FM likely to live within means

Anil K Sood, founder, IASCC, sees pragmatism written all over Union Budget 2024

- SUNITHA NATTI

ELECTIONS often produce populist budgets. But Anil K Sood, founder, IASCC, sees pragmatism written all over Union Budget 2024.

The reasons aren’t hard to find. According to Sood, though the prevailing economic conditions warrant higher spending, the government is likely to live within its means, like it has been doing over the past few years.

His proposed ₹45.7 lakh crore-expenditure budget has three champions -- food and primary healthcare, rural and urban infrastructure development, and higher capex for a growth-oriented economy. All three need cash, so he urged the government to borrow without hesitation. An average Indian household is yet to recover from the post-pandemic shocks. An accountant’s view of life, focusing on artificial fiscal deficit target makes a bad situation worse, he reasons. Much like Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the Shadow Budget makes capex as its cornerstone, allocating a neat sum of ₹8.09 lakh crore, a 13.3% increase over FY23. But the similarities end there. When it came to departmentwise allocations, Sood’s sums vary from that of the government’s.

Unlike the Union Budget that cut a big cheque for roads and highways, Sood lowered the sum and redirected the savings elsewhere. Still, it saw a 13% jump over FY23. Defence got a 14.4% boost at ₹1.8 lakh crore, which is huge as capex allocations remained in single digits until now.