NEW DELHI, May 1: Finance minister P Chidambaram has assured that there would be no drastic changes in the budget.

Soon after his oath as a cabinet minister, Chidambaram told reporters that he was not under pressure from any quarter to make drastic changes, adding that that the budget passage would not be a problem.

Though the minister indicated that he would be open to suggestions, he said there would be no compromise. Chidambaram said cut motions and amendments were not unusual and the budget would be steered through on time.

The Finance Bill would be taken up for consideration on May 7, he said.

The return of Chidambaram as the finance minister nipped doubts over the fate of the Budget. Tamil Maanila Congress's (TMC) decision to rejoin the United Front Government amidst stiff opposition from party cadres, sent Chidambaram to the North Block in time to pilot his "dream budget".

Having taken the oath of office and secrecy on Thursday, Chidambaram would attend to the unfinished budgetary work. Officials in the finance ministry are through with the leg work necessary for making certain amendments in the Finance Bill. It has to be passed by Parliament before May 14.

The finance minister, according to political observes, will have the tough task of assuaging the feelings of the Left parties without compromising on the basic structure of the budget.

The left leaders have met prime minister IK Gujral, demanding crucial changes.

An all-party meeting has been convened by the prime minister on the issue.

Ministry sources argue that as far as allocation of funds for ministries are concerned, nothing is sacrosanct. The government revises allocations as part of the annual budget-making exercise. The budget estimates and revised estimates are never the same.

The health insurance was being opened up, sources said, to honour the commitments made in the Common Minimum Programme (CMP). The CMP had clearly spelled out that the experience of the banking industry could be applied to the insurance sector. Chidambaram, it was pointed out, did not deviate from the CMP.

The biggest problem will be the income tax rates and customs duty. The Left has been insisting that tax rates be increased at the higher end and customs duty hiked to protect the industry. The finance minister, however, was unlikely to yield on that count as tampering with rates would send wrong signals. As far as customs duty rates are concerned, the government has no choice but to gradually move towards honouring WTO commitments.

Chidambaram, it might be recalled, was almost ready with the budget, at the time of fall of the Deve Gowda Government. Attempts were being made to arrive at a consensus among the leaders of the political parties to push through the budget in Parliament to avert any constitutional crisis. The leaders of various political parties even gave an assurance to Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma in this regard.

However, with the selection of Gujral as the leader of the United Front, uncertainty yielded place to stability, at least for the time being. And now decision of the TMC to join the Government ensured that the Union Budget would be passed with minimum modifications.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.