All stories by A K BHATTACHARYA
Political Savvy Nirmalaji's Bold Budget
Rediff.com3 Aug 2024Few finance ministers announce any taxation measure that could upset the stock market. Ms Sitharaman decided to take that risk, observes A K Bhattacharya.
'We Want Chinese Style Growth'
Rediff.com1 Aug 2024'We have essentially tried to set out an agenda for the next five years and it, in essence, represents the political commitment to that agenda.'
Budget Must Focus On Raising Revenue
Rediff.com18 Jul 2024With the fiscal deficit target staring at the government, the FY25 Budget has limited expenditure options, points out A K Bhattacharya.
Time To Make Budget More Transparent
Rediff.com21 Jun 2024The Budget should use the extra RBI surplus to better effect, suggests A K Bhattacharya.
How Modi Can Overcome Coalition Challenges
Rediff.com19 Jun 2024If the concerns over risking political capital are overcome, the long-term gains for the Indian economy will be immense, asserts A K Bhattacharya.
What's Modi Up To?
Rediff.com24 Apr 2024No government in the past initiated the process of policy making for its next tenure even before going in for elections. Once the Model Code of Conduct is enforced by the Election Commission, should the government of the day refrain from taking an active interest in policy making for the next five years and let that be the function of the new government?, asks A K Bhattacharya.
Free Divestment From Finance Ministry
Rediff.com21 Mar 2024The new government that presents the full Budget for 2024-2025 in July should be ready to restructure the way divestment is managed and implemented, proposes A K Bhattacharya.
What to make of sharp variations in GDP numbers in election year
Rediff.com19 Mar 2024Questions will be raised over why those changes take place and whether non-economic factors are at play, says A K Bhattacharya.
Who Fared Better On Economy? Modi Or Manmohan
Rediff.com15 Feb 2024Whether it was the MGNREGS or the NFSA or the Aadhaar-based DBT scheme for cash transfer, the Modi government has built on the basic architecture created by the Singh government. Policy makers in the Modi government, instead of discarding them as products of the previous political regime, worked on them, expanded their scope and reach, and used new tools to improve their performance, explains A K Bhattacharya.
Budget: Will Nirmalaji Loosen Purse Strings For Poll Gains?
Rediff.com18 Jan 2024The finance minister's assertion that industry should not expect any spectacular announcements in the 2024 interim Budget suggest that the electoral imperatives of more tax concessions or higher expenditure on welfarist programmes could be far less pronounced than they were before the 2019 interim Budget, expects A K Bhattacharya.
Interim Budget: No Big Bang Announcements On Cards
Rediff.com21 Dec 2023If the Budget makes no big announcements on new schemes, projects, or tax giveaways, the government would face a major political dilemma as it may have to reluctantly consider shunning the practice of unveiling pre-election sops to woo voters, notes A K Bhattacharya.
Why 810 Million Indians Need Free Rations
Rediff.com20 Nov 2023Is it a case of poor targeting of a welfare scheme, or is it a reflection of the government's desire to expand the scope of this benefit to secure greater electoral dividends? asks A K Bhattacharya.
132,497 Indians Have Income Of 1 Crore Plus
Rediff.com6 Nov 20237 states account for over 80 per cent of the total direct tax collections by the Union government.
2000 Notes: What RBI Learnt From 2016
Rediff.com19 Oct 2023The communication was clear, transparent and worded in a manner that did not induce any fear in the minds of the people, point out A K Bhattacharya.
2024 Interim Budget: Mistakes Nirmalaji Can Avoid
Rediff.com11 Oct 2023Pre-Budget excercise next month should scrupulously avoid adventurism of all types and refrain from making excessively ambitious projections on revenue and expenditure numbers for 2023-24, suggests A K Bhattacharya.
What Cards Will BJP Play For Elections?
Rediff.com26 Jun 2023Elections may be a few months away, but the government may get into election mode much earlier than that, predicts A K Bhattacharya.
GST: Unsung Hero Of Tax Collections
Rediff.com14 Jun 2023Can this growth in GST collection be sustained in the coming years? asks A K Bhattacharya.
The Politics Of Freebies
Rediff.com22 May 2023Why did Karnataka's economic prosperity fail to influence the nature of electoral promises made by political parties in the run-up to the assembly elections? asks A K Bhattacharya.
How Parliament Can Function As It Must
Rediff.com25 Apr 2023The need for finding options for proper functioning of Parliament is of paramount importance as the frequency of the passage of Budgets and other economic Bills without discussion or debate has only increased in the last few years, notes A K Bhattacharya.
Ukraine War: How Modi Kept Economy Under Check
Rediff.com13 Mar 2023Whether this remains under control in the coming months will depend on the future intensity and spread of the Russia-Ukraine war, and the effectiveness of the Indian government's response, points out A K Bhattacharya.