Andalib Akhter / NEW DELHI
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has stressed that Capital Expenditure has been increased to generate more jobs and thrust has been given on it in the Union Budget. Briefing media here after presenting the Budget, Ms Sitharaman said, increased outlay for capital expenditure or public investment will have an immediate impact on job creation and Production Linked Incentives for new manufacturing units are being provided in 14 sectors which will also create jobs. She said, emphasis has been given to the Infrastructure sector so that more jobs are created.
The Minister said, the pandemic snatched away so many jobs across the world and the Atmanirbhar Bharat Package saved the jobs of a lot of people. She said, Government is trying to help those who lost their jobs, through various schemes. Ms Sitharaman said, several steps have been taken to increase the income of farmers like provision of MSP procurement, solar pumps, and Agri credit. Replying to a media query, the Finance Minister said, Hospitality sector needed support as the sector was in difficulty post-second wave of Covid-19 pandemic. She said, Emergency Credit Line Guarantee worked well for MSMEs and Government has added 50 thousand Crore rupees to ECLGS for benefit of hospitality and related sectors.
Ms Sitharaman said, Air India sale shows government’s intent on divestment. She added that LIC IPO in all probability is going through this year. Ms Sitharaman said, Government is taking several steps to tackle issues like unemployment and inflation. She said, Government didn’t allow inflation to go double-digit, it breached the 6 percent limit for a month but never crossed it. The Minister said, however, before 2014 it was always in the range of 10,11,12,13. On a question on Cryptocurrency, she said, RBI will issue digital currency and no discussions over what are Crypto and Crypto assets for now.
Ms Sitharaman said, consultation with stakeholders is underway and the description of digital assets will come after the consultation. She said, everything that prevails outside of it is assets being created by individuals and Government is taxing profits made out of transactions of those assets at 30 percent. Replying to a question, The Minister said, Government has not tried to earn even a single paisa by increasing tax this year and even last year. She said, the Prime Minister had given clear instructions that people should not be burdened with taxes at the time of the pandemic, notwithstanding the deficit.