India’s Union budgets have relied more on rhetoric than on genuine economic course correction.

India’s Union budgets have relied more on rhetoric than on genuine economic course correction. Too often, budgetary announcements appear disconnected from the Economic Survey. Tamil Nadu’s state budgets have demonstrated that inclusive growth need not remain a slogan. The Union Budget must confront this reality instead of simply celebrating the proliferation of NBFCs in the name of ‘financial inclusion’ Consolidation and privatisation risk marginalising small depositors and borrowers. The complete opening of the insurance sector to foreign ownership further amplifies these concerns. It cannot afford to remain a collection of aspirations and headline numbers.