Budget benefits not just the poor but the richest too: Chidambaram

P. Chidambaram criticizes Budget 2025-26 for benefiting the rich, questioning tax proposals and lack of philosophy.

Initiating the debate on Budget 2025-56 in the Rajya Sabha on Monday (February 10, 2025), senior Congress MP P. Chidambaram said the income tax proposals in the Budget presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman benefited not just the middle class but also the rich and the richest in the world.

He said about 80 lakh to 85 lakh tax payers will be out of the tax net from next year and 2.5 crore tax payers will benefit from the new tax proposals. “This 2.5 crore include not only the middle class which the Finance Minister passionately champions, it includes 2,27,315 persons who returned the income of more than ₹1 crore. It includes 262 persons who returned the income of more than ₹100 crore and it includes 23 persons who returned a total income of more than ₹500 crore,” he said.

Mr. Chidambaram questioned the claim that the Centre had foregone ₹1 lakh crore by way of the I-T breaks. “Yet she has claimed that the net tax revenues to the Centre will grow by 11.1% in 2025-26. In 2024-25 also it grew by 11%. After foregoing ₹1 lakh crore in this budget, how does she claim that the net tax revenues to the Centre will grow by the same 11%? This is pure magic, not mathematics,” the former Union Finance Minister said.

Mr. Chidambaram also alleged that the Budget was politically driven, keeping the Delhi elections in mind. “There ought to be a philosophy behind the Budget, but I cannot find one in this Budget. I shall not attempt to do so because after going through the Budget speech and Budget numbers, I believe there is no philosophy behind the Budget,” he said.

The senior Congress leader added: “It is obvious that the Budget was politically driven, I shall not elaborate upon that but I congratulate the Finance Minister for achieving one of her objectives a couple of days ago,” apparently referring to the results of the Delhi Assembly polls in which the BJP won. “She did nothing. But, she was focussed on the Income Tax and she was focussed on the Delhi elections,” he said.

Mr. Chidambaram criticised the Budget for reducing the allocation to MGNREGS and the decision not to cut GST and taxes on petrol and diesel. “Between 2012 and 2024, in the 12-year period, food inflation was 6.18%, education inflation was 11%, healthcare inflation was 14%. These have crippled Indian households. Household savings have fallen from 25.2% to 18.4%,” he said, adding that average monthly per capita expenditure of a rural family is only ₹4,226 and in urban areas it is ₹6,996.

“What has this budget done for the average Indian household in the bottom 50 per cent and the bottom 25 per cent? Nothing? What relief has the Finance Minister given them?” Mr. Chidambaram asked. “She could have raised the minimum wages across the board,” he said.