Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Hints At Reform-Packed Budget

"I've always believed that where taxes are to be paid, taxes will be collected, but no unfair effort will be made by the state so that investors are unnecessarily harassed in that area," he said.

The government recently decided not to appeal against the Bombay High Court verdict in favour of British telecom major Vodafone in a Rs 3,000 crore transfer pricing case.

The Finance Minister said the Budget will focus on reforms in power, energy, railways and ports and also hinted at more public investment into these sectors.

Addressing a gathering of top industrialists and planners through video conferencing at an event -- 'Mumbai First: Turning the city into an international finance hub' -- Jaitley hinted that the 4.1 per cent deficit target will be met as also at more cuts in the planned expenditure.

After taking over the charge eight months ago, Jaitley already had reduced planned spending by 10 per cent and since the tax mop up has not been pacing as planned, it has been reported that more cuts are on the way.

Besides, not even 50 per cent of the target from the divestment proceeds has been met so far.

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