Union Budget 2021 Likely To Be Presented On Feb 1, Budget Session Of Parliament From Jan 29: Report

According to the Committee's recommendation, while Part 1 of the Budget session would be held from January 29 to February 15, Part 2 would be from March 8 to April 8.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman along with MoS for Finance Anurag Thakur and a team of officials, outside the Ministry of Finance. (File Photo/ Getty)

Budget 2021: The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs (CCPA) has recommended that the Budget session of Parliament commence from January 29 and conclude on April 8. According to the Committee's recommendation, while Part 1 of the Budget session would be held from January 29 to February 15, Part 2 would be from March 8 to April 8. As per reports, President Ram Nath Kovind will address the joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament on January 29. Sources close to news agency PTI said that all Covid-19 related protocols would be followed during the session. The final decision on the commencement of the session will be taken by the Union Cabinet of Ministers. However, it is being reported that the Union Budget 2021 is likely to be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1. Meanwhile economic experts believe that several industries will get big push in the Union Budget 2021-22 as the country focuses on ways to reverse the Covid-19 induced economic slowdown. The focus of Modi government's Budget for 2021-22 fiscal could be drawn up around the Atmanirbhar Bharat scheme, with specific push for migrant labourers- importance of this segment which has been highlighted only with the onset of the pandemic. Sources close to news agency IANS say that industries such as manufacturing, healthcare, agriculture, infrastructure and housing would also be the focus in the coming Budget. Apart from these, the Union Government is reportedly considering several policy measures for the Indian banking sector, including setting up of a bad bank and privatisation of few state-run banks. According to sources, there are talks of reducing the number of public sector banks (PSBs) to four from the current 12. In the Union Budget for FY21, the government had set a disinvestment target of Rs 2.1 lakh crore. The target has, however, been described as ambitious by many as the Centre was not able to reach anywhere near its target in the last fiscal. The already lagging disinvestment plans have been severely impacted by the ongoing pandemic. The Budget for the next fiscal starting April 2021 is considered to the starting point for picking up the pieces after the economic destruction. India's economy had been losing momentum even ahead of the shock delivered by the COVID-19 crisis. The rate of GDP growth sank to a more than ten-year low of 4.2 per cent in 2019, down from 6.1 per cent the previous year.