A Pragmatic and Balanced Budget

FY Budget- the most awaited event for the countrymen that defines the economy’s gait by addressing the key bottlenecks and how this will affect the nation and the common man. Expectations were high, as usual. But what experience did the Budget unfold for the People of India?

- Rajiv Bajaj

The FM’s speech and a cursory reading of the Budget documents shows a pragmatic budget that balances finely between growth and fiscal prudence with very reasonable income and expenditure estimates. From an individual taxpayers’ point of view, it balances between distributing tax benefits and plugging various loopholes and tax arbitrages to ensure that the revenue foregone remains at Rs. 35,000 crores. For businesses, it is however a clear shift from reliance on imports to domestic manufacturing through a fine calibration of customs duties. The boost to growth is by way of a record Rs. 10 lakh crores outlay for capital expenditure (up 33% from last year), with effective capex being 13.7 lakh crores which is 4.5% of GDP.