New Delhi, Feb 7 (PTI) Congress MP Manish Tewari Wednesday attacked the BJP government at the Centre, saying the country’s debt has gone up three times in the last 10 years.
Initiating the discussion on the Finance Bill, 2024, in the Lok Sabha, the Congress leader said the current regime’s taxation policy is such that the wealthy are getting wealthier and the poor are getting poorer.
“In the year 2014, the size of the Indian economy was 2.05 trillion dollars and the total debt of the government of India was Rs 55,87,149.33 crore. In the year 2024, India is a 3.75 trillion economy. But the debt has trebled. In 10 years, the debt has gone up three times,” he said.
In the year 2019-2020, the total revenue receipts were Rs 18,50,101 crore. The net revenue receipts to the Centre was Rs 15,04,587 crore. The fiscal deficit was Rs 7,66,846 crore, Tewari said.
In the financial year 2021, he said, the revenue receipts fell to Rs 15,55,153 crore while the deficit went up to Rs 18,48,655 crore.
“This is completely understandable because that was when COVID-19 had impacted the whole world. But what is really worrying… is that in the financial year 2021, the fiscal deficit has been hovering in the range of Rs 17-18 lakh crore,” the MP said.
“Is this a sustainable situation that your tax base is so narrow that ultimately you have 2.3 or 2.5 crore tax payees and out of them also a very minuscule percentage three per cent four per cent actually account for half your tax collections. Is that a sustainable situation for the economy,” he asked.
“The Finance Bill, 2024, has two very explicit objectives. One is to continue the existing rate of income tax for the year 2024-25 and number two is to give effect to certain financial proposals, extending tax benefits to start-ups, sovereign wealth funds, pension funds…,” Tewari added MP Subhash Chandra Baheria (BJP) said that since the BJP came into power at the Centre, the tax system has improved in the country.
He praised the government for bringing GST and said that due to this, the country’s tax revenue has gone up. PTI SID SKY IJT IJT
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