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  01 MAIN
   
   
  02 NEWSMAKERS
   
   
  03 INVESTMENT UPDATE
   
   
  04 TRADE & ECONOMY
   
   
  05 TECHNOLOGY
   
   
  06 CULTURE
   
   
  07 TRAVEL
   
   
  08 CALENDAR
   

   
  HIGHLIGHTS
   
 

Outlook for Infrastructural Improvements looks promising
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  Woolen Weaves of India
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  India as a Meeting
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 02. NEWSMAKERS

 
TRANSCRIPT OF PM’S POST BUDGET INTERVIEW

Following the presentation of the National Budget 2007/2008, the Prime Minister of India spoke to National TV, here are the excerpts of the interview

There was a lot of talk that this budget will be geared more towards control of inflation because important elections are soon coming up. Do you think that this budget is going to control inflation?

PM: Well, the budget certainly is anti-inflationary. The fact that the fiscal consolidation programme is on target - the fiscal reduction and the revenue deficit reduction - we are moving in the set direction. That itself should be an assurance that inflation will not be allowed to get out of hand. But in addition, if you look at the whole programme of reduction in customs duties and excise duties, I think that would also strengthen the anti-inflationary bias of the Budget. Moreover, the emphasis that is now being laid on supply side responses, the National Programme for Pulses, the National Programme for utilization of Ground Water resources, the rainfed authority working to give a new momentum to the utilization of the dry land agriculture potential. All these would strengthen the supply side responses. In the short term the fact that the budget seeks fiscal consolidation. The fact that customs duties and excise duties have been reduced in a number of sensitive commodity areas, will certainly impart the anti-inflationary bias to the budget.

Qn. The reason why this has become an important question is if you look what has happened , it is really the food prices that has gone up a lot and world wide, the food prices have been going up. Do you think we have enough resources within our Government and within the economy to check prices?

PM: Of course, I think we have done it many times before. That is one area in which we are now more open. But that also is a help and sometimes when we get into domestic bottlenecks, we can always import. I think last year we imported five and a half million tonnes. We can import commodities which are in short supply - oilseeds, to some extent pulses not to a great deal but foodgrains, oilseeds, and vegetable oils - these are certainly essential commodities which if we run into domestic supply bottlenecks, we can always import.

Qn. You mentioned the fact that you are an open Government so that we take you to some items in the budget. It is clearly pro-governance, computerization, of PDS, budget talks about one identification number for our financial services. Sir, is this going to be a very very specific focus right through not just this year but in the years to come.

PM: Well I think e-governance is a means to improve the quality of governance and that’s I think a commitment we have made and we take it very seriously.

Qn. This is the first time I saw a budget which talked about Plans A, B and C.

PM: Well I think we are living through uncertain times. We have a substantial increase in the budgetary support for the plan of about 19 per cent but we also recognize that

there are legitimate additional expenditure demands which will arise as we unfold the contours of the 11th Five Year Plan and so we will review, the situation towards mid-July for example and we have a contingency plan to increase expenditure to the extent of about 7000 crores in due course of time. Also we are toying with the idea of utilizing a part of the foreign exchange reserves for infrastructure development and those things are being discussed with the Reserve Bank and in due course of time, they will materialize and therefore you have a budget which pays lot of emphasis on improving our access to basic social services. You have a budget which also strengthens the social safety net, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme is being expanded to include now 330 districts – half the districts of our country. A new life
insurance programme has been launched for landless
workers. In addition, we need to strengthen the impulses to expand investment in infrastructure.

Qn. The budget talks about enabling people so that especially the socio-economically backward people to get into better training facilities and higher education. Is that the focus?

