Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that the Union Budget for financial year 2021-’22 could fulfill expectations without burdening the common man. Hailing the Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Modi claimed that experts have appreciated its transparency.

“It is not very often that you get to see so many positive responses about a Budget in the first few hours itself,” the prime minister said. “It was widely expected that the government would raise burden on consumers amid the coronavirus crisis. But we increased the size of the budget keeping fiscal sustainability in mind.”

The prime minister said that the Budget focused on “new opportunities for growth, new openings for the youth and new heights for human resources”.

Appreciating the Budget’s focus on healthcare, Modi said that it mirrored India’s stance of being “pro-active” rather than “reactive” in the fight against the coronavirus crisis. He singled out the provisions made in the Budget for specific states.

“This Budget took a decisive step towards making coastal states like Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Kerala business power houses,” he said. “It will help in tapping the unexplored potential of northeastern states, like Assam.” Referring to allocations made in the agriculture sector, the prime minister said that the Budget will focus on increasing the income of farmers.

“The Agriculture Infrastructure Fund has been set up to strengthen the mandi [wholesale markets] system,” he said. “These decisions show that our villages and farmers are at the heart of this budget.”

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