“Our government will facilitate development of investment-ready “plug and play” industrial parks with complete infrastructure in or near 100 cities, in partnership with the states and private sector, by better using town planning schemes.” proposed the Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman in the Union Budget 2024-25 towards fulfillment of the priority of ‘Manufacturing & Services’.  The Budget proposes that creation of Twelve industrial parks under the National Industrial Corridor Development Programme will also be sanctioned.

CRITICAL MINERAL MISSION

Prioritizing further the ‘Manufacturing & Services’ sector, the Union Budget 2024-25 proposes to set up a Critical Mineral Mission for domestic production, recycling of critical minerals, and overseas acquisition of critical mineral assets. Its mandate will include technology development, skilled workforce, extended producer responsibility framework, and a suitable financing mechanism.

With a focus on offshore mining of minerals, the Union   Finance Minister proposed to launch the auction of the first tranche of offshore blocks for mining, building on the exploration already carried out. 

LABOUR RELATED REFORMS

Union Budget 2024-25 also proposes to facilitate the provision of a wide array of services to labour, including those for employment and skilling. “A comprehensive integration of e-shram portal with other portals will facilitate such one-stop solution.” proposed the Finance Minister. Open architecture databases for the rapidly changing labour market, skill requirements and available job roles, and a mechanism to connect job-aspirants with potential employers and skill providers will be covered in these services.

Focusing on ‘Next Gen Reforms’ the Union Budget 2024-25 proposes to revamp ShramSuvidha and Samadhan portals to enhance ease of compliance for industry and trade, with intent to strengthen them and step up their implementation for expediting our journey towards the goal of Viksit Bharat. 

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NB/VM/AKS