PC counters Left on budget pulls

Finance Minister P. Chidambaram today gave a patient hearing to the Left for over two hours, on what they wanted from his budget, and offere...

Finance Minister P. Chidambaram today gave a patient hearing to the Left for over two hours, on what they wanted from his budget, and offered a point-by-point rebuttal to at least a dozen points raised by them.

While the Left asked for a cap on Defence expenditure, anywhere between Rs 66,000 and 70,000 crore, Chidambaram said he would have to accommodate Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s wishes.

On the other hand, the Left’s total demand for CMP implementation alone was a sum of Rs 50,000 crore. In its three-page memorandum, the parties have underlined commitments in the CMP — like the Employment Guarantee Act — which needed to be implemented without delay.

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The Left has asked the Minister to do away with corporate tax exemptions. It has demanded a review of export incentives/duty drawback, ‘‘given the comfortable foreign exchange position with a view to phasing out those which are no longer necessary’’.

Chidambaram reportedly argued his case in context of the demand on customs and excise duties of petroleum products. The Left had demanded that the recommendations of the Standing Committee on Petroleum, which has suggested several measures on restructuring these levies, be implemented.

In its last demand, the Left said the CMP commitment on not privatising profit-making PSUs would have to be honoured and shares of BHEL should not be disinvested.