Liberal tariffing needed: think tanks The 2021-22 Union Budget’s bet on pushing infrastructure spending to revive the economy faces implementation risks and it may have been better to combine it with some income support for those worst affected by the pandemic, economists at leading think tanks said on Monday. The rising tendency towards protectionism doesn’t sit well with India’s objective of attracting more foreign direct investment and integrating with global value chains, and a liberal tariff policy maybe more effective, argued Rajat Kathuria, director and chief executive of the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER).