Budget beyond taxes--it's time to focus on non-tax part of revenue

Much more money is being collected as tax but, relative to the growing economy, the govt is shrinking. Milking poorly performing or easily marketable assets will deliver more money for key schemes

There is a paradox at the heart of the Narendra Modi government’s five Budgets. Growing numbers of taxpayers have been coughing up vast sums as taxes, but government expenditure has grown all too little, and failed to keep pace with the growth of the economy. The result is that key government programmes find their outlays barely keeping pace with inflation. The heart of the problem with the Budget is not taxes, but the poor returns on past government investments. Yes, the public sector.

Take a look at the numbers. Income tax collections in the last Modi budget, compared to