I rise to present the Interim Budget for 2009-10.
8. All this would not have been possible without the guidance of UPA Chairperson, Smt. Sonia Gandhi, the inspiring leadership of Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh and the hard work put in by my predecessor, Shri P. Chidambaram.
9. The growth drivers for this period were agriculture, services, manufacturing along with trade and construction. Hon'ble Members will agree with me that the real heroes of India's success story were our farmers. Through their hard work, they ensured "food security" for the country. With record procurement of 22.7 million tonnes of wheat and 28.5 million tonnes of rice for our Public Distribution System in 2008, our granaries are full. During this four year period, the annual growth rate of agriculture rose to 3.7 per cent. The production of foodgrains increased by about 10 million tonnes each year to reach an all time high of over 230 million tonnes in 2007-08. Despite a high base, the outlook for 2008-09 is encouraging with the country receiving normal rainfall during the agricultural season. Manufacturing, registered as well as unregistered, recorded a growth of 9.5 per cent per annum in the period 2004-05 to 2007-08. Similarly, communication and construction sectors grew at the rate of 26 per cent and 13.5 per cent per annum, respectively.
22. We also have to take note of Prof. Amartya Sen's observation and I quote "along with old slogan of 'growth with equity', we also need a new commitment towards 'down turn with security';, given the fact that occasional downturns are common - possibly inescapable - in market economies" unquote. Employment generation schemes have to be expanded and social security nets have to be strengthened to protect the vulnerable sections of our society.
24. UPA Chairperson, Smt. Sonia Gandhi had said "To be equitable, economic growth has to be sustainable. To be sustainable, economic growth has in turn to be all inclusive. All inclusive is no longer the greatest good of the greatest number. It is actually Sarvoday or the rise of all". In pursuance of that vision, the UPA Government in the National Common Minimum Programme had declared its intention to make growth more inclusive. The Eleventh Five Year Plan provides a comprehensive framework and strategy for making growth both faster and more inclusive. Impressive growth rates and buoyant revenues gave us the head room to fund ambitious programmes to achieve these objectives.
(v) Our Government is committed to ensuring "food security" in the country and meeting the food requirement of the poor under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS). In spite of higher procurement costs and higher international prices during the last five years, the central issue prices under the TPDS have been maintained at the level of July 2000 in case of Below Poverty Line (BPL) and Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) categories and at July 2002 levels for Above Poverty Line (APL) category.
(iv) The Department of Posts has launched "Project Arrow" to revitalize its core operations and to provide new technology enabled service to the common man. So far this has been successfully implemented in 500 post offices in the country. This Project will receive full government support as it will enhance the services offered to masses and would also lay the foundation for a vibrant delivery mechanism for many social sector schemes such as pension and National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS).
(vi) A revised and modified scheme named 'Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme'; was launched on November 19, 2007. This scheme covers all persons aged 65 years and above belonging to BPL households. So far 146 lakh persons have benefited from this scheme during the current financial year.
46. In keeping with the recent trend, the actual tax collections during 2007-08 exceeded the Revised Estimates for 2007-08, both for Direct and Indirect Taxes. However, for 2008-09, the RE of tax collection is projected at Rs.6,27,949 crore as against the BE of Rs.6,87,715 crore. This shortfall is primarily on account of the Government's pro-active fiscal measures initiated to counter the impact of global slowdown on the Indian economy. A substantial relief of about Rs.40,000 crore has been extended through tax cuts, including a fairly steep across the board reduction in Central Excise rates in December, 2008. Despite this, it is expected that the tax collection in 2008-09 would exceed last year's collection.