Factoring in Sabka Vikas balances out poll maths in Budget equation

With some part of India almost always in election mode, central budgets invariably draw attention for any special focus on poll-bound states. While states like Tamil Nadu and Kerala headed to the polls found mention in FM Nirmala Sitharaman’s Budget announcements, the sweep of her new initiatives touched other states as well.Four mineral-rich coastal states, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, will receive support to establish dedicated “rare earth corridors” to promote mining, processing, research and manufacturing, she said. Critical to cutting-edge technology and green industry, the rare earth sector, which is dominated by China, has been prioritised by govt. The Budget’s proposals for an integrated east coast industrial corridor, creation of five tourism destinations in as many “purvodaya” states and development of Buddhist circuits cut across a vast region, including the two other poll-bound states of West Bengal and Assam.The general view among political watchers was that the imprint of electoral calculation was not as deep in this Budget as at times seen in the past. Sitharaman's speech last year had drawn barbs of “chunavi budget” from the opposition for its generous announcements for Bihar, which was to go to the polls in Nov.In her post-Budget presser on Sunday, she said: “There is enough to cover all the election states. If I do (focus on poll-bound states), you will ask me why I have done so. Now I have done it for election and non-election states as well.”In her ninth straight Budget, she proposed a well-connected node at Bengal’s Durgapur for the industrial corridor, while Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura will be part of the Buddhist circuit projects.The initiative to build world-class trekking and hiking facilities will cover a number of states, including Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir, besides parts of Eastern and Western Ghats. Turtle trails in the coastal areas of Odisha, Karnataka and Kerala and bird watching trails in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu will be developed as well. Seven high-speed rail corridors between cities will cover parts of Maharashtra, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Bengal.Programmes for making India self-reliant in cashew and cocoa and transforming the products into premium global brands by 2030, restoring the glory of “sandalwood ecosystem”, and a “coconut promotion scheme” were unveiled as well to boost high-value agriculture, which will help several states, especially in southern India.