Mineral corridors to infra boost: What FM Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget has for poll-bound states

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday announced several measures for states and smaller cities, identifying them as the new engines of economic growth. Several of the FM's announcements are also set to benefit states that are set to go to polls during the year. Underlining the government's focus on the semiconductor mission and emphasis on building domestic capital-goods capabilities and creating an independent supply chain, the Finance Minister identified mineral-rich states such as Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala as key to securing access to rare earth resources. "We will launch Indian Semiconductor Mission 2.0 to produce equipment and materials, design full stack Indian IP and fortify supply chains. The allocation for electronics component manufacturing programme will be nearly doubled from Rs 23,000 crore to Rs 40,000 crore. The government will help establish dedicated corridors in states like Odisha, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu for ...