finance minister (fm) P Chidambaram's budget for 2004-2005 is actually the interim budget presented by his predecessor Jaswant Singh of the National Democratic Alliance (nda). There are minor variations in allocations. The two exceptions are defence (an additional Rs 11,700 crore) and the Planning Commission, which got another Rs 6,000 crore for "new or restructured schemes to subserve the objectives of the National Common Minimum Programme' (ncmp) of the United Progressive Alliance (upa). Another major change was the education cess of 2 per cent.

Chidambaram appears to have achieved the impossible: appeased coalition partners, delivered on some ncmp promises, introduced reforms that satisfy industry, raised additional revenues, and also contained the fiscal and revenue deficits.

But if the allocation to various sectors is the main indicator, the budget waffles. The allocations to agriculture, water and rural development, upa priority areas, increase marginally from last year and, in some cases, record a drop from the nda's interim budget (see graph: The more it changes [2]