P Chidambaram was the first finance minister to make significant tax changes in an interim budget
- P Chidambaram was the first finance minister to make significant tax changes in an interim budget. (Budget 2019 LIVE Updates)
- In his February 17, 2014 speech, Mr Chidambaram stated that the economic situation at the time demanded interventions that could not wait for a regular budget.
- In the 2014-15 interim budget, he announced a number of changes to indirect tax laws. These included excise duty cuts on items such as automobiles, mobile phones and industrial oils.
- Mr Chidambaram also proposed to exempt loading, unloading, packing and storage of rice from service tax.
- Among other changes, Mr Chidambaram accepted the principle of one rank one pension for the defence forces, to be implemented from the next financial year.
- However, Mr Chidambaram was not the only finance minister to have announced major changes with financial implications.
- In the interim budget for 2009-10, the then finance minister Pranab Mukherjee announced a six-month extension to a 2 per cent interest subvention on shipment credit for employment-oriented sectors. That involved an additional financial outgo of Rs 500 crore.
- He also proposed refinancing of up to 60 per cent of commercial bank loans for PPP projects in critical sectors by IIFCL. That involved a total investment of Rs 100,000 crore in infrastructure.
- In the interim budget for 2004-05, then finance minister Jaswant Singh proposed to merge 50 per cent of dearness allowance (DA) with basic salary of central government employees (worth Rs 3,500 crore).
- He also proposed extension of the Farm Income Insurance Scheme from 20 to 100 districts.
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