New Delhi: India Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is all set to deliver today her promised “like never before” Budget, the ninth under the Modi government which includes an interim Budget and the first one amid the COVID-19 crisis. It goes without saying that the Budget will focus on providing relief to the pandemic-hit common man while ensuring economic recovery through higher spending across sectors.

It is expected that the govt will try to pull the economy out of the trough through higher spending on healthcare, infrastructure and defence amid rising tensions with neighbors.

As India emerges from the COVID-19 crisis, the ninth budget under the Modi government, including an interim one, is widely expected to focus on boosting spending on job creation and rural development, generous allocations for development schemes, putting more money in the hands of the average taxpayer and easing rules to attract foreign investments.

Sitharaman, who had in her first budget in 2019 replaced leather briefcase that had been for decades used for carrying budget documents with a traditional red cloth 'bahi-khata', had earlier this month stated that the budget for the fiscal year beginning April will be "like never before". The budget, economists and experts say, will be the starting point for picking up the pieces after the economic destruction caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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