Forex crisis to Kargil War: Yashwant Sinha's Budget events and revisions

The finance minister who presented the Budget during some of the most eventful times for India is Yashwant Sinha. His Budget 1991 was in the backdrop of the forex crisis; Budget 1999 was in the year of the Pokhran blasts; Budget 2000 was at the time of the Kargil war; and Budget 2001 was presented the year a devastating earthquake shook Gujarat on January 26.

Sinha’s Budget 2002 also saw the maximum rollbacks; he went back on some five Budget proposals. For example, the Budget proposal of 5% service tax was revised and the service tax was rolled back for the savings portion of the premium.

Yashwant Sinha (centre) puts the finishing touches on the Budget at his office in New Delhi on February 27, 2002 Photo: Reuters

Also, the Budget proposal reduced Section 88 benefits from 20% to 10%. Later, Section 88 benefit for individuals earning between Rs 1.5 lakh and Rs  5 lakh was revised to 15%; plus no benefits for people earning more than Rs 5 lakh benefits.

The Budget proposal also included increasing LPG price by Rs 40 per cylinder. The revision saw a Rs 20 rollback.