There are high possibilities that this budget will be more populist and growth-oriented rather than keeping strict control on the fiscal deficit or any other macro factors.
In this year we have elections in seven states, hence there are higher chances that the government may try to woo the lower end of the pyramid with a lot of social sector schemes.
The government may be taking a balanced approach. If the government rolls out lucrative PLI (production-linked incentive) schemes for MSMEs and raises MSP for agriculture, then both objectives can be served as it covers 90 per cent plus of the population.
Last year India got an Economist’s Budget. But this time assembly elections are going to be held in five states immediately after the budget.
Therefore, there is no possibility of strict economic reforms in this time’s budget (Union Budget 2022). An “election budget” is usually one that comes before a general election, is more focused on populism and less stringent reforms.
But the upcoming budget will also be an election budget in a way that will focus on wooing voters in five electoral states, including India’s largest state, Uttar Pradesh.
