A Pragmatic National Budget in India

India has undergone unprecedented level of health crisis due to COVID 19, which has resulted in extended lockdowns , loss of jobs for people belonging to vulnerable section of economy  and sort of anxiety in the mind of people all over India. 

by N.S.Venkataraman

The national budget for  the year 2022-23 presented by the finance Minister of Government of India has caught both the admirers and critics of Modi government by surprise.

Unlike the past budgets, there have been no major tickering of  taxes  or fanciful announcements  but the budget represents a process of  continuity  by adopting a  mostly  similar approach to the task of national development.

A budget in COVID 19 crisis time :

India has undergone unprecedented level of health crisis due to COVID 19, which has resulted in extended lockdowns , loss of jobs for people belonging to vulnerable section of economy  and sort of anxiety in the mind of people all over India. 

In such a situation of grave crisis, Narendra Modi government encouraged the development of domestic vaccine successfully and vaccinated people at great speed  and dynamism , like of which India has not seen before. The credit goes  to the leadership of the Prime Minister for supporting the pharma companies for developing the vaccine at the highest level. Further, considering that several people in India and even state governments do not have the resources to buy the vaccine, Modi government ensured free supply of vaccine all over India to the vulnerable section of the population.

While it is now too soon to think that COVID crisis has gone away , the ground reality is that the central and state government as well as millions of Indians are more confident than ever about facing this COVID crisis ,  with remarkable attitude of faith in the government .

There has been no resistance to vaccination in India  unlike in so many other so called developed countries like USA, Canada and  several West European countries. This has been possible in India mainly due to the type of leadership that Modi has given to the country.

In such situation, many people thought that the current budget would involve several new taxes and other stringent measures to raise the revenue  and reduce the fiscal deficit.

However, the present budget has not  introduced  any harsh   measures but  noted  the positive aspects of the country’s economic trend and has placed full faith that the investors   and employees   and people at various levels would rise upto the occasion  and show positive and progressive attitude towards growth in the coming year.

Strategy on job front :

There have been criticisms  about  what some critics say as jobless growth, whatever it may mean. 

The government has responded to this criticism by proposing massive investments in infrastructure and boosting investment  and capital expenditure , which would inevitably promote employment , growth and opportunities at various levels.

More positives :

There have been more positives and little  negatives in the budget, which is clearly evident from the fact that the fundamental tenets of the budget include transparency of financial statement and fiscal position and reflect the government’s confidence of meeting the challenges ahead with the inherent strength of the country. 

This is a very balanced budget, as it boosts spending towards growth oriented policies that would boost manufacturing , help agri economy and infrastructure creation.

This budget is an elegant mix of short term boost   and long term structural emphasis. 

There are many other aspects such as  support for electronic and electric vehicle industry , import duty reduction for certain vital chemicals like methanol and acetic acid which would pave way for production of several derivative products, as methanol and acetic acid are strong building blocks.

The merit of the budget can be readily realised by seeing the plight of the critics, who really have nothing worthwhile to say against the budget but only have to indulge in empty rhetorics to make their presence felt.