They (Eastern) states should be engines of growth for the country, underlined Nirmala Sitharaman in an exclusive interview to NDTV's Editor-In-Chief Sanjay Pugalia, adding that the centre will continue to focus on the region.
"We will continue to focus on northeast. In our eastern states - Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand - manpower is good. The people from Jharkhand and Bihar work in the whole country. We now need to focus on these states. The minerals, deposits that they have, they should help their states also. The states should be engines of growth for the whole country. We have been doing all this but we will do more," the Finance Minister told NDTV.
In her interim Budget speech on Thursday, Nirmala Sitharaman stressed that utmost attention will be paid to the eastern region including states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and Bengal to make them growth engines as part of goal to make India a developed country by 2047.
Commentators have pointed out that the BJP has peaked in the north and the special focus on eastern region signals the party's intent on winning over the people of the region ahead of the general elections.
This was the last budget of the Modi government in its second term with Lok Sabha polls expected in April-May. Ms Sitharaman, who presented her sixth budget, expressed confidence in the BJP-led NDA coming to power again.
PM Modi will launch multiple development projects worth over Rs 68,000 crore in Odisha on Saturday and worth over Rs 11,000 crore in Assam on Sunday during his two-day visit to the two states.
The #FMtoNDTV interview is the highlight of NDTV's Budget 2024 coverage, with support from news aggregators such as Daily Hunt, Jio News, and Inshorts to make it one of our most-watched shows across our network. You can watch the full show here:
Will Income Tax Ever Be "Almost Zero"? What Finance Minister Said Nirmala Sitharaman Asks Indian Banks To Boost Deposits Amid Crunch Nirmala Sitharaman To Move Banking Laws Amendment Bill In Lok Sabha Today 150 mg Semen In Kolkata Doctor's Body, Suspect Gang-Rape: Parents To Court 2 French Rafale Jets Collide Mid-Air, Instructor, Pilot Missing Independence Day Updates: "75,000 New Seats For Medical Students In Next 5 Years", Says PM Modi "Targeted Violence Against Hindus...": Vivek Ramaswamy On Bangladesh Unrest Probe Reveals Brazil Plane Crashed One Minute After Pilots Sensed Trouble "Strictest Punishment For Crimes Against Women": PM Amid Kolkata Protests Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.