The economic survey to be presented in Parliament on February 25 will set the stage for finance minister Pranab Mukherjee to announce steps for balancing growth with inflation in the Budget on February 28.
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Documented by chief economic adviser Kaushik Basu, the survey is also expected to give indications on the government’s plans to sustain the targeted double-digit growth for a longer period of time by suggesting reform measures required for this purpose.
A senior finance ministry official told Business Standard, “Balancing growth with inflation is one of the main concerns to be addressed in the Budget and the economic survey will have a lot of discussions on the issue.”
He indicated although a major change in tax rates in this Budget was unlikely, some relief on both income tax and excise duty to cut the impact of price rise could certainly be expected. The official said another major concern for this year’s Budget was how to sustain the prospect of double-digit growth for a sustained period.
Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee may spell out the government’s reform agenda, especially related to the opening of critical areas in the service sector like health insurance and the retail sector, to achieve this goal. Apart from these two, inequality and unemployment were among the other major concerns of the government, which Mukherjee would address in the Budget, said the official.
Growth has to be seen in the light of its benefits reaching all sections of the society and also creation of new jobs, he said adding that a jobless growth creates distortion.
With this, the United Progressive Alliance’s flagship programmes associated with ‘Bharat Nirman’ are also likely to get a leg-up with additional support in the Budget.
Amongst additional support to be given to the social sector initiatives, Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidyutikaran Yojana is slated to get assurance for an additional sum of Rs 6,000 crore. Another Rs 2,000 crore is also expected to be given for the Accelerated Power Development and Reform Programme.
According to a senior power ministry official, 90,593 unelectrified villages have been electrified and 171,731 villages have been ‘intensely’ electrified as on January 27, 2011. Free electricity connections have been provided to 14.3 million below-poverty line households and the additional support in the Budget will help achieve the goal of electricity for all, said the official.
