Union Budget 2025: Revisiting Nirmala Sitharaman's 'Once-in-a-Century' Budget - key takeaways, market reaction

Why did this Budget earn the moniker of the ‘once-in-a-century’ Union Budget? This is because, despite the tough times of the COVID era, when India was facing a sharp slump due to lockdowns and widespread layoffs, Sitharaman chose pragmatism over populism

Union Budget 2025: As India awaits Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s budget speech on February 1st, speculations are rife about potential tax rebates for those earning up to Rs 15 lakh annually. Apart from this, there are expectations surrounding cryptocurrency, among other things.

Will Modi 3.0’s second full budget match the hype of the 2021 announcements? Back then, Nirmala Sitharaman delivered what is termed as the ‘once-in-a-century’ Union Budget. Known as a landmark budget that announced a 137 percent increase in the healthcare sector, the 2021 announcements also fuelled a sharp rally on D-Street.

According to market data, Indian bourses registered their best-ever budget day performance on February 1, 2021, in the last two decades.

As per a Refinitiv data report, the last time Indian stock markets posted such strong numbers on Budget day was in 1996. On February 1, 2021, while the NSE Nifty 50 index rose by 4.7% in its best performance on Budget day, the S&P BSE Sensex surged by 5%.

So, why did this Budget earn the moniker of the ‘once-in-a-century’ Union Budget? This is because, despite the tough times of the COVID era, when India was facing a sharp slump due to lockdowns and widespread layoffs, Sitharaman chose pragmatism over populism.

In the backdrop of the first wave of coronavirus infections that had devastated homes and the economy, the Modi government announced a major boost in the healthcare sector, with a special focus on the massive immunisation drive.

According to the 2021 Budget data, Sitharaman announced a staggering outlay of Rs 2,23,846 crore for healthcare. No tax relief or tweaks in the tax slabs were announced. Rs 35,000 crore were allocated solely for the COVID vaccination program.

Apart from the boost for the healthcare sector, Sitharaman had also announced several key reforms. Among them were the FDI reforms in the insurance sector and plans for strategic sale and divestment. In her speech, Sitharaman had announced an increase in the FDI cap to 74% from 49%.

She also allocated Rs 200 billion to recapitalize state-run banks to address the crisis of bad loans. As part of the divestment plans, Sitharaman had announced the goal of raising Rs 1.75 trillion from selling the government’s stake in several state-run companies and banks, including IDBI Bank. As part of the divestment roadmap, the Centre also had announced plans to sell surplus land of state-run companies.

At a time when India witnessed migration of workforce form urban areas to rural regions due to raging Covid, Sitharaman in here speech had announced the launch of ‘One Nation One Ration Card’ scheme. Under this programme, the beneficiaries were able to get their rations allocated to them from any part of India.