A.K. Bhattacharya’s Third Book Explores India’s Economic Journey (1998–2014).
Books & Authors
Published in March 2025, A.K. Bhattacharya’s third volume titled India’s Finance Ministers: Different Strokes (1998–2014) traces economic policymaking by four finance ministers, spotlighting budgets, coalition politics, and reform trajectories after 1998.
- This third instalment follows Bhattacharya’s 2023 and 2024 volumes covering 1947–1977 and 1977–1998. It documents how the 1998–2014 period, under coalition governments, featured four finance ministers steering budgets amid political fragility—exploring how each shaped India’s path through reform, stability, and crisis management.
- The book provides deep profiles of the four finance ministers: Yashwant Sinha, P. Chidambaram, Pranab Mukherjee, and P. Chidambaram (second tenure). It charts their ideological backgrounds, professional journeys, policy priorities, and how they navigated coalition constraints, global economic shocks and domestic pressures.
- By blending anecdotes and rigorous research, the book highlights the delicate interplay between budgetary decisions and coalition politics. Bhattacharya shows how the ministers balanced reform agendas—like disinvestment, fiscal consolidation, banking reforms—with the demands of coalition leaders and fragmented parliamentary mandates.
Main Point :- (i) This book analyzes major economic developments in India between 1998 and 2014, including the Asian Financial Crisis, the 2003 tax reforms, the 2008 global recession, and the early groundwork for the Goods and Services Tax (GST). The author explores the policy responses and economic resilience during these critical phases.
(ii) 2. Structured around the tenures of different Finance Ministers and budget cycles, each chapter features summary tables, comparative data, and case studies on key reforms such as bank recapitalization, FDI liberalization, and fiscal policy shifts. The book also offers relevant insights for today’s economic debates.
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