A ranking of India’s finance ministers should put Yashwant Sinha right there on top. He cleaned up the excise structure – it used to be a right royal mess – and controlled subsidies. He brought down real interest rates, freed up telecom, and tried to deregulate the prices of petrol and diesel.
He also earned the eternal gratitude of business journalists by moving the time of the Budget speech from the Raj era hangover of 5 pm to 11 am. This meant that the Budget editions of newspapers could be brought out in time to reach readers outside the cities where they were printed.
Yet, Sinha remains somewhat unsung. The reasons for that could be two.
First, not many at the time understood the full impact of what he was doing. Secondly, he was forced to climb down on some of his bold measures, earning for himself the uncharitable sobriquet of Rollback Sinha.
He also earned the eternal gratitude of business journalists by moving the time of the Budget speech from the Raj era hangover of 5 pm to 11 am. This meant that the Budget editions of newspapers could be brought out in time to reach readers outside the cities where they were printed.
Yet, Sinha remains somewhat unsung. The reasons for that could be two.
First, not many at the time understood the full impact of what he was doing. Secondly, he was forced to climb down on some of his bold measures, earning for himself the uncharitable sobriquet of Rollback Sinha.
Test Post 3
Reviewed by Unknown
on
03:09
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Reviewed by Unknown
on
03:09
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