Budget 2021 will set path for the decade, says finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Speaking at a post-budget interaction held by Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Bengaluru, Sitharaman said that the budget is not just for this year, "but for setting the path for the decade."

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said that Union Budget 2021-22 is about the role of government as a facilitator and the private sector as a key driver of economic growth, without which the country would be losing a big opportunity.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Speaking at a post-budget interaction held by Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Bengaluru, Sitharaman said that the budget is not just for this year, "but for setting the path for the decade."

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented her third Union Budget for the financial year of 2021-22 on February 1. In the budget, the government proposed to privatise most central public sector enterprises (CPSEs). "Firms will be privatised in sectors other than atomic energy, space and defence; transport and telecommunications; power, petroleum, coal and other minerals; and banking, insurance and financial services," she had said in her budget speech.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other government ministers had praised the budget saying it will help the country's economy and create a lot of employment opportunities. The opposition, however, criticised the privatisation plans. "Modi Govt plans to hand over India's assets to his crony capitalist friends," Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had said.