The key to success of Budget, however, lies in the implementation

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: Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee would, perhaps, have felt like a star cricketer today, with expectations riding very high on his Budget speech for 2009-10. But the astute minister did not play a swashbuckling 20-20 knock, choosing instead to put together a well-crafted Test match innings and setting the foundation for the years ahead. So, Budget 2009-10 is more of a vision document rather than an action paper. It lays down the government’s intent, the challenges and the tasks ahead, and does so very well.

The overarching theme of this Budget is ‘inclusive growth’ and the FM has talked of deepening and broadening the agenda for inclusive development. It seeks to boost infrastructure spending, give a fillip to agriculture and makes some major changes on the tax front. The big relief to the corporate sector has come in the form of the abolition of the Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) .The salaried class, on the other hand, has also been given relief with the doing away of the surcharge. This will put more money in the hands of individuals and, hopefully, boost consumption spends. The Budget also focuses on the social sector, with education and female literacy also getting attention. Urban renewal and rural employment are also focus areas, demonstrating the resolve of the government to bring in larger sections of the population into the growth ambit.

It is also heartening to see the finance minister repeatedly talking of returning to fiscal consolidation as soon as the immediate economic challenges were met, since the fiscal deficit, at 6.8%, remains a serious concern. The fact that the Budget targets a 9% growth rate is particularly laudable, given the current global economic turmoil and the fact that the largest of the world economies are struggling to remain in positive territory or even log what we used to refer to as the ‘Hindu’ rate of growth!