The Central Government will support the development of a world-class FinTech hub at the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT), which will, in turn, help in creating around 1.5 lakh jobs for the youth, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said while announcing the Union Budget 2021. GIFT is India's first International Financial Services Centre(IFSC), embodies this vision with conducive IFSC, Multi-services Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and an exclusive domestic zone.
Given that there is a lack of finance for infrastructure and long gestation projects, the Finance Minister also announced the setting up of a Development Financial Institution. The DFI will have statutory backing and Rs 27,000 crore capital. To differentiate it from DFIs that existed in the past, she added that the DFI will be professionally managed.
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Nirmala Sitharaman presented her third budget this year at 11 am at the Lok Sabha. Amid the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, the Finance Minister presented a paperless budget. This is the first time in India's history that a paperless Union Budget was presented. As the budget papers will not be printed, the Finance Minister had also launched an official mobile app to provide complete access to all budget documents. The mobile app can be downloaded from the Union Budget Web Portal www.indiabudget.gov.in.
The Finance Minister had assured a budget “like never before”. The budget 2021 has a greater significance as it comes amid the COVID-19 pandemic which has caused economic disruption. FM Nirmala Sitharaman replaced the Swadeshi 'bahi khata' and switched to a tablet. She was seen carrying a tablet kept inside a red coloured cover with a golden coloured national emblem embossed on it. The Economic Survey 2020, presented by FM Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday pegged the GDP growth at 11 per cent in Financial Year 2022.
