Sources also said Sinha was toying with the idea of making the budget process more "transparent" except in those areas like indirect taxes in which secrecy needed to be maintained.

Sinha has already indicated that he would effect sweeping reforms in the forthcoming budget to completely do away with the mess in taxation by rationalising the indirect tax. In the last couple of years revenue collections from indirect tax has drastically fallen short of the targets.

Even this financial year while there was a buoyancy in direct tax collection which grew by 15 per cent during April to December 1998, indirect tax which accounted for revenue collections over Rs 100,000 crore annually has recorded only three per centgrowth during the same period.