align="left">The Union budget for fiscal year 2005-2006 is due in just over two weeks.  This is the period during which a lot of pressure is usually brought to bear on the Finance Minister (FM) to increase budgetary allocations for this or that panacea to transform India and eliminate mass poverty.  With greater continuity and stability in the tax regime the usual excitement about tax rates and the guessing games have been missing in recent years.  Therefore, much of the debate is about allocations, expenditure and fiscal deficits.

The Union budget for fiscal year 2005-2006 is due in just over two weeks.  This is the period during which a lot of pressure is usually brought to bear on the Finance Minister (FM) to increase budgetary allocations for this or that panacea to transform India and eliminate mass poverty.  With greater continuity and stability in the tax regime the usual excitement about tax rates and the guessing games have been missing in recent years.  Therefore, much of the debate is about allocations, expenditure and fiscal deficits.