Optimistic projection

Doubts emerge about the Budget's tax revenue estimates

The Union Budget for 2020-21 has rightly received plaudits for attempting to restore some transparency and credibility to the government numbers. The extra-budgetary borrowing has been explicitly accounted for in some respects and the revenue and expenditure numbers, at first glance, do not seem out of line with reality. Yet it is important to note that on closer analysis several aspects of the budgeting are, in fact, optimistic. Some have focused on the difficulty of raising Rs 2.1 trillion from the markets in 2020-21, given that this disinvestment target is well above what has been achieved in previous years. But