The Union Budget 2022 is just around the corner and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman faces the daunting task of boosting the Indian economy as it is reeling from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and Covid induced lockdowns due to the new variant. Even as India plans to raise spending on infrastructure in its annual budget to set the economy on a firmer footing, industry experts have started sharing their insights on their expectations from the upcoming Budget.
Let us take a look at some of the key things you need to know about Budget 2022:
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Budget on February 1 and this will be her fourth Budget presentation under the Narendra Modi-led NDA government. President Ram Nath Kovind will address both 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.
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 slabs for salaried classes.
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.
With the Covid-19 protocol still in force, like last year, the government has decided to do away with printing any Budget 2022-23 documents and it will instead be distributed electronically.
This will be the second 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 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.
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