The Budget has been populist and rural-oriented in its focus. The minimum support price (MSP) for agricultural produce is being bumped up; there are also large allocations to rural infrastructure, including roads and optic-fibre networks. Multiple state governments, which are also up for Assembly elections in the next year or so, are likely to follow suit with handouts for rural voters.
This might lead to macro-economic under-performance in some ways because there will be low returns on a lot of that money. However, political compulsions always trump economic rationality in the last year of any government's term.
The government has also reiterated
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