'Will Meet Fiscal Deficit Target And Maintain Quality,' Says Finance Minister Arun Jaitley

New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is speaking today at 13th edition Hindustan Times Leadership Summit.

Here are the highlights

• I don't think the word drama would be an appropriate word for either of the two institutions (Parliament and Court). Fundamental difference between the two.
• Parliament is a forum for MPs - since they are peoples representatives.
• These are all motivated with some kind of compassion, concern of political constituency.
• Courts are different, they predominantly look into legal aspect of the matter therefore court proceedings are never shrill.
• But of course there is an underlying impression that the last word has to be yours.
• Therefore the sense of authority does remain in the institution.
• I have always seen separation of powers in not a defined concept.
• The larger picture is not such a bad news. I don't recollect since 1991 when reform process started, a single legislation that has been abandoned altogether because Rajya Sabha said 'no'.
• There have been delays but there hasn't been indefinite abandonment. Reforms get obstructed indefinitely is not true.
• Larger issue that in a country with a bicameral system what should be the relationship.
  I don't foresee in future any government that has absolute majority in Upper House.
• Lower House is a directly elected House so mandate principle is always with them. Lower House elected on a manifesto unlike Rajya Sabha.
• Now I am told that last month, Italy has moved in the same direction.
• Therefore we will have to follow the practice that by consensus that we come to a view.
  Otherwise you have a system when an indirectly elected House vetoes the directly elected House.
• I am not particularly worried about the fiscal deficit. This year after a long time, not only will we achieve it but also the quality of it.
• Last year we were in the middle of the year. This year we had a free hand, we have concentrated on the quality and will be probably able to maintain it.
• As far as salaries and pensions are concerned, normally in India's fiscal practice we follow a system where the salary and pension pressure on the budget should be about 2.5% of GDP.
• In the initial year it moves up an economy growing at 7%, base of GDP increases. By the end of 3-4 years, the spikes come down. As the economy expands itself the capacity to absorb them also grows.
• If you continue to grow, then that growth leads to additional revenue.
• It's been always suggested by the RBI and Governor publicly suggested it. Small savings rate must come down.
• As an elected government we have to look at it with a sense of political pragmatism.
• I don't think its any longer possible to classify government programmes into traditional ideological brackets.
• For instance what is the India model? The Indian model is a lot more market centric, growth-centric, and encourages private sector activity.
• At the same time of out of the revenues, a very large part has to go for social security programmes.
• Therefore a combination of the two that India has evolved.
• Incentivising private sector, easing business to grow, international investment to come in.
  At the same time we have to look at our social security programme.
• Every school in India has toilets. Now we have to maintain them
• Idea is, are we only going to speak people who still carry night soil on their hands?
• Apart from fiscal planning, once you are moving towards GST, one fact is clear that your service tax is going to be shared by states.
• There are several reforms which get highlighted and overemphasised in media.
• One of the unsung reforms has been the rationalisation of subsidies.
• In the process, you brought oil prices linked to market, diesel to market. Periodic variations which take place.
• LPG gap between subsidy and market has narrowed down. LPG subsidy going into 120 million bank accounts. A part of it has passed it to consumers.
• A part of it, the oil companies subsumed it because they were losing money. To cover up their losses. Third part goes into infrastructure.
• In 2014 the first 17 tenders for national highway projects did not attract a single investor. Today if there is one problem Railways doesn't have, it is funds.
• GE and Alstom taking over the two rail factories in Bihar. They must be the biggest manufacturing units in the state.
• I don't think we are in a position to regulate the nature of discourse. It is for those who manage the news organisations themselves to decide.
• Personal view is there is a big gap between the kind of news analysis on TV and the actual news.
• Therefore this is really the time for internet media or print, particularly for print to strike back.
• On NJAC verdict, I don't think it would have happened differently. Complete consensus, both Houses were unanimous.
• As far as policies are concerned we have started de-incentivising those who are pollutants. Excise duty on petrol is carbon tax.
• There are several kinds of products that have to be taxed higher. luxury, pollutants etc. Therefore you can't show any mercy by accepting Congress party's view.
• When we raise statistical arguments, we get caught in the trap.
• I agree we need to spend more on Health and Education.
• Problem is balancing your budget. India has 3-4 sources of high expenditure.
• Last year I had 10 per cent less money which went to the states. This year and probably next year I will be burdened with OROP and salaries.
• I think its only an academic argument that things will change if you get a statutory status, that was never the intention whether it be Planning Commission or the Niti Ayog.
• Since centralised planning for states is an areas from which we are moving out.
• Should a particular central scheme be the same for Gujarat and Manipur? Niti Ayog has a much greater participation of states.
• Niti Ayog constituted a group of CM and have come to a finding almost by consensus.
• Niti Ayog has repeatedly started evolving itself as an economic think tank and policies for private sectors.
• On the best Finance Minister India has ever had, Mr Jaitley said, each one has left his footprints behind and done a lot. The only comment I would make is that what happened in 1991.
• I think if it had happened two decades earlier India would have been prepared for it and we would not have lost the decades of the 70s and 80s.
• A lot of credit would go to the then PM Narasimha Rao and his Finance Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and that's a turning point that helped the economy.
• Governments broadly went on the same path but it slowed down in the past decade.