Here's All You Need to Know About the Union Budget 2021

On Monday, 1 February 2021, the Union Budget was read out at the Lok Sabha (Lower House) by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Here are the Key Highlights of The Union Budget 2021:

Rs. 2,23,846 crore allocated for health & welfare.

• PM Aatmanirbhar Swastha Bharat Yojana will be launched with an outlay of ₹64,180 crore over 6 years.

• Pneumococcal vaccine, a made in India product, will be rolled out across India.

• Government to launch Mission Poshan 2.0.

• Jal Jeevan Mission Urban will be launched.

• ₹35,000 crore announced for Covid-19 vaccine.

What gets costlier & what gets cheaper?

• Mobile phones & chargers, Imported gemstones & raw silk, Solar cells, Auto parts are going to be expensive.

• Iron, steel & copper items, Nylon clothes, Gold & Silver, Leather goods are going to be cheaper.

Infrastructure:

• ₹1.10 lakh crore outlay for railways, of which ₹1.7 lakh crore is for capital expenditure.

• ₹18,000 crores to support augmentation of Public Bus Transport Services.

• ₹7,000 crore transmission assets to be transferred to PGCIL.

• 100% electrification of rail broad gauge routes to be completed by December 2023.

• ₹1.18 lakh crore allocated for the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

Centre aims to complete 11,000 km of national highway infrastructure this year: Finance Minister

• 3,500 km corridor in Tamil Nadu.

• 1,100 km in Kerala at investment of ₹65,000 cr.

• 675 km in West Bengal at a cost of ₹95,000 cr.

• 1,300 km in Assam in the next 3 years.

MSMEs & Start-Ups

• Provided ₹15,700 crore for MSME sector, more than double of what it was.

• Incentivise incorporation of One Person Companies (OPCs) to boost startups.

• Definition of small companies will be revised by raising capital base to ₹2 crore from 50 lakh.

• Tax holidays for startups extended by one year, till 31st March 2022.

Expenditure:

• Government to set up a ₹20,000 crore Development Financial Institution aiming to have lending portfolio of ₹5 lakh crore in 3 years.

• Capital expenditure announced at ₹5.54 lakh crore.

• Announced over 2 lakh crores to states and autonomous bodies for capital expenditure.

• Union Budget allocates ₹1,500 crore to promote digital mode of payment.

Focus on Energy Transition:

• Government has outlaid ₹3.05 lakh crore for power sector.

• 100 more districts to be added in the next 3 years to the City Gas Distribution network.

• New gas pipeline project for Jammu and Kashmir.

• ₹1,000 crore announced for solar energy corporation.

• ₹1,500 crore announced for renewable energy development agency.

Financial Reforms:

• Exemption from filing tax for elderly, over 75 with only pension & interest income.

• NRIs to be spared from double taxation.

• Proposed tax exemption for notified affordable housing for migrant workers.

• Set disinvestment target of ₹1.75 lakh crore for 2021-22.

• Strategic sale of IDBI Bank, BPCL, Pawan Hans, Air India, among others; Government also plans to bring the IPO of LIC.

Agricultural Sector:

• Over ₹75,000 crore paid to wheat farmers in 2020-21, ₹43.36 lakh benefited from this: Finance Minister

• India Agri Credit Target Raised to ₹16.5 Lakh Crore.

• Agriculture infra fund to be increased to ₹40,000 crore.

• Operation green scheme to cover 22 more perishable commodities.

Education Allocation:

• A 100 new Sainik schools to be set-up.

• 750 Eklavya schools in tribal areas.

• A central University in Leh for accessible higher education.

• National Language translation mission to translate policy-related information.