Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said the Union Budget for 2021-22 will facilitate the Aatmanirbhar Bharat campaign as the government looked for long term sustainable growth while providing for short term solutions. She also said that the Budget was clear and transparent but there is an attempt by the opposition to build a false narrative due to political reasons.

In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly underlined the need to adopt the ethos of Aatmanirbhar Bharat while integrating with the global supply chain. 

“It's a budget which clearly draws on the experience, the administrative capacities and also exposure that the Prime Minister had during his long elected tenure, both as CM and as PM of this country, known for his commitment towards development, growth, and reforms. So these three things are essentially infused in the budget which is now speaking for itself in the sense that it is the instrument through which Aatmanirbhar Bharat is to be attained,” Sitharaman said in the Rajya Sabha.

Sitharaman’s Budget has thrashed out bold reform measures amid severe fiscal constraints though experts said that much of it would depend of implementation.

Besides health, the Budget has outlined measures that would make the Aatmanirbhar Bharat scheme a reality with the much required fillip to infrastructure, manufacturing and agriculture sectors.

The Budget has pegged the fiscal deficit for the current financial year at 9.5 per cent of GDP and 6.8 per cent for 2021-22.

“As I said in my budget speech the attempt made in this budget is to provide strong stimulus, to provide such a stimulus which can bring in a multiplier effect and therefore instead of finding quick short term solutions, even as we provide short term quick relief for those people who so desperately need it,” Sitharaman said, lashing out at the opposition parties.

Earlier, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi described the budget as being "crony centric".