Budget for Aatmanirbhar Bharat

New Delhi. Feb 01: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, announcing Budget 2021 aimed at reviving an economy badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic, said the country’s healthcare spending would be doubled to Rs 2,23,846 crore and added that 35,000 crore would be spent on Covid vaccines. Capital expenditure will be increased to Rs 5.54 lakh crore, which is around 34 per cent higher than last year. The government also announced infrastructure projects in states like Bengal and Assam, where polls are due by May. While there were no big tax announcements, the Finance Minister announced a reprieve for pensioners who are 75-plus, who will no longer be required to file tax returns. Ms Sitharaman said the Budget was prepared in circumstances like never before and that the government was fully prepared to back and facilitate a reset of the economy.