Finance Minister Jaswant Singh has bypassed the parliament while announcing the major taxation proposals for reduction in both Excise and Customs duties on a score of items. Never before such announcements have come outside the parliament. He would certainly be accused of adopting the populist measures with eyes fixed on the coming elections to the Lok Sabha in few months. However, a closer look at the concessions that he has announced would indicate that it was not merely a step to win over voters. It was also a measure that you expand and open structures that would be needed for expanding outsourcing of manufacturing and products from outside the country.

Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie has been telling the world in general and Indians in specific the expansion of the Indian economy due to increasing number of multinational companies turning to India as the destination for outsourcing of their products. Shourie has written a series of articles in newspapers giving the outline of the rapid development in the last 10 years. He praised the achievements of India in information technology, telecom and E-commerce in recent years. Perhaps, he was instrumental in getting the finance minister to provide concessions in the electronics and information technology- related fields so that its growth rate could be better and leave China behind in these fields.

Meanwhile, Congress president Sonia Gandhi lamented that the Finance Minister had not targeted the rural areas where most of our people live and also the landless labours or other downtrodden classes when he revealed the package of the concessions. Jaswant Singh was prompt in announcing the second installment of concessions that was specifically addressed to the rural areas and agriculture sector.

The abolition of travel tax in India and abroad was called for a long time. It would make the air travel cheaper both in India and outside the country. It would help the growth of the aviation sector and thus reduce pressure on railways.

He was clever in allowing the Food Corporation of India to borrow funds from market. He also assured that the government guarantee bonds issued by the FCI. Thus the Finance Minister has sought to reduce the necessity of government funding the capital needs of the FCI. Several billion rupees have been locked up in the stocks held by the FCI. It is questionable whether or not it would result in reduction in subsidy on food. But he has suddenly withdrawn from the budgetary support for the FCI operations to a large extent. It would be for the food minister now to ensure that the FCI becomes an efficient organisation and brings down its overheads as well as maintains its stocks in better conditions that had been the case until now.