Union Budget 2019 Reactions From Industry Leaders

The new Finance Minister - Nirmala Sitharaman, who presented the maiden Union Budget for 2019 has left the market indices in the red. Today's budget was a mix of hits and misses as more emphasis was laid on the overall development of the economy including both urban and rural areas.

Take a look at the reactions on the Union Budget 2019 from industry experts below:

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairperson and Managing Director of Biocon, in her twitter account, wrote: "I give full marks to @nsitharaman for presenting a very holistic, aspirational n visionary budget. Full marks for an economic strategy for improving social indicators n driving a strong rural economy. But I felt we lost the opportunity to revive private sector investment cycle."

Abheek Barua, Chief Economist of HDFC Bank, noted "The government has tried to strike a balance between fiscal consolidation and supporting growth. With a hike in excise duties, increasing the target for divestments and for the dividend receipts, the government has made sure that overall revenue collections do not suffer. This was especially important at a time when the traction in GST and personal income tax collections remained muted. Now, with the downward revision in the collection target of these two categories, the overall revenue assumptions looks much more credible and pragmatic,".

Lav Kumar, Head- Product & Business Development at LIC Mutual Fund stated that "The budget focuses on the much needed infrastructure spending & up gradation & the funding for the same is proposed to be done through additional excise duty on petrol & diesel. Given the downward trend in international crude prices, this may not impact consumers much. This budget also increases ease of doing business by giving relief to start ups & angel investors. The budget intends to push capital deployment by companies having turnover upto 400 crores by giving relief in corporate tax. The budget intends to bring more FDI in various sectors by easing the FDI limits. The budget also proposes to raise external borrowing which will help money market in the country."

Abhishek Jain, Tax Partner, Ernst and Young, says that "The budget from an indirect tax perspective was mostly aligned to the Government's Make in India, cleaner India and ease of business agenda. Proposal of Legacy Dispute Resolution Scheme was much sought for by industry players as most of them wanted to settle litigations of the past after stepping into the new tax era. Also, rate rationalizations for strategic goods like defence equipment, etc are welcome for the nation as a whole."
Amar Ambani of YES Securities said "Body blow to HNIs by levying high surcharge on the rich; Effective tax rate on biggest bracket goes to 42%". He further added "High disinvestment target of Rs 1,05,000 crores set, along expected lines. It's a stiff target and the government will need to act fast to achieve the same."

Akhil Mittal, Senior Fund Manager, Tata Mutual Fund said that "The government has laid steep revenue target on disinvestment. CPSE ETF have been successful to a large extent and government is looking for a greater participation from general public on this account. Hence government will offer an investment option on lines of ELSS (tax breaks) for ETF investing in CPSE's. This should encourage long term investments in CPSE's and also provide an alternate investment option to retail investor which is tax efficient".

Ajay Kakra, Leader-Food and Agriculture, PwC India said that "The SFURTI yojana is also an excellent initiative to organize farmers under bamboo and honey farmers and artisans who have been working in an unorganised sector. Also, beneficial step for NE states where bamboo is major produce. Bringing the allied sector such as fisheries in focus can help the development of fishing communities and fisheries as an occupation. ASPIRE scheme aiming to create 100 technology and livelihood incubation centres will boost the entrepreneurial spirit amongst the youth and encourage them to come out with innovative business ideas in the agro sector. This will go along way to make the Indian agricultural industry fit for the future. The creation of 10000 FPO's targets the much-required need of the agriculture sector to organise the farmer community and helping them to undertake agro-trade in an effective and profitable way."