Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday told the Lok Sabha that the government has been pursuing reforms for sustained long term growth despite the Covid-19 pandemic .

“Covid-19 did not deter the government from taking up reforms, which are going to be necessary to sustain long-term goals for this country… reforms are going to lay a path for India to be one of the top economies of the world in the coming decades,” she said replying to the debate on Budget 2021-22 in the Lok Sabha.

The finance minister had presented a Rs 34.5-lakh-crore Budget for 2021-22, in the backdrop of the pandemic.

The Budget has laid emphasis on increasing capital expenditure, raising allocation for healthcare and development of agriculture infrastructure, which is expected to have a multiplier effect on the economy.

She said her Budget for 2021-22 has provided the highest capex growth of 34.4 per cent by providing more money to railways, roads and defence.

Sitharaman said the proposed Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess (AIDC) will be used to improve mandi infrastructure in the country.

She clarified that the proposal to collect Rs 30,000 crore through the new agricultural cess will go to states to upgrade the APMC (Agricultural Produce Market Committee) infrastructure.

The AIDC “shall be used to finance the improvement of agriculture infrastructure nd other development expenditure”, the memorandum explaining the Finance Bill said.

Amid the ongoing agitation by farmers demanding the repeal of three contentious farm laws, the finance minister said not a single APMC has been shut in any state. She added that the budget provides to strengthen such marketplaces for farmers.

The finance minister also spoke about the budget allocation for the MGNREGA scheme, which is a rural employment scheme. She said Rs 1.11 lakh crore has been the increased allocation for MGNREGA for the ongoing financial year, but until April it may be utilised only to the extent of Rs 90,000 crore.

In the current fiscal that ends on March 31, Rs 61,500 crore was provided in the Budget but the provision was increased to Rs 1.1 lakh crore in view of the support needed to help those in distress during the pandemic.