Nirmala Sitharaman, presenting her maiden union budget, announced that the government will examine opening up FDI in media, aviation, animation sectors. She also said that 100 per cent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) will be permitted for the insurance intermediary. The newly appointed Finance Minister added that FDI inflow in India has been strong unlike the global trends that has taken a dip recently. Sitharaman said that India will become a $3 trillion economy in the financial year 2019-2020.
Another big announcement was on local sourcing norms for single brand retail sector, which Sitharaman said will be eased. "FDI inflows have remained robust despite global headwinds. India's FDI inflows remained strong despite global slippages. We saw a 6% y-o-y growth in foreign investment," added Sitharaman. "I propose to merge NRI portfolio investment route with the FPI route as well," she added.
The Finance minister also added that government is thinking of organising an annual global investors' meet in India that will involve corporates, investors and other agents crucial to the process.
India's first full-time woman finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented her maiden union budget at 11 am on July 5. Sitharaman reached the Parliament an hour ahead of time with the budget document folded in a red traditional cloth or 'bahi khaata' sealed with the government seal. Chief Economic Advisor K Subramanian said that it was a departure from "slavery of western tradition". The red cloth symbolises the 'bahi khaata' traditionally used in every Indian business set up to maintain accounts.
Analysts and the media had predicted that her first budget will be focused on the middle class and the poor and that it will take the SoPs presented in the interim budget by Piyush Goyal in February further. Sitharaman has to deal with income tax exemption slabs, unemployment and form a pro-janta budget with the added task of pulling the country out of a five year low. With former Education Minister Prakash Javadekar promising that the government will try its best to spend 6 per cent of the GDP on education and the PM stressing on the youth development and innovation, eyes are on Sitharaman's budget to bring the change.
