Budget 2018: Govt putting focus on agri sector; big boost for infra

Agriculture credit has been increased by 10%-or Rs 1 trillion - Rs 11 trillion for 2018-19

In the last full budget by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance before the election in 2019, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley increased the allocation for agriculture by 13% and infrastructure by 21% with a clear focus on rural India, where 69% of the population or 834 million Indians live.

The budget for the farm and allied sectors has risen nearly 13% for 2018-19 to Rs 63,836 crore from the revised estimate of Rs 56,589 crore in 2017-18, according to Budget 2018-19.

Jaitley set aside Rs 5.97 lakh