NEW DELHI: In 1991, the P V Narasimha Rao government ushered in major economic reforms — it opted to keep key decisions outside the Budget. In its second term, the Narendra Modi government, battling an acute economic slowdown, has been forced to announce a series of steps to accelerate activity. Instead of waiting for the Budget, the government chose to unveil steps — including one of the sharpest ever corporation tax reductions — months after Nirmala Sitharaman presented her first Budget in July 2019.The series of steps announced by the government over the last few months would leave a Rs 2.9-lakh-crore impact on the exchequer, which is over 10% of the Centre’s Budget. Almost half of it is on account of a reduction in the corporation tax rate to 22%, along with a 15% levy on new manufacturing companies.While it does impact the already strained fiscal situation, not all the outgo will take place during the current financial year. For instance, the income tax department is estimating a savings of up to a third of the tax reduction as all companies are yet to shift to the lower rate. Similarly, the new Rs 50,000-crore export scheme to refund levies will kick in from next year and will replace a leakage-prone Merchandise Export from India Scheme (MEIS). Even the government’s Rs 10,000-crore contribution to the proposed Rs 25,000-crore fund to revive stalled housing projects is unlikely to see an outgo in one shot, with at best a marginal amount of funds to be released during the current financial year.In an interview, Sitharaman said that the Modi administration has responded to demands from various sectors. And, the steps have also shown that the Budget is no longer the sole event for making key economic statements. Of course, some of the announcements by the finance minister, which had almost turned into a weekly affair in August and September, included a series of steps that should have been taken during normal course of business.In its first term, the BJPled government had moved ahead with the goods and services tax (GST), which took away the powers of the state legislature as well as Parliament to decide levies, ranging from excise duty, VAT and service tax on almost the entire set of items.With a committee headed by former Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) member Akhilesh Ranjan having submitted a draft of the new income tax law, all eyes are now on Sitharaman to see if she pushes for its enactment, which may end the annual suspense over reworking tax slabs and increasing exemptions and deductions.