Union Budget 2024-2025: Innovations in the field of science and technology are keys to the rapid development of India. To levitate the country into a torch bearer of the future world, science and technology need to be strengthened both in terms of excellence and reach. A lot has been done, and a lot needs to be done if we want India to come to par with Western countries.
Modi 3.0 is all set to present its first full Union Budget in July after the National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) recent victory in the Lok Sabha Elections 2024.
In her Interim Budget speech on February 1, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman signalled a commitment to research and innovation for the tech-savvy youth of India. She mentioned a corpus of Rs 1 lakh crore that would be available on ‘minimal or nil interest rates’. The aim is to encourage the private sector to invest in research and development in sunrise sectors.
Keeping in mind PM Narendra Modi’s “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Vigyan, Jai Anusandhan”, hopes are high that the Ministry of Science and Technology may get a big boost.
Here is a glimpse of allotments in the previous Union Budgets:
Union Budget 2023-2024
In the Union Budget 2023-2024, the Ministry of Science & Technology received an allocation of Rs 16,361.42 crore. It was a nominal increase of 15 per cent from the previous budget estimate. Between 2021-22 and 2022-23, the Ministry had received a 3.9% decrease.
The Department of Science and Technology (DST) received the bulk of the hike (Rs 7,931.05 crore, up 32.1% from the previous year).
Union Budget 2022-23
In the Union Budget 2022-23, the Ministry of Science and Technology was allocated Rs 14,217 crore. It was a hike of 5 per cent over the revised estimate of 2021-22. This included – Rs 6,000 crore to DST (42% of the total), Rs 5,636 crore to DSIR (40%), and Rs 2,581 crore to DBT (18%).
Union Budget 2021-22
In the Union Budget 2021-22, the Ministry of Science and Technology was allocated Rs 14,794 crore. This was an annual increase of 8 per cent over 2019-20.