Many Chefs Who Bake The Budget

Preparing the budget is a months-long exercise whose intensity would gladden those asking for 70-90 hours of work a week. This time, flexibility in policies would be essential

- K M CHANDRASEKHAR

N a few days from now, Nirmala Sitharaman will present her eighth budget, a record for an Indian finance minister. Most of her budgets were presented when the BJP had an absolute majority. In 2024, the situation changed and the words "Andhra" and "Bihar" were repeatedly mentioned in her budget speech.

Her budgets have generally been corporate-friendly. She clearly believes that if the rich get richer, some part of it would trickle down to the less fortunate through increased investment. The corporates failed her. At a meeting with business people in 2022, she said, "Since 2019, when I took charge of the finance ministry, the industry doesn't think [the climate for investment is] conducive. Alright, the [corporate] tax was brought down. I keep defending industry even when people provocatively ask me what I would like to tell the private sector."

The finance minister's decisions depend on numerous inputs. The budget preparation exercise would have started months earlier, perhaps in September or October. As revenue secretary from 2004 to 2007, I recall meeting a large number of stakeholders including from industry, trade bodies and sectoral associations—as many as 85 in my first year, 2004-5. Officers in the Central Board of Direct Taxes and Central Board of Excise and Customs would also meet delegations and seek their suggestions.

The vast amount of data thus generated would then be analysed with respect to revenue implications. The minister would also hold meetings with captains of industry, trade unions and civil society organisations. In parallel, colleagues in the expenditure and economic affairs departments would deal with other aspects—the expected expenditure, and the changes required in the financial and capital markets keeping in view the global trends.