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It is fitting that the union Budget presented in India's 75th year of independence looked ahead to an India @100. With strong foundations being laid now, I have no doubt that India will be a prosperous country for all its citizens by 2047. The key to achieving that is strong economic growth and creating millions of jobs. To her credit, the finance minister has steered the economy deftly through a difficult period of an unprecedented pandemic, mitigating some of the worst impact with timely measures.

Her fourth Budget continues to emphasise a strong economic recovery with the government leading the way by raising its commitment to capital expenditure by 35% to ₹7.5 lakh crore and by avoiding a fiscal squeeze. As the pandemic winds down and the effects of the many structural reforms undertaken over the last 18 months begin to bear fruit, more and more private investment will flow in to complement the government spending, thus creating a virtual cycle of high growth, employment creation and buoyant government revenues.

Government's capital spending and the ambitious PM Gati Shakti programme will build the world class infrastructure that is an essential requirement to become an advanced economy. The Prime Minister's vision on this is indeed laudable. Another welcome move is the announcement of a direct payment of ₹2.37 lakh crore to wheat and paddy farmers under the MSP scheme.

The natural resources sector will play a key role in all of this as well as in the goal of Atmanirbhar Bharat. Oil and gas will continue to remain in high demand for the foreseeable future, and with global prices going up, India should double down on exploration and production domestically. This will help reduce imports. Similarly, there is great scope for the exploration and production of key minerals and metals, many of which are critical to the forthcoming energy transition.