Neither A Halwa, Nor A Biryani

N his parliament speech on Budget 2024, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi had taunted the government by showing a picture of the finance minister and her mostly upper-caste officers participating in the ritualistic 'budget halwa ceremony' and asked metaphorically why India's budget halwa was not being shared proportionately with the oppressed sections.

- PRAVEEN CHAKRAVARTY Chairman, All India Professionals' Congress, and a political economist

What was the FM's response? She banned pictures of this year's halwa ceremony. Rather than taking away the larger message of a need for equity in the budget, the FM resorted to doing away with the headlines on the halwa ceremony. This sums up Budget 2025—knee-jerk, shallow and missing the forest for the trees.

Right or wrong, there were tremendous expectations of an overhaul in India's economic thought and framework. If not an equitable halwa, there was an expectation of a nice, spicy biryani. What we got instead was a banal mix of Bihar campaign rhetoric in the guise of a budget, a bone for the few million barking salaried taxpayers and tinkering of the exports boat that was at risk of sinking.

While the increase in income tax exemption threshold to ₹12 lakh is welcome and has garnered the maximum attention, it was merely a reaction to the years-long clamour of the salaried class. If the larger intent was to boost consumption, then, along with the tax relief, the FM should have signalled a firm commitment to reduce GST rates, which would have provided a more immediate and greater fillip.