The word stability runs parallel with the budget team. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has completed her entire term and is set to present her sixth consecutive Budget. Furthermore, there are at least two secretaries who will be participating in their fifth Budgeta– a rarity in bureaucracy.
Finance Secretary T V Somanathan and Secretary of the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) Tuhin Kanta Pandey have been integral members of the Budget team since assuming their respective leadership roles. They might find themselves handling two complete Budgets in July and February 2025. This is due to the Narendra Modi government’s decision to assign officers with extended tenures in the finance ministry, which does not adhere to fixed two-year terms for top officials as seen in the home or defence sectors.
Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra and Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth are also approaching their third Budget. Malhotra’s initial experience with the Budget was in 2022 when he served as the Financial Services Secretary.
Somanathan, who was part of Narendra Modi’s PMO, is the first among equals in the finance ministry with Pandey and Seth being his batchmates from the 1987 batch of IAS. The Tamil Nadu cadre officer is the man responsible for handling government spending and keeps it on a tight leash, seeking to ensure that wastage is reduced and plays by the rule book. At the same time, he believes in keeping the books clean and transparent, even if it requires increased spending to curtail off-Budget borrowings.
In the upcoming Budget presentation on Thursday, close attention will be paid to the Modi government’s strategy for addressing the sensitive matter of ensuring that government employees do not face a disadvantage under the National Pension System compared to the old pension scheme. Additionally, Somanathan’s insights are considered crucial in safeguarding the fiscal glide path, even in the face of anticipated increased spending in the pre-election period.
Seth will be leading the Budget division and will ensure that the numbers are in order. Seth and Somanathan have also focused on maintaining robust public spending post Covid. They have sought to ensure that ministries spend the money allocated for infrastructure projects.
Malhotra and Pandey are the two officers responsible for raising resources, but with elections round the corner, both will have to adopt a business-as-usual strategy until the full Budget is presented in July.
Their primary focus, along with the Central Board of Direct Taxes and Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, will be to achieve the set targets for the current financial year.
(With TOI inputs)
