Make in India booster: National Manufacturing Mission to be launched

New Delhi, Feb 1: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced a National Manufacturing Mission to further boost the 'Make In India' initiative across industries, as the country becomes a bright spot on the global manufacturing map.

Presenting the Union Budget 2025-26, the Finance Minister said that the National Manufacturing Mission would support clean tech, and build an ecosystem for solar cells, EV batteries, and high voltage transmission equipment manufacturing at the local level.

The credit guarantee cover is to be enhanced for MSMEs to Rs 10 crore from Rs 5 crore and investment and turnover limit for classification of all MSMEs will be enhanced to 2.5 and 2 times, respectively.

The government will also introduce customised credit cards with a Rs 5 lakh limit for registered MSMEs.

The Finance Minister also announced Centres of Excellence in artificial intelligence (AI) for education, to be set up with a total outlay of Rs 500 crore.

The Union Budget focuses on 10 broad areas, including supporting MSMEs and promoting exports, agricultural growth and rural prosperity, manufacturing and financial inclusion, inclusive growth and development and a special focus on the poor, youth, farmers, and women.

"A scheme for socio-economic upliftment of urban workers to be set up. Social Security Scheme for the welfare of online platform workers would also be set up," said FM Sitharaman.

The government will also launch a focused product scheme for the footwear and leather sector, creating 22 lakh new jobs while generating significant exports.

The Budget Session of Parliament, which commenced on Friday, will be conducted in two phases - the first started on January 31 and will conclude on February 13, while the second phase will begin on March 10 and end on April 4.