India's 2019 Budget to Serve the Less Privileged on the Expense of the NRIs

Modi 2.0 administration's first budget targets investment-led growth while maintaining the Indian government's stated and visible thrust on social spending. Tabled on Friday, Budget 2019 was, indeed, big on hope, but it fell a little flat when it came to delivering on the promise of the populist interim budget presented in February.

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The maiden Union Budget of the country's first full-time woman Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman focused on Gaon, Garib and Kisan (village, poor, and farmer) but it did so at the expense of the country's massive middle-class - and millions of its overseas workers, known as Non-Resident Indians (NRIs).

Nine years after the first Aadhaar identity card was issued, and after facing - and overcoming - numerous challenges owing to the ambiguity of whether NRIs should or could own one, Aadhaar-on-arrival is a flattering gesture but not much else. And merging the NRI portfolio investment route with the foreign portfolio investment route is akin to ironing an operational wrinkle. The hike in the customs duty on gold and other precious metals will definitely boost the fortunes of GCC-based jewellers, offsetting part of the VAT impact, but it'll make taking gold home further dearer for the NRIs.

To be fair, the Indian budget has traditionally ignored the NRIs, and in that, this budget follows the tradition. The FM did, however, depart from tradition when she kept the budget documents in a four-fold red cloth instead of the usual briefcase. "It symbolises our departure from slavery of Western thought. It is not a budget but a 'bahi khata' (ledger)," said Chief Economic Adviser Krishnamurthy Subramanian. And even though the budget was criticised for being "vision-less and provision-less" by lawyer and Congress politician Kapil Sibal, the FM did well to announce the intention to relax foreign investment norms in sectors like aviation, media and single-brand retail.

An official Opposition party was conspicuous by its absence during the presentation of Budget 2019, with even unpopular proposals like the Re1 per litre additional cess on petrol and diesel receiving nothing more than muted objections. In conclusion, Ms Sitharaman's maiden budget seemed more like a statement of intent and less a roadmap that charts the milestones and pitstops on the way to a $5 trillion economy. But as long as it can generate jobs, provide affordable housing and energy to the rural poor, further open up the economy to FDI, reduce corporate taxes to kickstart a domestic boom, offer pensions to small retailers, invest in space research and set up world-class universities in India, who's complaining?

By Vicky Kapur