COURSE CORRECTION

Nirmala Sitharaman may stick to the 'spend big' script, but not everything will be the same in the budget

- K. SUNIL THOMAS

It is not in the nature of Droupadi Murmu to give surprises. The president follows the decorum and sticks to the protocol. But while reading out the government's vision document in Parliament, her first address after Modi 3.0 took charge, she dropped a bombshell.

"This budget will be an effective document of the government's far-reaching policies and futuristic vision. Along with big economic and social decisions, many historic steps will also be seen in (it)," she said, referring to the upcoming full budget to be tabled in Parliament on July 23.

She also pointed out how India was the fastest-growing major economy, averaging 8 per cent in the past four years.

If Prime Minister Narendra Modi wanted a murmur of anticipation to precede Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's first budget of the new government, that speech achieved its goal.

India had embarked on radically pro-market reforms after the Covid-19 pandemic. Some of these measures even topped up the economy outside of the ambit of the annual budget exercise, like the slashing of corporate tax for new businesses back in 2018, the Atmanirbhar Bharat and the Vocal for Local rejig or even the production-linked incentives (PLI) announced for various sectors from time to time. The budget itself had stuck to the script, coming out year after year on February 1 with consistent announcements of major capital expenditure plans-all in an effort to boost the economy by wooing in precious investment. It did not change even on the eve of the Lok Sabha elections.

All that is water under the bridge, or votes won or lost across the hinterland. With the Lok Sabha election outcome turning out to be what it was, there is speculation galore about any route deviation in Nirmala Sitharaman's spending principles.

Murmu's speech just turned it into a deafening murmur.