The Union Budget for 2021-22 presented to Lok Sabha by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman, seeks to give the COVID-19 beaten economy a big push. Here are the budget proposals for 2021-22 of six pillars, let’s scroll up!
1.Health: The Budget has provided a substantial increase in investment in health infrastructure and the budget outlay for Health and Wellbeing is Rs 2,23,846 crore in BE (budget estimate) 2021-22 as against this year’s BE of Rs 94, 452 crores, an increase of 137 per cent. The Finance Minister said, “I have provided Rs 35,000 crores for Covid-19 vaccine in BE 2021-22. I am committed to providing further funds if required. ” A new Centrally sponsored scheme, PM AtmaNirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana, will be launched with an outlay of about Rs 64,180 crore over six years.
2.Infrastructure: Monetizing operating public infrastructure assets is a very important financing option for new infrastructure construction, the FM said. Indian Railways have prepared a National Rail Plan for India” 2030. The Plan is to create a ‘Future-ready’ Railway system by 2030.
3.Divestment: “In spite of Covid-19, we have kept working towards strategic disinvestment,” the FM said. A number of transactions like BPCL, Air India, Shipping Corporation of India, Container Corporation of India, IDBI Bank, BWML, Pawan Hans, Neelachal Ispat Nigam Limited would be completed in 2021-22.
- For Taxpayers- No IT filing for senior citizens above 75 years who get pension and earn interest from deposits. No change in income tax slabs.
- For Investors- Proposal to increase foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in the insurance sector to 74 per cent, a move aimed at attracting greater overseas capital inflows to help enhance insurance penetration in the country.
- For Consumers- In a relief for electricity consumers, the FM announced that the government will soon provide a framework to allow the consumers to choose between different service providers. The imposition of Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess of Rs 2.5 per litre on petrol and Rs 4 per litre on diesel will not result in any additional burden on consumers.
