In the emphasis on railways, energy, port corridors and tourism, Budget ignores the lessons learnt from climate disasters, makes no provisions to tackle pollution
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Budget Speech 2024 references the ‘Panchamrit’ goals of India’s international commitments of net-zero by 2070 made at CoP26 of the UNFCC; However, the Budget’s focus on “unprecedented development, and golden moments to realise the dream of developed India @ 2047” entirely dominates, at the cost of environment and of India’s climate commitments.
A focus for railways for “energy, mineral and cement corridors” will be implemented under the more-than-trillion-dollar PM Gati Shakti (which “will also help in safety and higher speed travel for passenger trains”).