The Union government made a cash transfer of Rs 2.2 lakh crore under the PM-KISAN scheme, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday, February 1. Presenting the last full Budget of the second term of the BJP-led NDA government ahead of the general elections in 2024, she said the mission of the government is to achieve a knowledge-driven economy.

She further said the Indian economy has become more formalised as witnessed by significant enhancement in digital payments. Institutional credit in the agriculture sector grew as much as Rs 18.6 lakh crore in FY22 from Rs 15.8 lakh crore in FY21.

Initiatives such as PM-KSIAN, PM-Fasal Bima Yojana and forming an agriculture infrastructure fund have provided much needed support to the sector.

At the same time the role of digital infrastructure in socio-economic development has gathered increased importance and India positioned itself strongly as a knowledge hub.

The focus of the digital India programme rests on providing high speed internet as a core utility to citizens for delivering services, creating unique digital identity, providing shareable private space on public cloud (digitally store certificate and documents).