Counting the positives in the Indian budget: 0

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Editor's note: The Indian government’s budget for the year starting 1 April, which was presented on 1 February, was a culmination of several months of discussions with every possible stakeholder, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, told a gathering of executives on Tuesday. She said it was probably the budget that took the longest in preparation. But as any watcher of the Indian economy, mired as it is in a slowdown, will tell you, the budget was nothing if not disappointing.  Since the budget was presented on 1 February, we have seen statements, commentary and even clarifications from the government on parts of the budget statement. I set myself a task to find one good thing that could have happened; to find that one number or parameter that Indians could rally behind as a country. That search led me down a path where I realized there are several things on which we have done absolutely nothing. There really is nothing to rally behind as a nation of 1.3 billion people. The first number that jumps out is the slowing rate of growth of the …