The Budget is down to earth, shunning grandiose ideas or spectacular mega projects. It is more professional in its approach and very practical in its presentation. The FM didn’t hide the challenges before our economy. But then, she also did come across as someone who is determined to find solutions.

Innovation is the key to many of the ideas the Budget has discussed. But these innovative ideas are not kite flying. They have emerged from a certain amount of confidence. Sitharaman was convincing when she explained that the main focus of the Budget is ‘Strong Citizens for a Strong Nation’. Hope, Trust and Aspiration were the three key watchwords of her initial remarks and the shadow of them couldn’t be missed all through the text of her speech.

Her assertion that ‘when NDA government has successfully taken the economy to $3 trillion during the last five years, there need not be any doubt about the government’s ability to achieve the $5 trillion target’ should be seen in this backdrop.

The Budget has provided hardly any reason to any class — except the super rich sections — to be disappointed. The FM has unveiled a slew of measures to attract more investment, especially FDI to kick-start a virtuous cycle. Her announcements that FDI will be further allowed in aviation, media, animation and insurance clearly brings out the government’s no-nonsense approach and readiness to bite the bullet. Also remarkable is the proposal to encourage NRI investment through the merger of NRI Portfolios Investment Scheme into Foreign Portfolios Investment.

One of the most remarkable ideas, however, is for the informal sector. Conscious that the Voluntary Sector has emerged as a key player in national development, her announcement that SEBI has been directed to create mechanism for the introduction of social enterprises and voluntary organisations into the stock market, has the potential of proving to be a game-changer.

Also noteworthy is the idea of giving new impetus to rental housing while promising to introduce a model tenancy act. This may also bring the housing sector from the present state of stagnancy. The idea of creating an Infrastructure Fund is also very promising.

Aware of the challenges on the job front the FM has rightly decided to give some push to the MSME sector. Providing up to ₹1 crore through a dedicated online portal and creating a payments platform for MSMEs to enable filing of bills and payments are significant measures. However, perhaps more impacting will be the plan to set up at least 100 new clusters for incubating business ideas of young rural artisans and entrepreneurs desirous of working in areas such as honey, bamboo and Khadi. Having recognised bamboo as a crop, this was a very logical step to take.

Also remarkable are two other announcements, viz. starting a dedicated Doordarshan channel for startups and encouraging rural women entrepreneurs via self help groups. Mainstreaming of entrepreneurial initiatives to boost the economy of New India or aspirational India emerges as the clear objective. Yet another resolve announced in this regard is exploring the possibility of tapping job markets abroad by creating customised human resources.

That the Government is keen on monetising its knowledge creation in space sciences is evident with the plans to commercialise various space products. This is a welcome step as it converts the parent ministry into a revenue generating unit. Apparently, from discouraging use of polluting fuels (with the push for electrical cars) to ensuring greater ease-of-living (interchangeability between Aadhaar and PAN cards) several small but effective measures announced are going to make a significant difference.

Another important factor that adds to the confidence of the government is its remarkable success in ensuring last-mile delivery of development. From financial inclusion (Jan Dhan) to empowering rural people (Saubhagya) and Swachh Bharat the government has created a remarkable track record of its ability to deliver development democracy at the doorstep of the underprivileged.

The writer is National Vice-President, BJP

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW