India / 100 yrs of India wouldn't have seen anything like FY22 Budget: FM

New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said the forthcoming Budget for the financial year 2021-22 (FY22) will be like no other in the past and will help India emerge as the engine for global growth.  

She added that the government is seeking growth-inducing big ideas and inputs derived from introspection by industry, which would be used for formulating the 'budget as never before'. 

“Send me your inputs so that we can see a budget which is a Budget like never before, in a way. 100 years of India wouldn't have seen a Budget being made post-pandemic like this”. 

"And that is not going to be possible unless I get your inputs and wish list, clear observation of what has put you through the challenge… Without that, it is impossible for me to draft something which is going to be that Budget like never before, a Budget which is being made after a pandemic," the finance minister added.

She said India's economic resurgence will help the world to recover during this COVID-19 while addressing the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Partnership Summit 2020. The event was organised by CII in collaboration with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

The finance minister said investment in research & development in medicine, biotechnology, and pharmaceuticals were the need of the hour at a time when the country is middle of a pandemic.

Notably, India’s expenditure on healthcare and education sectors has been woefully inadequate over the years under different governments. 

According to the 15th Finance Commission in its first report said health sector has been neglected over decades. It saw collective expenditure, by states and Centre, of 0.95% of GDP in 2017-18 against 2.5% targeted in the National Policy on Health.

The Union Budget for FY22 is set to be presented in Parliament on February 1, 2021. The finance minister started the pre-budget consultations with different stakeholder groups on December 14.