budget 2023: Now that the full details of the Union Budget are out, and economists, income tax experts and capital market analysts grapple with the figures and scrutinize the fine print in the Finance Bill proposals, it is time to take a holistic view. The Indian middle class is happy with the income tax relief, rich taxpayers are also happy, while women, senior citizens, youth and farmers have welcomed the new schemes.
Without going into the details of the budget, two points of Nirmala Sitharaman’s budget must be understood.
A: At a time when the covid pandemic has destroyed the economies of most of the countries of the world, while America and other big countries of Europe have not fully recovered from recession, inflation and unemployment, at a time when the neighboring country Pakistan facing crisis. With poor Pakistanis struggling for two decent meals a day to stay afloat due to a sinking economy, India, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, fully recovered from the impact of the pandemic. Today we can confidently say that the Indian economy has almost reached a pre-Covid situation. The whole world recognizes India as the fastest growing economy.
Two: One must try to understand how India managed this miraculous recovery. I have no hesitation in saying that it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who brought about changes in the economy with a long-term vision throughout his tenure.
As Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley prepared the first budget of the Modi government in 2014. If you look closely, all the annual budgets since then till this year are interlinked. They appear to be on a continuum. Earlier, the Union Budget was prepared only for that financial year: to meet economic and political needs. Narendra Modi changed this thinking. He completely changed the definition and terminology of the Union Budget. So we should change our way of looking at the annual budget of the central government.
In the pre-Modi years, the man on the street and the industrialist sitting in his office, used to be curious about which goods have become cheaper, or costlier. Which products attracted higher excise or customs duty and which products were exempted. I remember the days when industrial houses used to lobby months before the preparation of the budget and big industrialists and traders used to lobby to reduce the duty on a particular item. Now there will be no such lobbying.
In the last nine years, the budget was focusing more on overall growth and development. As Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman followed this path for the fifth consecutive year. He told how our economy will be in the year 2047, when India will complete 100 years of independence, which is known as ‘Amrit Kaal’.
Some have described Wednesday’s budget as an ‘election budget’. My argument is simple: What’s the harm if millions of Indians have pucca houses, electricity, tap water, toilets, LPG, and free monthly food grains for sustenance? If the government prepares the budget by including schemes that directly benefit the people, then it should be accepted as a positive indicator.
The figures mentioned in Wednesday’s budget show that India’s per capita income has doubled in the last nine years, and the Indian economy has jumped from 10th to 5th place in the world economy. These are good indicators and we all should hope that in the year 2047, India will be among the top two largest economies of the world.
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