The Union Budget, 1985-86-An Appraisal

The Union Budget, 1985-86 An Appraisal K Sundaram Suresh D Tendulkar K Krishnamurty The Union Budget for 1985-86 signals a distinct break with the past on three counts: (a) it implies a shift in the ex-ante composition of investment away from the public sector and towards private corporate sector; (b) the incentives offered in the Budget are neutral as regards the choice between consumption and savings; and (c) the fiscal concessions aim at transferring the transactions from the so-called black or the unaccounted segment to the white or accounted segment of the economy. These are all indicative of a significant change in the perceptions of the policy-makers regarding the mainsprings of the Indian growth process.