Finance Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman has begun presenting the Union Budget 2021-22 in
Parliament. The budget comes at a time when India is battling the coronavirus pandemic and the economy is reeling under
the aftereffects of the lockdown.

At the start of the joint session
of Parliament on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said the Finance
minister had already announced three to four mini budgets and that the 2021-22
Budget should be seen as an extension of the same effort. After an estimated
7.7 per cent contraction in 2020-21, the Finance Ministry’s
Economic Survey projects that India’s real GDP would
record a growth of 11 per cent in 2021-22. The nominal GDP growth has been
estimated at 15.4 per cent, implying an assumption of 4.4 per cent inflation
during the year.

Sitharaman has raised hopes by stating
that Budget 2021-22 will “be a Budget like never before.” Expectations are high that
the government will boost economic revival by focusing on infrastructure,
healthcare, agriculture, rural economy, MSMEs sectors impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown
restrictions.

This would be Sitharaman’s third
budget under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government led by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi. In a significant departure from the tradition, this
year’s Budget will be unique as it will be paperless.