In her address, the finance minister made it evident that the Union Budget 2021 would focus on the needs and business opportunities of all stakeholders.

The enunciation of measures taken by the government to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 reflects the intent and commitment of the government towards the road to economic recovery. The way to a V-shaped recovery of the economy has been paved. It was reiterated that the Atmanirbhar packages accelerated the pace of structural reforms and they would amount to almost 13 per cent of the GDP of the country.

While emphasising on self-reliance, the budget aims to strengthen the resolution of Nation First, doubling farmers’ income, strong infrastructure, healthy India, good governance, opportunities for youth, education for all, women empowerment, and inclusive development.

The verbatim of the Finance Minister's speech which quotes “It has reminded us of all the qualities that we as people, particularly our youth, epitomise: having abundant promise and the unsuppressed thirst to perform and to succeed” depicts that the government is looking forward to a new world that calls for inclusive and equitable growth.

To achieve this as well as fuel the vision of self-reliance, the government must focus on six pillars of growth. Driven by data analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, the launch of MCA21 Version 3.0 aims at the development of a fintech hub at GIFT-IFSC. This will provide a boost to digital payments and pave the way for significant investment in research and innovation; therefore generating huge employment opportunities in the IT sector.

The same focus has been laid on generating equal amounts of job opportunities in other sectors, namely automobile and textile. These organisations will be able to hire talent from across the country, therefore enabling tremendous job opportunities amongst the youth of Tier II, III, and IV cities. Along with this, the proposal of setting up a portal to collect and maintain the data of this workforce will determine the monitoring as well as ensuring of the required financial assurance for contractual workers amid testing times.

Another major provision of the budget that focuses on increasing employment opportunities is the push for a women’s workforce in significant numbers. The inclusion of women in all categories, including night shifts, is a big leap towards ensuring the social security of a large pool of the workforce.

The government has also worked on strengthening the startup ecosystem in the country, which will yield great results in times to come. Startups have significantly contributed towards generating innovative employment opportunities. Increasing the thresholds for both paid-up capital and turnover, and allowing capital gains tax exemption for startup investment, the government has shown intent to accelerate the momentum of entrepreneurship. An additional thrust on motivating the One Person Companies will have a stimulating effect on the economy of the country.

All this has been coupled up by a strong focus on education and skill development at all levels. The National Education Policy aims at enabling skill development courses at the school as well as college level, while the proposal of amendments in the National Apprenticeship Act is also encouraging. The extension of apprentice programs at global accredited institutions will help us in building niche and future-ready capabilities. With all such provisions in place, Budget 2021 seems to be catering to all and therefore stands true to its promise of a V-shaped recovery to the economy.

The author is the Managing Director and Co-Founder of Wonderchef

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