While the central government is expected to earn a tax revenue of Rs 919,842 crore ($148 billion) for the financial year 2015-16, it is expected to forego revenue of Rs 589,285.2 crore ($95 billion) in 2014-15 due to exemptions granted to companies and individual taxpayers. This forgone revenue, or tax benefits, is twice the defence budget allocation of Rs 247,000 crore in 2014-15. Tax-revenue  forgone is a contentious issue–an “incentive” or a “sop”, depending on ideological position–and becoming more so at a time when the…