Budget 2016 Emphasises on Rural Sector, Infrastructure: Arun Jaitley

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday spoke at a post-Budget interactive session with representatives of industry trade bodies in New Delhi.

Here are the highlights of what the finance minister said:

• We were conscious of the global situation: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Budget
• We spent the last one year steering the economy in difficult, challenging situation
• The current year is a significant departure from the past, we collected more and spent more.
• Services sector is doing well and manufacturing is picking up
• National highways was a paralysed sector when the government took over
• Budget emphasises rural sector and infrastructure
• This Budget we have kept up the momentum on infrastructure spending
• 100 per cent FDI in marketing of food produced in India a significant reform
• This will help farmers so his produce doesn't go waste
• Last year, whatever we allocated for MGNREGA has been spent
• This Budget's allocation on MGNREGA, if spent, will be the highest ever
• Giving a statutory backing to Aadhaar is an important announcement in Budget
• Government has a difficult target of doubling rural wages or incomes
• PM has announced the crop insurance scheme
• This helps agri-sector when in distress
• Health scheme is for the vulnerable sections of society
• Need to continue social security programs
• In Budget, the basic principle was to help sectors where gaps existed
• There were gaps in agri-sector in rural India
• First priority of our government was on those sectors
• Rural roads program is extremely helpful