Cover Story
P. Chidambaram considers himself a lucky Finance Minister—that is, one who brings luck. And lucky he has been over the last four years as India’s Chief Financial Officer, but not so much because of his government’s policy making as the economic boom across the world.
You may be a Harvard Graduate, one of the finest legal minds in the country and even an old hand at budget making, but when you are also a politician with political masters and, worse, an election to win, then you have no choice but to set aside whatever your rational mind may dictate.
Few finance ministers enjoy the comfortable buffer that P. Chidambaram did when he put together Budget 2008. A booming exchequer with tax revenues exceeding targets, a consistently growing economy and a robust inflow of foreign investment.