‘WE ARE TRYING TO SPEND MONEY IN A WAY THAT IT BOOSTS EVERYBODY’S INCOME’
THIS YEAR’S Union Budget announced many measures such as higher capital expenditure, a new cryptocurrency tax and revised disinvestment targets, among others. Some of the key officials behind the Union Budget of 2022-23—Finance Secretary T.V. Somanathan, Revenue Secretary Tarun Bajaj and DIPAM Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey—throw light on these aspects in detail and also talk about the revival in the private investment cycle, the sale of Air India to the Tata group, and Life Insurance Corporation of India’s forthcoming initial public offering (IPO) in an interaction with Business Today’s Siddharth Zarabi. Edited excerpts:
Why are you not distributing cash at least to those who need it?
Somanathan: We are not distributing cash but we are spending a lot of cash which gets into the pockets of [the] people. We are trying to spend money in a way that it boosts everybody’s income. We are zeroing in on giving a lasting increase in income and not a temporary transfer of cash.
The government has declared a capital expenditure of ₹7.50 lakh crore. What is the philosophy behind not distributing cash?
pushing a big increase in capital spending instead of making larger cash transfers? Firstly, we
