, saying such a focussed approach was required to achieve the goal of Viksit Bharat.

Kakodkar, who played a key role in negotiating the civil nuclear deal with the US, said 100 GW of nuclear power generation by 2047 was required for India to achieve its declared goal of net-zero emission.

He said NTPC could drive the SMR mission as it hosted the maximum coal-fired power plants, which would have to be retired in the near future.

Union Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh had told Parliament last year that India’s long-term low greenhouse gas emission development strategy recognised a significantly greater role of nuclear energy in achieving the net-zero target.

“Nuclear energy has a vital role in the country’s energy transition to net zero as it is a base-load source of clean electricity, available 24X7,” he had said.

Singh, who is also in charge of the Department of Atomic Energy and the Union minister of state in the Prime Minister’s Office, added that the nuclear sector also had huge potential to provide the country long-term energy security in a sustainable manner.

“In this regard, a nuclear power expansion programme is being implemented to increase the installed nuclear power capacity to 22,480 MW by 2031-32 from 8,180 MW at present,” he had said.

Last year, NPCIL invited proposals from the private sector to set up 220 MW Bharat Small Reactors to replace coal-fired captive power plants in the energy-guzzling steel, aluminium, copper and cement industries.

SMRs refer to a newly-developed and upcoming class of land-based nuclear fission reactors, which can be built and fabricated in specialised factories and be assembled on site.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, there are more than 80 SMR designs and concepts globally. Most of them are in various developmental stages and some are claimed as being near-term deployable.

There are currently four SMRs in advanced stages of construction in Argentina, China and Russia, and several existing and newcomer nuclear energy countries are conducting SMR research and development.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court has been allocated Rs 123.75 crore in the 2025-26 financial year for expansion of its building, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced in her budget speech on Saturday.

In the 2024-25 fiscal, the Union Budget had earmarked Rs 46.63 crore for the expansion project.

“Expansion of Supreme Court building: The provision is for implementation of the central sector project expansion of the Supreme Court building,” reads the relevant part of the budget speech.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

What’s in it for women and children?

The Union Budget for 2025-26 focusses on enhancing financial independence of women and providing them an enabling atmosphere to work.
| Video Credit:
The Hindu

The Union Budget for 2025-26 presented on Saturday (February 1, 2025) focusses on enhancing financial independence of women and providing them an enabling atmosphere to work.

The aim was get 70% women in economic activities, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman mentioned in the Budget speech.

The total allocation for the Women and Child Development Ministry is ₹26,889 crore. This is an increase from a Revised Estimate of ₹23,182 last year. The allocation in the last budget had been ₹26,092 crore.

Presentation: Sreeparna Chakrabarty

Video: Sabika Sayed

Editing: Ravichandran N