'The Budget is a far sighted one'

Y.R. Singh, Exec Dir, India’s Chamber of Trade and Industry (affiliated to Assocham)

India’s national budget 2016-17 was announced on Monday by Finance minister Arun Jaitley in the Lok Sabha. The budget can be termed as a far-sighted one that focused on infrastructure and investment, agriculture, rural sector, health, job creation, financial sector reforms etc.

In an exclusive interview to The Dollar Business, Ravinder Singh detailed the positive points that the budget carried. These being:

Recapitalisation of Public Sector Banks- The Indian banks needed a bailout. The allocation promise of Rs 25,000 crore towards recapitalisation of public sector banks could serve as a breather. This is also to support credit growth.

Health protection schemes for the poor- The Finance Minister announced a new health protection scheme which will provide health cover up to Rs 1 lakh per family and Rs 30,000 for the senior citizen. This is a positive step for all those who live below the poverty line and are plagued by debts if sickness/death affects any family member. Also the supply of generic drugs through 3000 stores under the PM’s Jan Aushadhi Yojana will also aid the poor.

Assistance to the farmers- The budget was mostly aimed at improving the lot of the farmers. Several schemes, tax rebates, loans and other benefits have been announced by the Minister. His words, “We have a desire to provide socio-economic security to every Indian, especially the farmers, the poor and the vulnerable; we have a dream to see a more prosperous India and a vision to ‘Transform India” is proof of the Govt’s intentions.

Roads- 2000 kms of state highways to be converted into national highways. “This is a huge instructional change, as many states do not have funds to repair or build new roads, with the declaration of these new roads, they will add to the length of the existing roads. This in turn will help the small and medium term industries where the limit has been increased from Rs.1 crore to Rs.2 crore which will help the small and medium industries to flourish and also give a new thrust to the PM’s Make in India concept."

The corporate tax for the first year will also help the industry to a greater extent and the dispute redressal management, (income tax, excise etc), will help to a great extent as money will be sorted out and the Govt also gets revenue in the exchequer.

Import and export- Baggage rules have been simplified to a greater extent, import- thrust has been laid on the rationalization of certain import duty on goods which are meant for pollution control and environment.

"In my opinion, it may not be a budget that is ‘lok lubhavan’, but this is a budget that has to be studied in-depth, only then will people understand the benefits they stand to gain out of it."

March 01, 2016 | 04:33pm IST.