scorecardresearch
Add as a preferred source on Google
Saturday, March 14, 2026
TopicGovt expenditure

Topic: Govt expenditure

Economist DR Pendse’s 7-point plan to cut expenditure and control budget deficit

Revenue generation is not the answer for us. In fact, it aggravates the malady. We must concentrate on curbing expenditure, wrote DR Pendse in 2000.

Return of revenue overestimation should be a wake-up call for those managing Indian economy

Among the Budgets Nirmala Sitharaman has presented over the past six years, revenue overestimation was a big problem in the Budget for 2019-20, her maiden exercise.

Focus on growth dynamics rather than adjusting norms to meet spending targets

Capital expenditure undertaken hastily to meet year-end targets dilutes the quality of the exercise and undermines the economy's benefits from such investment.

Maharashtra & Jharkhand’s long list of poll promises reliant on them getting their fiscal maths right

Maharashtra has headroom to spend, but committed expenditure is expected to rise. In Jharkhand, optimistic revenue projections may limit the state govt’s ability to fulfill the promises.

Fiscal boost can’t rely on spending cuts alone, Modi govt must consider non-tax measures

If the fiscal deficit was brought down to 5.6% in 2023-24, it was more because of a cut in revenue expenditure than because of growth in tax collections.

Lower October tax revenue growth & higher spending as 2024 polls near could strain govt finances

With tax revenue not doing as well as needed, govt has few choices before it: reduce subsidy-led revenue expenditure, cut back on growth-oriented capex, or miss its fiscal deficit target.

The budget was insipid, lacked courage, and the math was all fuzzy

The budgeted expenditure doesn’t account for various schemes & announcements that have been made, such as the increase in MSP or the healthcare coverage scheme.

On Camera

Period pain is real. Blanket menstrual leave policy isn’t a fix

The Supreme Court is right to point out the 'mindset of employers', who, because of this policy, may deduce that 'women are inferior.'

Red carpet for industry honchos as AAP kicks off Punjab investors summit. Rs 10,000 cr pledged on Day 1

At 2nd such summit in Punjab for top investors organised by AAP since it came to power in Punjab, Lakshmi Mittal announced his Bathinda refinery has increased production of LPG by 3,000 tonnes/day.

Supreme Leader Mojtaba, the man Iran must keep alive & the secret force ‘tasked with it’—all about NOPO

The Nirouyeh Vijeh Pasdaran Velayat, or NOPO, was the only force Ali Khamenei trusted.It was founded in 1991 and is more feared than the Revolutionary Guards.

Peaceful power transfers followed uprisings in India’s neighbourhood. It’s a sign of mature democracies

Rating democracies is a tricky business. I am only using the simple metric of who in the Indian subcontinent has had the most peaceful, stable, normal political transitions and continuity.