Ritik Gupta
Budget 2021 updates: The budget by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman comes as an economic vaccine for the pandemic-battered economy and to steer India with the much-needed stimulus to boost demand and consumer confidence
New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is addressing parliament with details of the Union Budget 2021. She announced a foreign direct investment (FDI) hike in insurance to 74 percent from 49 percent with foreign control under safeguards. The Finance Minister has established a target of Rs 16.5 lakh crore as agricultural credit. Her budget speech comes after a challenging year for the economy due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which shut down businesses for months, leading to lost earnings, reduced consumer spending, and job cuts.
“The total impact of Atmanirbhar Bharat and measures by RBI was Rs 27.1 lakh crore, which amounts to 30 percent of GDP,” Ms. Sitharaman said. “2021 is a year of many milestones,” she said.
The ninth budget – comprising an interim one – of the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has put weightage on establishing jobs and rural development – two sectors hit hardest by the pandemic. Today’s budget will have to go far beyond what the mini-budget in September 2019 accomplished by decreasing corporate tax and the next economy-booster proclamations during the lockdown needed by the pandemic. The budget appears as an economic vaccine for the pandemic-battered economy and steers India with the much-needed impetus to heighten demand and consumer confidence.
