And there is a general expectation that this budget be transformational in its measures for healthcare, job creation and the other micro, small and medium enterprises, which even before the Pandemic were dealing with a very sluggish economy. So as I said, this is a crucial year when the economy conference it's first ever de growth and is technically in a recession, with the last two successive quarters showing a contraction and GDP
Karan Dev
@Karan.Dev · 0:44
And I think there are a lot of consultations which took place for this budget, what's last few weeks? So it'll be interesting again to note the insights that came out of those consultations and how that was also added to the budget. But I look forward to continuing this conversation with you. Thank you
Apart from this, there is hope that there will be a deduction for remote working set up because a lot of people have been working from home and hopefully there would be a standard deduction of 50,000 from the gross income that could be provided to provide for expenses incurred by employees who are working from home
Swell Team
@Swell · 0:15
Thank you guys for joining in. So I am listening to the Honorable Finance Minister reading out the I mean, introducing the budget. So before she gets into the thick coat of things, I just wanted to share here about the Union Budget mobile app, which has been launched for the members of the Parliament and the general public to access budget documents using digital means
Karan Dev
@Karan.Dev · 0:17
Hey Ramya, thank you so much for sharing that update. I think this app will make life easier because a lot of these documents are a bit difficult to access, or there are too many steps involved in the process. So it's good that the government coming out with this innovation
Wow, the budget speech is still going on. A couple of surprises there, but I just wanted to share one or two key announcements. So the Finance Minister says that Nittya Yoga would be asked to work on the next list of central public sector companies for Disinvestment. So barring four strategic areas, PSUs in other sectors will be divested is what she has announced. Also, another key announcement is the percentage of FDI cap and insurance
Andrew Sam
@andrewsam · 0:32
Hey Ramya, I got to know about this app like two, three days before and I downloaded it. The updates about the budget on the app will be available only after the budget presentation is over. So anyone downloading the app now to get a real time feed might not be getting it once the Finance Minister finishes a presentation and after a little while, I think it should be there on the app to access looking forward to how the formatting would be
Karan Dev
@Karan.Dev · 0:22
I also wanted to add that there's been an over 450 crore outlet for infrastructure projects in the south. I think this is a good step because the south has historically felt quite nickel elected, especially when the budget is announced. So it'll be interesting to see how these projects come about
Hey, Karan, interesting that you should bring that up because I was kind of getting the wives that probably this announcement has something to do with the fact that you have elections coming up in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. And I also noticed that a lot of plans are in the pipeline for West Bengal as well, which again, is heading into elections very soon
Karan Dev
@Karan.Dev · 0:16
Hey Ramya, I think your spot on it has everything to do with the elections. I don't think there are many other dimensions to this at all, but it is a good byproduct I guess that these States are receiving money, but thanks so much for being of that point
While this would also kind of bring down our oil import bills a little bit, another way of looking at it would be that major automotive manufacturers could even explore this vehicle scrapage options and set up infrastructure for that with a name to develop it as a separate industry, thereby generating more employment opportunities. So I was kind of very pleased at the this announcement. This is something quite new and something long bending, I would say
