“The economy is indeed challenged, challenged in a number of ways. The Economic Survey lists those challenges. Another set of decisions and measures will be announced in reply to Budget discussion and Finance Bill in Parliament.”

Finance Minister P. Chidambaram

“Economic forecasting is an art and not science. We need to understand the science behind the art… . There are wide ranges of uncertainty. That is why growth has been projected with such a wide range… India is in a difficult but not impossible situation. With improved sentiment, we expect the outlook to improve and growth to remain in the range of 6.1 to 6.7 per cent.”

Chief Economic Advisor

Raghuram Rajan

“Given the formidable challenges facing our economy, the Finance Minister has done a commendable job… . The Finance Minister has taken important steps to reverse pessimistic mood with regard to investment climate, with regard to the growth potential and possibilities of our economy.”

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

“If you cannot afford the electricity bill, then cut down your consumption of electricity. Future generations will never realise there used to be seven to eight hours power cut in Delhi… . If somebody is finding it difficult to pay the bill, then he can use a fan instead of a cooler. One can always cut down consumption of power to limit the bill.”

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit

“If there is one thing I want to do as a Chairman of the bank more than anything else, it is CSR activity. I do not deem the bank is doing a favour to these organisations. It is our social responsibility. And unlike other banks, we do not put any pre-conditions that they should have their accounts with our branches or anything like that. There should be no self-interest in charity.”

SBI Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri

“The problem is that in India there is a misperception of what is the value of spectrum. The reserve prices are set too high. India has very low prices and very low revenues, so we cannot afford to pay high price for spectrum.”

Vodafone Group CEO Vittorio Colao

“This Budget was definitely not populist or aiming at next year’s election in its nature. A populist budget means excessive expenditure and not looking after deficit. It is not that at all. The most important thing for the people is to get growth going as that is what is going to give employment and a rise in incomes.”

Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia

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