"Unlike other Chidambaram Budgets, this one is ruled by politics, not vision". |
This one is ruled by politics, not vision. To appease the Left it makes no major proposals. It talks a lot about social expenditures but has neither significant increases nor stated outcomes. |
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It has little for infrastructure except for the old Vajpayee programmes. Agriculture, which has suffered from declining public investment for two decades, receives more words than funds. |
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With GDP growth estimated at 8.1 per cent and a euphoric corporate sector, there was an opportunity to substantially increase expenditures on agriculture, physical and social infrastructure and to add to tax revenues. |
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Much of the FM's speech was about programmes for the poor. But the expenditure increases on agriculture, health and education are modest. |
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Tax revenues to GDP is to rise mainly because of the buoyant economy, higher rates of service taxes with more items added on and the addition of long-term capital gains on securities to total incomes for tax purposes. It is a virtuous budget, lacking in ambition and vision. Its dreams are in words, not in deeds. |
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