President addresses both Houses of the Parliament; Budget Session begins

New Delhi, Feb 23 (KNN) As the Budget session of the Parliament began today, President Pranab Mukherjee addressed both the Houses.

In his address, he said that the development philosophy is captured in 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’.

Highlighting the key achievements of the government, he said that Make in India initiative has achieved 39% increase in FDI inflow despite adverse global investment climate.

Stating that the Government's mission of skilling India has gained momentum, Mukherjee said MGNREGA scheme has been revamped to ensure efficient disbursements of wages and creation of productive assets.

He said that the Government firmly believes that the economic development and environmental protection can co-exist.

Government has envisaged increasing the renewable energy capacity manifold to 175 GW by 2022, he said adding that today solar power is affordable and accessible to thousands of people.

He further said that the government introduced dynamic and comprehensive reforms in Coal sector and conducted transparent auction/ allocation of over 70 coal blocks.

Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation Act, 1957 was amended and auction of mines has commenced, he added.

President said that setting up world-class infrastructure for Electronics manufacturing across the country remains a priority for my Government and twenty nine Electronic Manufacturing Clusters are under development.

President also pointed that the country recorded the highest ever software exports during 2015.

Highlighting various other initiatives and new schemes of the government, he said that GDP growth has increased making India the world’s fastest growing economy among large economies. (KNN Bureau)