What To Do In Budget 2022

Top experts debate how Nirmala Sitharaman can put the economy on a higher growth path.

- 

FINANCE MINISTER Nirmala Sitharaman begins preparations for presenting her fourth Union Budget when Indian economy is on a revival path — GDP grew 8.4% in second quarter of FY2022, after expanding 20.1% in first quarter. So, what can she do to accelerate growth in the shadow of newer Covid variants?

Fortune India organised a PreBudget Roundtable of some of India’s brightest economic minds to bounce off ideas for Budget 2022. The panel comprised Jayant Sinha, Member of Parliament, chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance and former minister of state for finance and civil aviation; Subhash Chandra Garg, finance secretary from July 2017 to July 2019; Rajeev Gowda, chairman, Research Department & national spokesperson, All India Congress Committee, and former member of Parliament; Akhil Gupta, vice chairman, Bharti Enterprises; and Chetan Ahya, managing director, Morgan Stanley Research. The discussion was moderated by Rajeev Dubey, Editor-in-Chief, Fortune India. Edited excerpts:

What are your two-three biggest expectations from Budget 2022? What should be the priorities?

Jayant Sinha: We are getting ready for an excellent year for the economy. The Budget is expected to focus on three things. The first is strengthening public health infrastructure, ensuring we are ready for any variant of the virus, our population is vaccinated and we have infrastructure to take care of people in this pandemic. In the last Budget, there was a significant step-up in healthcare spending. I hope that is enhanced.