Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman is going to present the union budget for the year 2021 today. Ahead of the budget that is going to be announced from 11 am onwards, the finance minister will hold a meeting at 10.15 am.
Union budget 2021 is the 9th budget of the Modi government and the 3rd to be presented by Nirmala Sitharaman.
In a historic move, the upcoming budget will be paperless as the Finance Ministry has decided not to print the budget documents keeping in view the Covid pandemic.
With the havoc that the Coronavirus pandemic wreaked on the economy, this year’s budget holds special importance. Sitharaman has said that Union budget 2021 will be like “never before”.
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Parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi on Saturday said that the budget session which began on January 29, will take up 38 legislative terms.
What To Expect
This year's budget faces unprecedented challenges as the country hopes to recover from the coronavirus pandemic that ravaged almost every other sector.
The year saw thousands of people either losing their jobs or facing a salary cut. The finance minister could likely be looking at income tax deductions.
There are chances of Sitharaman unveiling plans to shift the economy from survival mode to revival mode to meet projections of 11 percent growth rate in the next financial year.
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The government expenditure is likely to double on healthcare infrastructure especially after the pandemic shed a light on the burdened sector. The government’s expenditure in the sector is likely to go up to 4 percent of gross domestic output in the coming four years. It is also possible that the government could levy an increased health tax.
With the pandemic-hit sectors such as real estate, aviation, tourism and autos, corporates and industry sector could expect some tax relief.
