These are the demands from the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

India is the fastest recovering country among major economies this year. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will need incentives to maintain the pace of recovery. In the next month, the elections of 5 states and the new variant of Covid Omicron is posing a challenge to them.

These are the 11 expectations from Sitharaman's February budget for economists, companies, tax experts and the salaried class of India.

Economists expect investment to gradually boost growth and take steps to rein in inflation. She believes that the year-on-year estimate of the fiscal deficit should not be too large. They want the finance minister to spend on capital assets and infrastructure projects instead of increasing allocation for rural-focused cash or employment schemes.

The standard deduction amount is very less in view of inflation. People's household budget has been badly affected. To provide some relief to the salaried people, there is a need to increase the standard deduction limit from the present Rs 50,000 to at least Rs 75,000.

The salary category is expected to get further relaxation in standard deduction in the budget of 2022. Since the system of work from home is proving to be costly, now the employees need some relief. With many members in the family working from home and the need to accommodate online classes for children, those working from home need to shift to larger homes.

Insurance experts want health covers to be kept in the 5% GST slab to ensure quality healthcare. At the same time, it can also be made more economical. If the GST on insurance products is reduced from the current 18% to 5%, then it will encourage more people to buy health insurance. GST should be exempted for insurance of senior citizens.

The automobile sector wants more and more citizens to be encouraged to opt for EVs by preferring electric vehicles (EVs) at lower interest rates. It also wants Research and Development (R&D) in Public Private Partnership mode for the development of batteries.