Delivering on her promise of unveiling a ‘Budget Like No Other’, the Finance Minister announced a raft of prudent measures aimed at rejuvenating government spending towards critical areas of increasing allocation on infrastructure expansion, education, housing and health as India rolls out a vaccine drive to inoculate 1.3 billion people”, said Uday Kotak, President CII. “Laying down the vision for providing further fillip to the government’s flagship Atmanirbhar Bharat Programme by spelling out the measures under the critical six pillars, the Budget ticked all the right boxes which would strengthen the path of recovery of the economy. This is a budget catering to all aspects of lives, livelihoods and growth”, Kotak added.
Recognizing the need for giving infrastructure investments a renewed push, Kotak said that the sector received key priority from the Government in the form of several important announcements. The announcement regarding the setting up of the Development Financial Institution (DFI) which is likely to play a critical role in channelizing investments in infrastructure and other key sectors of the economy, is in line with CII’s recommendations. “In addition, the setting up of National Asset Monetisation Pipeline is a great initiative by the government and is likely to not only boost sentiment but will also generate additional resources for the government. This is something which CII has been very strongly advocating with the Government, highlighted Kotak. Other measures such as setting up of seven Mega Investment Textile parks, giving choice to consumers to chose from more than one distribution company to buy power are in line with CII’s recommendations.