A B Pandey to Krishnamurthy Subramanian: The team behind FM's Budget 2021

The FM will be assisted by a team of secretaries and advisors in making the Budget, here's the team behind it.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present her third Budget at a time when the economy is struggling to come out of Covid-19-induced shocks. She has met various stakeholders who have suggested many options on boosting growth in 2021-22. While the details will be out only on February 1, the FM will be assisted by a team of secretaries and advisors in making the Budget.
 
Here’s a look at the team:
 
Finance secretary: A B Pandey
 
As the economy encountered a big Covid disruption since March, Ajay Bhushan Pandey, who had just been elevated as the finance secretary, steered the government’s policy response through the months that followed. This included the implementation of the three stimulus packages announced by the FM.
 
Before joining the finance ministry as revenue secretary, Pandey served in various positions for the Union and the Maharashtra governments. Pandey was appointed the chief executive of the Unique Identification Authority of India in May 2016.
 
Besides easing compliance burden of taxpayers through the extension of tax deadlines, the 1984-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer also plugged goods and services tax evasion through tightening registration and rolling out e-invoicing in phases. The upcoming Budget — the last one before he retires in February — may be the most challenging one with the risk of another wave of the pandemic looming large.

Finance secretary A B Pandey

 
Economic affairs secretary: Tarun Bajaj
 
An old hand in the finance ministry, Tarun Bajaj assumed charge as economic affairs secretary in May. This was at a time when India saw the worst growth contraction on account of the pandemic. Before taking over this post, he was the additional secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office. Bajaj, a 1988-batch Haryana cadre IAS officer, is not new to the functioning of the finance ministry as this is his third stint there.
 
Bajaj has maintained a cordial relationship with the Reserve Bank of India and has backed-up its decisions on issues such as loan restructuring, appointment process of monetary policy committee (MPC), and so on. However, the government did face criticism over its failure to appoint new members at MPC in a time-bound manner. The Department of Economic Affairs, under Bajaj, has been working on some major policies, including privatisation of the public sector enterprises.

Economic affairs secretary Tarun Bajaj

 
Expenditure secretary: T V Somanathan
 
As economic activity came to a standstill due to the lockdown in the first quarter, the expenditure secretary played a pivotal role in reviving demand. With limited budgetary resources, the 1987-batch IAS officer from the Tamil Nadu cadre ensured that there were no spending constraints for key sectors. While spending on health was primary, jobs were to be revived through infrastructure investment.
 
Despite a steep fall in tax revenue, T V Somanathan, a PhD holder in economics, made way for an additional Rs 25,000 crore budgetary allocation for capex on roads, defence, infrastructure, water supply, urban development, and domestically-produced capital equipment in October. He was the key driver of the three stimulus packages announced so far and the sector-specific production-linked incentive schemes to boost manufacturing. The expenditure secretary’s role would be crucial in the Budget because of Covid-related expenditure, including those to be incurred in vaccination.

Expenditure secretary T V Somanathan

 
DIPAM secretary: Tuhin Kanta Pandey
 
The Odisha cadre IAS officer of 1987 batch has his plate full for this year and the next. Tuhin Kanta Pandey will play a key role in the government’s ambitious privatisation drive. A new policy for PSUs will lay a road map for privatisation and would lead to more strategic divestments, with Pandey at the helm. His other challenges are to complete the sale of Air India and Bharat Petroleum Corporation.
 
The government is set to miss its Rs 2.1-trillion divestment target, but the next fiscal year could lead to the exchequer receiving sizeable chunk in divestment receipts with privatisation planned for PSUs getting deferred, and the listing of Life Insurance Corporation of India.
 
Pandey served as the joint secretary at Planning Commission for five years since 2009 and as joint secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat for two years. He also worked for the Odisha government.

DIPAM secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey

 
Financial services secretary: Debasish Panda
 
Panda, who has played a key role in the resolution of YES Bank and Lakshmi Vilas Bank, would oversee his first Union Budget as financial services secretary. The first Budget for the 1987-batch UP cadre IAS officer will need lifting credit growth and ensuring Covid-hit small businesses get adequate credit. Before he was appointed the secretary, Panda served as special secretary.
 
Another challenge for Panda would be to tackle the expected rise in non-performing assets of public sector banks once the blanket ban on recognition of bad loans is lifted by the Supreme Court. This would mean public sector banks requiring more support from the government in terms of capital.
 
Panda, who has been supervising the listing of LIC and stake sale in IDBI Bank, would also spearhead mergers, amalgamation, or privatisation of public sector banks once the new privatisation policy is announced.

Financial services secretary Debasish Panda

 
Chief economic advisor: Krishnamurthy Subramanian
 
Though the role of the chief economic advisor is more pronounced for the Economic Survey, the ideas and guidance given in the document — presented before the Union Budget is tabled in the Lok Sabha — form the basis of Budget-making and other policies quite often.
 
The gross domestic product (GDP) growth numbers for the coming year, which are calculated based on advance estimates of GDP of the current year and are given in the Economic Survey, form the backbone of most of the Budget numbers. Krishnamurthy Subramanian, who worked in the expert committees for the Securities and Exchange Board of India and the Reserve Bank of India and was part of major economic and corporate reforms, has till now presented two Economic Surveys.
 
Among the major recommendations, he had defended ‘counter-cyclical fiscal policy’ to boost demand in his Survey presented last year.

Chief economic advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian