Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a vehicle scrapping policy in Union Budget 2021 on Monday as one of the steps to reduce air pollution. The announcement immediately pushed up auto stocks.

(Read Budget 2021 live update)

Among the auto stocks that climbed up by over 1% were M&M, Tata Motors and Maruti. Though the details will be announced later, the Finance Minister said that all personal vehicles will need a fitness certificate after 20  years and commercial vehicles after 15 years.

(Read more: Railway budget allocation)

Earlier, starting her budget speech, her third since 2019, Sitharaman said that the Budget 2021 proposals rest on six pillars: Health and Well-Being, Physical and Financial capital and infrastructure; Inclusive Development for Aspirational India; Reinvigorating Human Capital Innovation and R&D and Minimum Govt-Maximum Governance.

In another major Budget push, Sitharaman announced an allocation of Rs 35,000 crore for COVID-19 vaccines, along with the launch of a new ‘Pradhan Mantri Swashtya Atmanirbhar’ scheme with an outlay of Rs 64,180 crores over a period of six years.

With this being the first Budget since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in the country, the healthcare sector has emerged as a focus area in this budget.