India's New Fiscal Year Budget Focuses on Manufacturing and Economic Growth

On February 1, India's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman outlined the priorities for the country's new fiscal year, emphasizing a renewed focus on manufacturing to sustain robust economic growth amid global uncertainties. According to Jin10, the budget will concentrate on structural reforms, particularly in the manufacturing sector, and aim to build a strong financial industry while increasing investments in cutting-edge technologies, including artificial intelligence. Sitharaman highlighted that the budget will prioritize expanding the manufacturing scale in seven key industries: pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, rare earth magnets, chemicals, capital goods, textiles, and sporting goods. Additionally, the Indian government plans to revitalize 200 traditional industry clusters. To maintain the momentum of economic growth, the new fiscal year will see an investment of 12.2 trillion Indian rupees (approximately $133.08 billion) in infrastructure development, surpassing the previous year's allocation of 11.2 trillion rupees.