Amidst the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and ahead of the first phase of polling in five key Assembly elections, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the 8th budget of the Narendra Modi government on Tuesday, February 1. This is Sitharaman’s fourth budget. She is expected to have plans to boost spending to revive investment and create jobs. The Budget for the fiscal year starting April 1, 2022, is likely to raise spending on infrastructure to set the economy on a firmer footing.

While Indian corporates are expecting some key announcements which will enable them to reset their growth agenda, individual taxpayers are expecting some more disposable income in their hands to invest and consume more. On Monday, January 31, the Economic Survey said India's economy is expected to grow by 8-8.5% in the fiscal beginning April 1 and is well placed to meet the future challenges on the back of widespread vaccine coverage, supply-side reforms and easing of regulations. Meanwhile, the Indian economy contracted by 6.6% in 2020-21 as against the earlier estimate of 7.3% contraction, showing that the coronavirus pandemic-hit economy did not perform as badly as was initially thought.

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