PM: Of course, I think education and healthcare are prime imperatives as far as this Budget is concerned. Also we need to improve the skill level of the youth. Therefore we need lot more emphasis on secondary education, or on those who leave the primary education and at the same time, strengthening the vocationalisation of education. We need to expand the facilities that are available through the medium of ITIs. Finance Minister mentioned modernization of 500 ITIs. He also mentioned about 1400 additional ITIs which need to be modernized, i.e., the focus is on improving the skill level of our young people.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
INDIAN BUDGET 2007-08 HIGHLIGHTS
  • Additional irrigation potential of 24 lakh hectares to be implemented, including nine lakh hectares under Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme.
  • Economy in a stronger position than ever before.
  • 15,054 villages have been covered under rural telephony and efforts to be made to complete the target of covering 20,000 villages by 2006-07.
  • Allocation on Healthcare to increase by 21.9 per cent.
  • Allocattion for education to be enhanced by 34.2 per cent.
  • Two lakh more teachers to be employed and five lakh more classrooms to be constructed.
  • Secondary education allowance to be increased from Rs.1,837 crore to Rs.3,794 crore.
  • Government committed to fiscal reforms.
  • Foreign exchange reserves stand at 180 billion dollars.
  • Allocation under Rajiv Gandhi Drinking Mission stepped up from Rs 4680 crore to Rs 5850 crore.
  • No new forward contract to be launched on wheat and rice from today.
  • Annual target of 15 lakh houses under Bharat Nirmal Programme to be exceeded.
  • Allocation for National Rural Health Mission stepped up from Rs 8207 crore to Rs 9947 crore.
  • Gross budgetary support in 2007-08 raised to Rs 2,05,100 crore from 1,72,728 crore in 2006-07. Of this, budgetary support to the Central plan will go up to 1,54,939 crore against 1,72,728 crore.
  • School dropout rates high. To prevent dropout, a National Means-cum-Merit scholarship to be implemented, with an allocation of Rs 6,000 per child.
  • Rs 1290 crore to be provided for elimination of polio. Intensive coverage will be undertaken in 20 districts in UP and 10 districts in Bihar. This will be integrated into NRHM.
  • National AIDS Control Programme to achieve zero level disease. Allocation for AIDS control programme to be raised to Rs 969 crore.
  • Allocation for ICDS programme to be increased from Rs 4087 crore to Rs 4761 crore.
  • 130 more districts under NREGA. Additional allocation of Rs.12,000 crore for it.
  • Rs 800 crore for Sampoorna Gram Rozgar Yojana in districts not covered by NREGA. Swarna Jayanti Swarozgar Yojana allocation increased from Rs 250 crore to Rs 344 crore.
  • Computerisation of PDS and integrated computerisation programme for FCI.
  • Allocation for schemes only for SCs and STs to be increased to Rs 3271 crore.
  • Rs 63 crore for share capital for National Minorities Development Finance Corporation following Sachar Committee recommendations.
  • Allocation for SC/ST scholarships enhanced from Rs.440 crore to Rs.611 crore.
  • Scholarships programme for minorities students to be of the order of Rs 72 crore for pre-metric, Rs 48 crore for graduate and postgraduate.
  • Abhijit Sen report on forward trading to be submitted in two months' time.
  • Total Budget for the Northeastern region raised from Rs 12,041 crore to Rs 14,365 crore.
  • New Industrial Policy for the northeastern region to be in place before March 31.
  • Women's development allocation will be Rs.22,282 crore.
  • Rs 7,000 crore allocation for better tax administration to be used for social schemes.
  • Rs 2,25,000 crore farm credit proposed in the new budget. A target of additional 50 lakh farmers to be brought under farm credit.
  • Farmers' credit likely to reach Rs.1,90,000 crore as against the targeted Rs.1,75,000 crore during 2006-07.
  • Special Purpose Tea Fund to rejuvenate tea production.
  • Rs. 100 crore allocated for National Rainfed Area Authority.
  • One hundred per cent subsidy for small farmers and 50 per cent for other farmers for water recharging scheme.
  • World Bank signed agreement for revival of 5,763 waterbodies in Tamil Nadu. Loan component Rs 2,182 crore. To have a command area of four lakh hectares. Similar agreement with Andhra Pradesh in March for recharge of 2,000 bodies. Command area 2.5 lakh hectares.
  • National Agricultural Insurance Scheme to be continued for Kharif and Rabi this year.
  • Bonds worth Rs 5,000 crore to augment NABARD to be issued.
  • Death and disability cover for rural landless families to be introduced, known as 'Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana'.

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