Heena Sharma Blog

  Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will be presenting her third Budget in a short while from now. Here are the key numbers to watch out for in the Budget for 2021-22 , which is widely expected to be a " economic vaccine " for the pandemic-battered economy. Sitharaman, who had in her first budget in 2019 replaced leather briefcase -- which had been in use for decades for carrying budget documents -- with a traditional red cloth 'bahi-khata', had last month stated that the budget for the fiscal year 2021-22 will be "like never before". Check Budget live updates here Covid-19 spending: India has started the world's largest Covid inoculation programme from January 16 and is using two vaccines Covishield and Covaxin. The expenditure on vaccination this fiscal as well as in the next would be the most watched figures in the Budget. Fiscal Deficit: The budgeted fiscal deficit, which is the difference between government expenditure and income, was 3.5 pe...

A cut in personal income tax, sops for rural and agriculture sectors as well as an aggressive push on infrastructure spending are likely to be part of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman 's "feel-good" second Budget. Facing the worst economic slowdown in more than a decade, Sitharaman is expected to pull out all stops to spur consumer demand and investment, government sources and economists said. Sitharaman's second Budget, to be presented on February 1, is expected to announce measures to restore economic growth and to set out a clear road map for achieving the ambitious target of USD 5 trillion economy by 2025. Investments have failed to pick up despite corporate tax cuts and other stimulus measures, higher FDI inflows, plans to consolidate state-owned banks and monetary easing. After corporate tax cuts in September last year, speculation is rife about possible reduction in personal income taxes. A combination of an increase in the basic exemption limit...

To spur economic growth and achieve $5 trillion economy, India needs to spend about $1.4 trillion on the infrastructure sector during FY2020-2025, the Economic Survey tabled in Parliament said on Friday. Investment in infrastructure is necessary for the economy, as power shortages, inadequate transport and poor connectivity affects overall growth performance, as per the Economic Survey 2019-20, tabled in Parliament by Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. "To achieve GDP of $5 trillion by 2024–2025, India needs to spend about $1.4 trillion (Rs 100 trillion) over these years on infrastructure so that lack of infrastructure does not become a constraint to the growth of Indian economy. "NIP is expected to enable well prepared infrastructure projects that will create jobs, improve ease of living and provide equitable access for infrastructure for all thereby making growth more inclusive", the Survey said. As per the National Infrastr...