Budget 2021 Live: Only 3 times, Budget followed contraction, says FM

India has always been Aatmanirbhar and a business epicentre, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that in the history of Independent India, only three times, Budget followed contraction. This time, the contraction is due to contraction in the global economy, she added.

Aatmanirbhar packages announced in view of Covid-19 pandemic were like 5 mini budgets, the finance minister said.

” We are ever grateful for the strength and rigour of our scientists,” FM said adding that India has two vaccines against Covid-19 and two are on the way.

The preparation of the Budget was done in situation unprecedented, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman begins her speech amid uproar from House members.

MPs will be distributed the digital copies of the Budget.

The Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved Budget for the fiscal year 2021-22.

Cabinet meeting has begun ahead of Nirmala Sitharaman’s Budget speech today at 11am.

Nirmala Sitharaman has promised a Budget like never before. And indications have started coming in for an unprecedented budget as for the first time, the finance minister will read out her Budget speech from a tab, which has been made in India — a Budget where Digital India meets Aatmanirbhar Bharat. Read

Nirmala Sitharaman shows her tab, which contains her paper-less Budget speech, as she enters Parliament ahead of Cabinet meeting

After meeting the President, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has now reached Parliament. Union home minister Amit Shah and Union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan have also reached Parliament.

After leaving the finance ministry office, minister Nirmala Sitharama has now reached the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The App facilitates complete access to 14 Union Budget documents, including the Annual Financial Statement (commonly known as Budget), Demand for Grants (DG), and Finance Bill as prescribed by the Constitution.

On one hand, there are Budget speeches that lasted long. On the other, there are speeches that have the highest word counts. In 1991, Manmohan Singh’s Budget speech had 18,650 words. Arun Jaitley’s Budget speech in 2018 had 18,604 words.

Nirmala Sitharaman’s Budget speech 2020 was the longest going by the duration. Her speech lasted for about two hours and 40 minutes. She even felt unwell and had cut her speech short. In 2003, Jaswant Singh made a record of two hours and 15 minutes.

Sensex surges 443 points to 46,728.83 in opening trade ahead of Budget presentation; Nifty up 114.85 pts at 13,749.45

For decades, the practice was to carry Budget documents in a briefcase. In 2019, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman broke away from the tradition and embraced Indian Bahi Khata. India’s fist finance minister RK Shanmukham Chetty carries a leather portfolio to present the first Budget in 1947. But as this year’s Budget is paperless, Bahi Khata is out, and a tab is in. The tab has been placed inside a red cover with emblem Ashok Stambh embossed on it in golden — bearing a semblance with Bahi Khata.

The tablet is made in India. The focus is on ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’

This is the first time that the finance ministry has launched a mobile application exclusively for Budget 2021. Go to www.indiabudget.gov.in and download the app to get access to Nirmala Sitharaman’s Budget speech today.

9am: Minister is expected to leave for Rashtrapati Bhawan

10am – Minister reaches Parliament

10.15am – Cabinet Meeting in Parliament

11am – Budget speech begins

3pm – Post-Budget Conference by Nirmala Sitharaman

In her first Budget in 2019, Nirmala Sitharaman donned a purple-ish pink saree and one of the themes was ‘Nari tu Narayani’.

Budget 2020’s theme was aspirational India and the finance minister represented it in a mustard gold silk saree.

For the much-awaited Budget 2021, Nirmala Sitharaman has chosen red and white.

Ahead of Union Budget 2021, minister of state, finance, Anurag Thakur hinted that the Budget will be in accordance with people’s expectations. “Government which functions on mantra of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas’ gave new direction to India by announcing Aatmanirbhar package, protecting it from pandemic and bringing economy back on track swiftly,” he said.

All set for Nirmala Sitharaman’s ‘economic vaccine’

The finance ministry on Sunday said the January collections of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) were the highest ever since the implementation of the tax in July 2017. The figures reached ₹1.20 lakh crore in January.

The budget is expected to revolve around the philosophy of “growth with a human touch”. It could focus on raising farmers’ income, generating jobs for the young, improving healthcare standards, ease of compliance for citizens and business, big infrastructure projects, continued support to MSMEs and a push to make India self-reliant to become a key player in the global supply chain. Read

The budget is likely to boost public health spending in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, which highlighted gaps in the country’s health infrastructure. The survey has sought an increase in public health spending to 2.5-3% of GDP from the existing 1%. Full story

The government could increase deductions under section 80 C. Currently, the deduction limit under section 80C of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (Act) for specified tax-saving investments is ₹1.5 lakh. It is expected that the government might increase this limit up to ₹2.5 lakh. Full story

Investors will keenly watch how Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman balances the need to spend big to spur a budding economic recovery amid limited fiscal room as she rises to present the Union budget on Monday.

Revised estimates for 2020-21, fiscal deficit, tax devolution to states, disinvestment plans, welfare spending. Read