Ready reckoner: FM Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget 2024 is a balancing act

The size of the Budget has grown substantially since the pandemic, and the government has continued spending an increasing share of it on capital expenditure. There has been a change in the mix on welfare and subsidy spends. The overall subsidy bill has trended lower. There are lower allocations to health and education. But spends towards Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe community welfare has gone up. Increased Budget spending overall has come even as the government has moved to control borrowings on the back of buoyant tax numbers. The gross borrowing target is lower relative to gross domestic product as well as in absolute terms. This has meant that deficits remain under control.