As Finance Minister Arun Jaitley rises to present the Union Budget on February 1, he will have his task cut out. That is because the Indian economy is facing challenges on several fronts and the finance minister must go back to basics to counter the threats. Since it assumed power in May 2014, the Narendra Modi-led government has brought about a significant turnaround in the economy. Inflation is no longer the chief worry, but economic growth has remained largely range-bound and the target of growing above eight per cent has been missed in all quarters, except one.
This has been
