• You said banks would be provided liquidity for the write-off. But from where?

We have done our homework. We will firm up our plans and then we will announce it in the appropriate forum.

But what precautions or steps will the government take so that such a situation does not recur in the farm sector?

That is a question that must be addressed to the minister for agriculture. We have announced a Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana; we have announced a national food security mission; we are providing Rs 25,000 crore for one, Rs 4,882 crore for the other. We have an ambitious accelerated irrigation benefit programme (AIBP) with an outlay of Rs 20,000 crore for next year. All this will hopefully boost agricultural production.

• Again, is it a fair criticism that you have not done much for infrastructure?

Some people don’t take time to read the budget speech.

• You have removed the waiver for CVD for power projects. And this can impact retail tariff. What is the rationale?

The rationale is that it is not a major revenue gainer. Indian power equipment producers must be given a certain level of protection. This is based on the recommendations of the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council... so we have imposed a 4 per cent CVD to compensate for the VAT that the Indian manufacturer pays.

• This is your 5th straight Budget in the UPA government. Which has been your toughest budget for decisions?

Each budget is prepared in a different context. You can’t compare one with the other. The 2004 budget was pretty tough because it came in the middle of the year. There was rising inflation, investment had come to a grinding halt, and the fiscal deficit was very high. So 2004 posed a challenge. We had to restart the growth process.

... contd.