The Union Budget 2021 is just around the corner and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman faces the daunting task of boosting the Indian economy as it slowly recovers from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and ensuing lockdowns. Even as the FM has promised a budget unlike anything seen before, citizens are hoping to see some relaxations in the income tax, among other reliefs.
Read: Union Budget 2021-22: What should we expect beyond populism?
Let us take a look at some of the key things you need to know about the Budget 2021:
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Budget on February 1 and this will be her third Budget presentation under the Narendra Modi-led NDA government. President Ram Nath Kovind will address both the houses from 11 am.
This year's Budget is more significant than many of its predecessors and that is why tight security measures are ensured in and outside the Parliament with high-tech surveillance, sweeps for electronic bugs, hidden cameras or scanners, to avoid leaks before the presentation. All MPs will be requested to undergo Covid-19 test before the start of the Budget session and arrangement for the same will be made in the Parliament premises from January 27.
A Union Budget Mobile App app has been launched that will offer detailed information on important announcements on funds allocated to key infrastructure projects including Railways and government schemes in addition to news on changes in income tax slab for salaried class.
Also read: Healthcare service providers urge govt to increase healthcare spend in budget
The coronavirus pandemic has forced the government to go paperless. Every year, to maintain the secrecy, the Finance ministry groups more than 100 people for printing budget documents near Parliament and on the presentation day, they distribute them to parliament members and media.
This time, with Covid-19 protocol still in force, the government has decided to do away with printing any Budget 2021-22 documents and it will instead be distributed electronically.
This will be the first time since the presentation of independent India's first budget on November 26, 1947, that the documents containing income and expenditure statement of the Union government along with finance bill, detailing new tax and other measures for the new financial year, will not be physically printed.
The Budget for FY22 will come against the backdrop of an economic contraction of 7.7 per cent, the first time in the history of independent India.
The core team engaged to prepare the Budget comprises the likes of Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur, Finance Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Economic Affairs Secretary Tarun Bajaj, Financial Services Secretary Debasish Panda, DIPAM Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Expenditure Secretary T V Somanathan and Chief Economic Adviser K V Subramanian and other seniors.