Business journalism is, generally speaking, an oxymoron in India. On the day of the Union budget, it reaches another level.
Be it a Congress government or BJP one, the average score for the budget veers between 9 and 10, as fear meets exuberance.
2019 is no different, as the headlines of “columns” by corporate honchos, investment bankers and other animals show.
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1. The caravan of reforms keeps moving in full pace: Arvind Panagariya
2. Committed to cut fiscal gap: Renu Karnad
3. National grids a bold step: Hemant Kanoria
4. Multiple measures to boost investment: Chandrajit Banerjee
5. Opening the gates for a foreign-funded India growth: Abheek Barua
6. Focus on medium-term sustainable growth should be seen as a big positive: Sonal Varma
7. Spotlight on foreign funds: Motilal Oswal
8. Artful balancing act: Sajid Z. Chinoy
9. Some assurance, some direction, and lots of hope: Sanjeev Prasad
10. A ‘boring’ budget spells continuity, stability: Bibek Debroy
11. She (almost) conquered: Surjit Bhalla
12. Inclusive growth’s the goal, with fuscal prudence: Ravneet Gill
13. FM did best in limited fiscal space: Ajit Ranade
14. Credible intentions and matching action to pave way for New India: Rajnish Kumar
15. FM should be no less a magician: T.T. Srinivasaraghavan
16. Budget attempts a balancing act: Motilal Oswal
17. Laying the base for spurring investment: M.M. Murugappan
18. Shuns populism: N. Srinivasan
19. Thoughtful schemes for middle class: A. Balasubramanian
20. A framework for the future: Suneeta Reddy
21. Moving strategically to a $5tn economy: Mallika Srinivasan
22. Wicket just eased up for a $5 trillion chase: Ritesh Agarwal
23. Path cleared for $5-trn economy: A. Balasubramanian
24. Modi 2.0 budget bolsters investments: Vikram Kirloskar
25. Modi Sarkar’s second spell continues with reforms: Sunil Mittal
26. Great idea to tapglobal savings: Ramdeo Ageawal
27. A holistic and aspirational budget: Kiran Mazumdar Shaw
28. Structural thrusts will go a long way in shaping India: Sanjiv Puri
29. Welcome govt’s focus on reducing its presence in business: Anil Agarwal
30. Bank recapitalisation announcemenr a significant positive for credit growth: Karthik Srinivasan
31. Infra and institutional initiatives to drive farm transformation: Ramesh Chand
32. Disinvestment will provide greater fiscal space for government: Amitabh Kant
33. Choosing the long view: Ashima Goyal
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It is only on some of the edit pages that there is a trace of circumspection.
1. A lost opportunity: Yamini Aiyar
2. Not for the farmer: Ashok Gulati
3. Why I give the Budget a ‘B’: Bhaskar Chakraborty
4. Falling short of the goal: C.P. Chandrasekhar
5. A budget that goes nowhere: C. Rammanohar Reddy
6. The macro that does not gel with the micro: Pulapre Balakrishnan
IJR 
Hats off you for reiterating the prevailing scenario in the media. I wish that the names of the publications alongside the bylines too were mentioned.