Industry heads welcome Sitharaman’s ‘Balanced Budget’

                                     Industry heads welcome Sitharaman’s ‘Balanced Budget’

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget on Saturday with the assurance to increase the income of Indian citizens and strengthen their purchasing power.

Highlighting the importance of innovations that disrupt established business models, she made a quantum jump by calling data as the new oil. The FM has announced that the government will soon roll out a policy to enable the private sector to build data centre parks throughout the country. Experts believe that such a special economic zone will surely help them connect with people in a more impactful way.

The budget has also introduced a new simplified personal tax regime. With new income tax slabs/rates and a tweaked exemption structure, the FM has slashed the tax rate for those in the Rs 5-15 lakh tax bracket. While a new tax regime has been put in place, those who want to be in the old regime with exemptions can continue to pay at the earlier rates.
The government has also acknowledged the role of entrepreneurs in creation of both capital and jobs in the country.

Experts believe the Budget has the scope to revive domestic economic growth that has slumped to the lowest in the decade. Boosting physical infrastructure, expanding digital connectivity and growing use of technology in government functioning are important building blocks for long-term growth of the Indian economy, they said.

Ashish Bhasin, CEO, APAC and Chairman India, Dentsu Aegis Network, says: “I think this is a good budget in some ways because it has attempted to put money in the hands of the middle class through rationalisation of tax rates as well as has concentrated on looking after the agricultural sector, including introduction of best practices like storage for producers and other measures. However, I do feel that the expectations from the budget were much more and it does feel like a bit of a missed opportunity.

While it is good to see that the dividend distribution tax has been abolished, I expected more on the rationalisation of direct taxes, particularly the cess introduced over and above the tax rates.
It is good to see efforts being made to encourage new-age skill development as well as helping the start-ups and what's particularly interesting is the proposal to set up data centre farms all over the country. This will prepare India for the economy of tomorrow. It is also good to see attempts at simplification of taxation through digitisation but the proof of the pudding will lie in seeing its implementation on ground.