People wanted scam, corruption to end: Jaitley

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Saturday took a dig at the previous United Progressive Alliance government during his budget speech, saying that people wanted "scam, scandal and corruption raj to end" and the Narendra Modi government has lived up to their trust.

Jaitley referred to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance's historic victory in the Lok Sabha election last year and said people had voted resoundingly for quick change, faster growth and highest levels of transparency.

"They wanted the scam, scandal and corruption raj to end. They wanted a government in which they can trust. We have lived up to that trust," Jaitley said.

He also recited a couplet to target the previous Congress-led government which had battled several controversies.

"Kuch to phool khilaye humne, aur kuch phool khilane hai Mushkil yeh hai bag me ab tak, kaante kai purane hai. (We made some flowers bloom and have to make some others bloom. The difficulty is that there are many old thorns in the garden," Jaitley said to cheers from the treasury benches.

The minister said his government had inherited a sentiment of "doom and gloom" and the investor community had almost written us off.

"In November, 2012, CPI (consumer price index) inflation stood at 11.2 percent, the current account deficit by the first quarter of 2013-14 had reached 4.6 percent of GDP, and normal foreign inflows until March 2014 were $15 billion.

"We have come a long way since then. The latest CPI inflation rate was 5.1 percent and the wholesale price inflation was negative; the current account deficit for this year was expected to be below 1.3 percent of GDP...," he said.

Jaitley said the new government had turned around the economy dramatically, restoring macro-economic stability and creating the conditions for sustainable poverty elimination, job creation and durable double-digit economic growth.

"Domestic and international investors are seeing us with renewed interest and hope," Jaitley said.

He said the Modi government has undertaken several significant steps to energise the economy.

"The credibility of the Indian economy has been re-established. The world is predicting that it is India's chance to fly," Jaitley said.