A quick look at FM Nirmala Sitharaman's team behind much-awaited Union Budget 2021-22

As India gears itself for the upcoming Union Budget 2021-22, touted as the most important financial statement of the government, people are expecting a lot of corrective measures in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic situation. 

 

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who earlier said that her third budget will be an ‘unprecedented’, will present the Budget 2021-22 on February 1.  

 

Here's a quick look at the key officials involved in deciding the contours of the Budget:

A 1987-batch officer from the Tamil Nadu cadre, TV Somanathan is currently the expenditure secretary and he has worked in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) between April 2015 and August 2017.

 

Primarily, his task is cut out this budget as the focus shifts to spending to revive growth. As expenditure secretary, he has taken tough decisions by enforcing expenditure cuts in a number of departments, except the ones directly involved in battling the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

(Photo: Twitter)

Tuhin Kanta Pandey, a 1987-batch officer from the Punjab cadre, is the secretary of Department of Investment and Public Asset Management.

 

All eyes will be on Pandey’s department as the government eyes closure of big-bang disinvestments such as privatisation of BPCL and Air India.

 

 

(Photo: IANS)

Instrumental in shaping the three ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ sets of relief measures, Tarun Bajaj is the economic affairs secretary and will be responsible for drafting Sitharaman’s budget speech.

 

Bajaj is a 1988-batch officer from the Haryana cadre.

 

(Photo: Twitter/@FinMinIndia)

An alumnus of IIT, IIM as well as University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Krishnamurthy Subramaniam had predicted a ‘V-shaped’ recovery for India since the COVID-19 lockdown measures were relaxed.

 

Krishnamurthy Subramaniam and his team are going to draft the Economic Survey which will be very important for the budget. Previously, he was a professor at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad.

(Photo: Twitter@FollowCII)

An IAS officer from 1987-batch Uttar Pradesh cadre, Debashish Panda (on left) leads the Department of Financial Services and his responsibility includes all the financial sector-related announcements.

 

Panda will have to work closely with the RBI to ensure the stability of the financial system.

 

(Photo: Twitter)

Ajay Bhushan Pandey, a 1984 batch officer from the Maharashtra cadre, is currently the finance secretary. Previously, Pandey was holding the position of the CEO of Unique Identification Authority of India.

 

As head of the Revenue Department, Pandey will primarily be responsible for setting up achievable tax targets, even as the economy recovers to pre-pandemic levels of 2019-20. Before he retires in February, he is expected to set targets that are a little different as compared to the previous year.  

(Photo: PIB)