Presenting his first budget, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley summed up the prevailing economic situation as continuing to present a great challenge to the economic health of the country.

Emphasising the need to move quickly to revive the economy, he recognised the need to boost India‘s economic growth as well as introduce prudent measures to enforce fiscal consolidation and discipline. The budget was eagerly awaited and was expected to present a bold strategy by the new government to revive growth, curb the fiscal deficit and improve investor sentiment in the country.

It seems to have delivered on those counts. The new government provided a realistic budget, with a clear focus on better governance. The proposed reforms are a fairly good start. The growth strategy seems positive and the drift towards consolidation is much appreciated.

The budget displays a pragmatic and progrowth policy stance adopted by the government. There is a clear focus on job creation and accelerating bank allowances. This will give a much-needed fillip to sectors such as power, infrastructure, manufacturing, agriculture and small and medium enterprises.

Through the budget, the government has aimed at reducing uncertainty and enabling clarity in tax matters, seen as crucial to bring back investor confidence to boost the slowly recovering Indian economy. The government has committed to medium-term consolidation and has announced measures to attract capital inflows and boost investments.

The question is, what is the real number of the subsidies ultimately (I’m not implying that the new government would have all the answers within 45 days), will that mean a curbing of planned expenditure towards investment to meet the 4.1% fiscal deficit target and finally the feasibility of raising .`63,200 crore disinvestment target. Having said the above, clearly the government has given a message that they are open for business. They have sincerely tried to tackle a couple of issues upfront and have given a message that they are ready to sit across the table to put India firmly on the 8% growth path over the next few years.