‘Out of the 5 trillion economy, 1 trillion will come from the digital economy.’ Said Mr. Ravi Shankar Prasad (Cabinet Minister for Law &Justice and Communication & IT)

India’s leading Hindi news channel, ABP News concluded a special e-conclave, ‘Jan Man Dhan’ to recapitulate and scrutinize the intricacies of the Budget 2021 today. The special conclave was organized with the pretext of discussing the high and lows of the new Budget, which was presented by the Honourable Finance Minister of India, Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman on 1^stFeb 2021.

Speaking exclusively on ABP News’ Budget Conclave,Honourable Minister Mr. Nitin Gadkari said thatthe Union Budget 2021 will help generate growth and employment in the country.He further mentioned that the Voluntary Vehicle Scrappage Policy is aimed to push forward the introduction of new vehicles and boost the demand for heavy and medium commercial vehicles.

“This stepwill surely give a new direction to the auto industry and provide millions of jobs.” He said.“With this, import of petrol and diesel will come down. Pollution will be less, and cost of manufacturing cars, buses, and trucks will be reduced. This new policy will make us the number one automobile manufacturing hub in the world,” he added.

Making the summit highly informative, the conclave hosted various dignitaries such as Jayant Sinha (MP, Lok Sabha), Abhishek Manu Singhvi (MP, Rajya Sabha), Nitin Gadkari (Minister for Road Transport & Highways and the Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises), SmritiIrani (Cabinet Minister for Textiles), Manish Tewari (MP, Lok Sabha), Anurag Thakur (Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs), Ravi Shankar Prasad (Cabinet Minister for Law & Justice, Communication & IT), Uday Shankar (President, FICCI), Sambit Patra (Spokesperson – BJP), GouravVallabh (Spokesperson INC), Prahlad Patel (Minister of State for Tourism & Culture), Dharmendra Pradhan (Cabinet Minister for Petroleum, Natural Gas & Steel),GajendraShekhawat (Cabinet Minister for Jal Shakti), Vineet Aggarwal (MD, TCI; President, ASSOCHAM), Sumant Sinha (Chairman & MD, ReNew Power), NiranjanHiranandani (Co-Founder & MD, Hiranandani Group), Aditi Nair (Principal Economist, ICRA), Raamdeo Agrawal (JMD, MotilalOswal Group), Devinder Sharma (Domain Expert on Indian Agriculture), Sitaram Yechury (General Secretary – CIP(M)), Sushil Modi (MP – Rajya Sabha), and Priyanka Chaturvedi(MP, Rajya Sabha; Deputy Leader – Shiv Sena).

The Jan Man Dhan e-conclave witnessed insightful deliberations on the future of the Indian economy, newly introduced policies, budget’s impact on different industries, revival in the post-covid era, and concerns of the common man – among many other pertinent themes.

On this special conclave, Mr. Avinash Pandey, CEO, ABP Network said, “ABP News has always been known to provide the most incisive, comprehensive, and easy-to-understand coverage on the Budget. Keeping the viewer at the forefront, we offer a meld of expert analysis and simplification of facts on the ‘Jan Man Dhan E-Conclave’, to ensure every viewer understands the impact of the budget on their everyday lives and also getsa perspective on what the top leaders and experts think about the new developments.”

Key Highlights:

• Union Cabinet Minister of Textiles and Minister of Women &Child Development, Ms. SmritiIrani dismissed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s accusation of selling the country to capitalists. “Disinvestment is not selling the country. The business of government is not being in business. During such difficult times, you’d think that a responsible opposition will have a constructive stand but that can’t be expected out of Rahul Gandhi.” She said.

• Talking about the farmers and MSPs, she criticized Congress for supporting the farmers and said “In 2013-14 Congress government only did a Rs. 90 crore MSP operation whereas Narendra Modi government until January 2021, has invested about Rs. 25 crores and the farmers have received about one lakhs crores into their bank accounts.”

• Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Mr. Anurag Thakur said that the central government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has allowed India to secure sixth position in the world economy from number 11.“We found opportunities in a disaster and worked towards building a self-reliant India. All these steps will help us achieve the target of five trillion-dollar economy.”

• As far as the free COVID-19 vaccine is concerned, Mr. Anurag Thakur said that “The first lot of the vaccine consignment is for the health workers and front-line workers, but if it is needed further, we will provide it.”

• Cabinet Minister for Law & Justice, Communication & IT, Mr. Ravi Shankar Prasad talked about the increase in Production Link Incentive (PLIs) which has allowed major companies like Samsung &Apple to manufacture their products according to global standards in India. This will give jobs to about 9 lakh people. “India will be a part of the global economy by being a part of the global supply chain. “He said. “We will make manufacturing and digital economy strong in India,” he added.

• Mr. Uday Shankar, President, FICCI talked about the need for the country to revive its economy. He welcomed disinvestment as a method to do the same. “Right now, the need of the hour is the revival of the economy, and increasing capital expenditure is a very good move. Wage-seekers are going to benefit the most from this investment.”

• Calling disinvestment’s bold move’, he explained, “Out of half a dozen public sector banks in India, privatizing two of them is not going to affect people’s lives and the government will have to get more money to invest in healthcare etc. It is not the lack of ideas but because of conviction.” He also added, “Though the economy has been a little weak in the past few years, COVID-19 has created an even bigger setback. But to come out of it, bold and strategic moves that are required could be seen clearly in Budget 2021.”

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