After taking over the charge as a Minister of Finance and Excise from Ashok Mitra in 1987, he faced scathing criticism for his so-called 0-deficit budget.
As the chairman of the empowered committee on value-added tax (VAT), he masterminded the most ambitious tax reform in Indian history since the introduction of the first industry and trading taxes by the British in the early 20th century, by introducing the VAT (value-added tax) [REF].