India's Cautious Budget Boosts Sectors, Aims to Stimulate Growth
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has presented a cautious Budget that tackles a range of issues, boosting various sectors and addressing economic challenges. The Budget aims to stimulate growth and development, with a focus on technology, industry, and agriculture.
The Budget has increased provisions for industrial and infrastructure development, with significant boosts for transport infrastructure and IT and telecom sectors. To aid the industrial sector, the Budget proposed an Investment Clearance Cell, schemes for boosting electronics and technical textiles sectors, and the NIRVIK scheme for exporters' insurance.
To ensure India keeps pace with technological advancements, the Budget emphasised current and future technologies. This comes after the Union Budget 2020 was presented when the economy was projected to grow at an 11-year low of 5%.
The Budget also introduced a Taxpayers Charter and reviewed business laws for decriminalisation, focusing on developing specific manufacturing sectors with potential. Additionally, a 16-point programme was introduced to modernise the farming sector and improve farmers' income, with a 28.1% increase in allocation for 'agriculture and allied activities' to Rs 1.55 lakh crore.
The Budget aims to address issues such as loss of consumer demand, falling sales, struggling industries, and falling credit growth. The fiscal deficit was 3.8% of the GDP in FY20 and is budgeted at 3.5% of the GDP for 2020-21. The electricity sector is also set to benefit from the extension of the 15% corporate tax option.
