Best of BS Opinion: Fiscal constraints, states perfect their start-up pitch

Here are the top BS Opinion articles of the day

The sharp reduction in the allocation for vaccines from Rs 39,000 crore to Rs 5,000 crore in Budget 2022-23 raises several critical questions about the government’s programme in the year ahead. Has it assumed that the worst of the pandemic is over and that booster shots should be left to market forces? The second edit sets out the anomalies here

In other views:

The government hopes to kick-start the economy and crowd in private investment with a massive increase in capital expenditure. But given the fiscal constraints, the resources to achieve this can only come from an exponential expansion of the tax-to-GDP ratio. The top edit explains why here

Shyam Ponappa outlines the risks embedded in resisting the arbitral awards, such as those to Devas shareholders, and argues that the government needs to be more accommodative on this score for societal gains. Read it here

Nivedita Mookerji outlines how different states are hard-selling their major cities as new start-up hubs. Read it here

QUOTE OF THE DAY

‘The government has hit 5 sixes in a row with this Budget’

Shankar Sharma, CMD, First Global, to Business Standard