Union Budget 2022: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is all set to present the budget on February 1. During this, it has to be seen what steps the Finance Minister and his department take to enable the pandemic-affected country to achieve a better economic condition. According to the report, Sitharaman and her team are working on drafting new measures to accelerate fiscal growth without creating a fiscal deficit. This year, as India grapples with the pandemic, a significant amount is expected to be allocated for the health sector.
Apart from Nirmala Sitharaman, the budget is largely dependent on her A-team. Sitharaman’s team, consisting of five high profile officials. These include TV Somanathan, Tarun Bajaj, Debashish Panda, Ajay Seth and Tuhin Kanta Pandey. They play an important role in the preparation of the budget and also keep an eye on the amount allocated to different sectors during each financial year.
Let’s know about the team of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who have an important role in designing the budget:
TV Somanathan: A 1987 IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre, had previously served as Joint Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office in 2015. He is the senior-most among the five who have been designated as the Finance Secretary. It remains to be seen how Somanathan calculates the capital expenditure in this financial year after the Union Budget 2022.
Tarun Bajaj: Tarun Bajaj, Revenue Secretary, Ministry of Finance has worked in the Prime Minister’s Office. His role in the finance ministry is to ensure realistic tax targets and this year, he plans to exceed tax collections. Bajaj has been instrumental in facilitating healthcare packages during the pandemic. During the 2022 budget, he is expected to ease tax compliance and announce packages for pandemic-hit businesses and sectors.
Ajay SethAjay Seth was the Managing Director of Bangalore Metro before joining as Economic Affairs Secretary in April 2021. These bureaucrats are also in charge of drafting all the budget speeches of Sitharaman along with Somanathan. His department is also the main division of capital markets, investment and infrastructure policies. They are expected to allocate huge amount in big projects to bring in revenue and create jobs.
Debashish Panda: Debasish Panda, a 1987 batch IAS officer, has been instrumental in the revival of public sector offices as the head of the Department of Financial Services. Because of them banks have done well despite the pandemic.
Tuhin Kanta Pandey: This year the government may not have been able to meet its disinvestment targets, but Tuhin Kanta Pandey has been instrumental in the disinvestment of Air India. This year he has many more projects after the budget of 2022, with LIC IPO being a major disinvestment target.
first published:Jan. 27, 2022, 2:44 pm
,