Meet the architects of Budget 2019

Budget 2019-20 is being presented in Parliament on July 5. Let us take a look at the prominent people who contributed to the making of the Budget.

Krishnamurthy Subramanian

Subramanian is the chief economic adviser at the Finance Ministry and his first economic survey was presented Thursday. While tabling Economic Survey 2019, he said that he took inspiration from the Chinese economy.

Atanu Chakraborty

Chakraborty is the secretary of the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM). In this Budget, the department will help to gather additional revenues for the government. This year, the DIPAM has gathered Rs 2,357 crore through the initial public offering of Rail Vikas Nigam Limited and enemy property share sales.

Ajay Bhushan Pandey

Pandey is the revenue secretary. He is the Chief Executive Officer of the Unique Identification Authority of India, the government agency behind Aadhaar. He has promoted and defended the implementation and use of Aadhaar. He is also the current chairman of the Goods and Services Tax Network India.

Subhash Chandra Garg

Garg is the finance secretary and the most important bureaucrat in the Ministry of Finance. He was in the news for clashes between the RBI and the government that led to the resignation of RBI Governor Urjit Patel. He has written a letter of dissent before the Bimal Jalan committee on the transfer of excess reserves of the RBI to the government.

Nirmala Sitharaman

Nirmala Sitharaman is the first female Finance Minister of India. She will present the first Budget of the second term of the Modi-led government. She has a Master's in Economics and had applied for a PhD on the same subject. With concerns lingering about a lack of job opportunities, agrarian crises and an economic slowdown, it will be interesting to see how her knowledge of economics will impact the Budget.