Union Budget 2021: Finance Min Nirmala Sitharaman to present Economic Survey 2020-21 today

With the Budget Session of the Parliament inching closer, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Economic Survey 2020-21 in the Parliament on Friday. Usually, the Economic Survey is presented a day before the Budget, however this year as the Budget follows the weekend, the Economic Survey will be presented earlier than usual. According to Finance Ministry, after the presentation of the Economic Survey, Chief Economic Adviser KV Subramanian will address a press conference at 2:30 pm in New Delhi. 

What is the Economic Survey?

The Economic Survey provides a review of the economy of the current financial year and also forecasts a path for the coming year. This year's survey holds a major significance because of the economic upheavals owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is year's Economic Survey will also project India's gross domestic product growth for 2021-22 as well. The practice of presenting the Economic Survey dates back to 1950-51 and until 1964, it used to be presented along with the Union Budget. From 1964, the ministry started to release the survey a day before Budget.

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Paperless Union Budget 2021

Marking a first, the Centre has decided not to print documents related to the Union Budget for the fiscal beginning of April (FY 2021-22). All MPs will get soft copies of the budget and Economic Survey that contains an account of the state of the economy. The Budget documents will be available on the Mobile App - “Union Budget Mobile App” after the completion of the Budget Speech by the Finance Minister in Parliament on 1st February 2021. The App developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) under the guidance of the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) is available both in Hindi and English and will be available on both Android and iOS platforms. The two-part Union Budget session will start from January 29 till February 15 and the second session will take place between 8 March and 8 April.

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