Budget strengthens drivers of long-term development: Industry

New Delhi, February 1

The industry hailed the Budget as a growth-oriented budget that strengthens the drivers of long-term development.

“The Budget 2022-23 builds on last year’s budget and scores high on several counts ndash; consistency, capex led growth, transparency in numbers and continues the focus on simplifying the taxation policy,” said FICCI president Sanjiv Mehta.

“We appreciate the government for not being hemmed in by the neoclassical trap of fiscal conservatism and providing a very clear glide path for fiscal consolidation that is in sync with the economic realities. This is the virtuous cycle of growth we need, and the budget has clearly delivered,” he added.

With considerable focus on IT, the IT industry body Nasscom said the Budget sets the tone for India’s ‘techade’ but felt some areas were left unaddressed like enabling clarifications to allow units in SEZs flexibility to adopt hybrid work model and taxing employees only when they sell the shares. It was encouraged by the focus on digital skilling, online training and the establishment of skilling e-labs that will make India a “global talent powerhouse”.

CII Director-General Chandrajit Banerjee especially welcomed the commitment shown towards boosting investments, creating jobs and maintaining tax stability. His CII colleague and Northern Region Chairman Abhimanyu Munjal appreciated the balancing done to soothe the economy as well as boost it. “Sitharaman has presented a growth-oriented Budget and has clearly indicated the government’s focus on sustainable growth through enhanced capital expenditure,” he said.

Many northern states are the hub of MSMEs and there are many positives for the sector, including the extension of the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme up to 2023, additional credit of Rs 2 lakh crore for MSMEs, and the announcement of the Raising and Accelerating MSME Performance (RAMP) programme, he added.

Bhavdeep Sardana, Chairman of CII Punjab, felt the setting up of finance start-ups in agriculture and rural enterprises for the farm produce value chain will provide a much-needed boost to the agri start-ups and food processing industry.