India, Feb. 2 -- Finance Ministers frequently disavow any interest in tracking stock markets, and after the budget today, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman will probably feel the same. After all, in a budget where she arguably made the biggest single announcement of all her 8 budget speeches, the response from the stock markets has been tepid, to say the least.

The move to raise the income tax limit to effectively Rs 12 lacs is a bold, huge move, that compensates for years of over taxation on the middle classes, many would argue. It will hopefully deliver the results the government wants, both politically and economically in the form of a recovery in consumption, something India has been missing sorely. In the new age of chaotic global ...