March 24, 2025
Lok Sabha MP Sougata Ray’s speech on The Finance Bill, 2025
Sir, I do not have so much time in my hand; so, I will not quote too many figures. But let me start by telling you that in the last year’s Budget, I had told that in the India’s critical situation, we needed Dr. Manmohan Singh, and not Shrimati Nirmala Sitharaman. I repeat my statement again. It is because India is in an economic crisis which we do not see. This big talk of the Government that we are going to be the third-largest economy is all … If you really ask, India has not yet reached 5 trillion dollars. China has an economy of 19 trillion dollars and U.S. hasaneconomy of 32 trillion dollars. What is this third largest economy that the Government is talking about? Sir, the main problem facing the economy of the world today is Mr. Donald Trump. But he is powerful. He has shown that he persuaded Elon Musk to send a rocket to the space station to bring back Sunita Williams. So we cannot deny their power. But what Mr. Trump wants is equalization of tariffs. He started with Canada and Mexico. And now, he has said that India will not be spared. Last time when he came here, he said that the duty on Harley Davidson motorbikes and costly American cars should be reduced. Now, he will insist that every American good which is to be exported to India will have no more tax than what is levied on the Indian goods. So, the main thing necessary for the Finance Minister was to announce a tariff policy. But she has not announced any tariff policy. She does not have that vision of Dr. Manmohan Singh. We have no business agreement yet with the UK, the European Union or with US. We must have a uniform tariff policy. But they have not done it. The country is in the throes of a difficult time and it is going to be more difficult as Mr. Trump takes his steps one by one. Despite the fact that Modi is his friend, that is what Modi claims, Trump says that we will not spare India from the high tariff. When I was a student I saw a play by Pirandello, an Italian dramatist. It was named ‘Six Characters in Search of an Author’. I shall say that this Government is a Government in search of an economic roadmap. They have no economic roadmap. It is true that in the last years of Dr. Manmohan Singh’s Government, economy faced a number of problems. What was necessary was to bring us out of that. But what have you done? When I came to this House, Late Shri Arun Jaitley ji was the Finance Minister. Nirmala Sitharaman ji took over as the Finance Minister in 2019. She has no idea of what roadmap to present. They are in search of private sector investment. They want to trigger the private sector investment. So, initially that they did, they lowered the Corporate Tax to 22 per cent and for new firms, they kept it at 15 per cent. Then, what did they do? To trigger the private sector investment, they launched the Productivity-Linked Incentive scheme to incentivise firms. Along with that, the Government also increased its capital expenditure quite sharply, hoping that it would crowd in private sector investment. Hon. Chairperson, Sir, you are from Assam. Do you notice any private sector investment taking place there? Only one or two private companies are there. They are acquiring others’ properties. Who is acquiring the ports? Who is acquiring the airports? I do not want to name him. He is the … friend. … Sir, I can name other people. Sir, have I said anything wrong? : I am happy to know that. … I am happy for Assam. … Let me say that I am happy for Assam. Now that you are the President of the Assam Pradesh BJP, I hope that the investment will even rise. …. I have no objection to that. This is a good thing. … Sir, why are you being sensitive? Sir, I come to my next point. Some analysts are happy with the projected fiscal deficit, that is, 4.4 per cent. But it is still above any pre-COVID-19 budget deficit of the Modi Government. India’s public debt as a share of GDP started rising after FY 2015 despite a favourable external climate, and currently it sits at 84.3 per cent. What I wanted to say is that in this Finance Bill the main thing is that the middle-class has been given income tax relief Sir, the main point is this. They reduced the tax on individuals. There will be no tax on income up to Rs. 12 lakh. It was thought that it will be very popular. But lowering of income tax on private individuals will not incentivise private investment. It has never happened. That is why, I oppose this Finance Bill. All the assumptions made in this Finance Bill are false. This does not meet the challenges faced by the economy, both external factors and internal factors. The investment is not rising; the unemployment is at its highest; and the country is in a bad shape. Please accept that.
