On 20 March, the first virtual presentation of ET Awards of Corporate Excellence will necessarily see many changes from our in-person gala events, but the defining feature is unchanged. Like every year, the Finance Minister will be the star of a power-packed line-up of speakers. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who will almost certainly be shepherding the world’s fastest growing major economy come next financial year, will address a blue-chip virtual audience on March 20, and everything she says will add to our understanding of how India’s economy may evolve in the crucial 2021-22 fiscal.

That various reputed number crunchers have put India’s economy at the top of the growth heap in their projections for 2021-22 is also partly due to big, bold spending plans in Sitharaman’s budget. That budget also promised radical reforms, from a bad bank to privatisation, and from a new body for longterm lending to huge outlays for health. Just days away from the next financial year, the ET Awards audience will get a chance to listen to the FM’s own perspective on how the next year may turn out in India’s journey to becoming a global economic power.