(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) While Indian opposition parties were critical of the budget, presented by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Thursday, business lobbies and top industrialists and executives welcomed the proposals.
"In the past nine years, the UPA put the economy in distress and then the finance minister has very little elbow room," said Arun Jaitley, the BJP leader. "The budget is verbose but the substance is extremely low."
His party colleague and former finance minister Yashwant Sinha described Chidambaram's budget as "insipid". Sushma Swaraj, the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, described the budget as "unimaginative, dull and boring".
But India Inc generally welcomed Chidambaram's budget proposals. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the leading industry body, welcomed the budget for being growth-oriented.
"The budget meets most of our concerns regarding fiscal consolidation, investment incentives, and inclusive growth," said Adi Godrej, president, CII. "These are in alignment with CII's submissions in its pre-budget memorandum.
According to Godrej, the budget promises to adhere to the fiscal deficit roadmap as laid out by the finance minister last year. "This will boost growth, curtail inflation and help in ratings. Emphasis on agriculture, technology and innovation and science and technology is very welcome as it adds to future growth prospects."
Malvinder Mohan Singh, executive chairman, Fortis Healthcare Ltd, said there was something in the budget for all sectors.
"The theme of high growth and inclusive development has been maintained," he said. "There is a strong focus on the social sector with a 30 per cent additional allocation, emphasising health and education."
Vinayak Chatterjee, chairman, Feedback Infrastructure Services, noted that on the policy front, the major "breakthrough idea" is the independent regulator for the roads sector. "Most of the other policy related matters have been alluded to as 'work in progress' in the budget speech," he pointed out. "Overall, the infra sector has got its fair share of attention and should look forward to much of the policy work-in-progress culminating into a fresh burst of energy all around," added Chatterjee.
Anjan Bose, secretary-general, Healthcare Federation of India, said overall it was responsive and balanced budget focused on the right priorities of reducing fiscal deficit and promoting growth. "It is encouraging to see additional investment on various healthcare schemes," he added.
Rana Kapoor, founder and CEO, Yes Bank, and president-elect, Assocham, said the finance minister had delivered a balanced budget, refraining from any big bang announcements and instead opting for multiple pragmatic initiatives with a focus on socio-economic development.
Abheek Barua, chief economist, HDFC Bank, said that in putting together budget 2013-14, the finance minister seems to have gone through a laundry list of different challenges facing the economy and done a little to address each of them.
"The drop in the financial saving rate for instance is addressed through an increase in the eligible income limit for the Rajiv Gandhi Equity Linked Savings Scheme. "There is an investment allowance of 15 per cent for new investment projects to spur investments and growth. Temporary surcharges on the 'super rich' are geared to lend revenue and fiscal targets a degree of credibility. This effort to fit everything somewhat scrappily into an omnibus policy document has resulted in the lack of a cohesive grand plan to put the economy and public finances back on track."
Individual measures seem timid and inadequate in relation to the enormity of the problems they are designed to address, said Barua. "Besides, there are clear dampeners for investment sentiment such as the new surcharge on the so-called 'super-rich' and the imposition of a commodity tax. Thus for those who expected Chidambaram to produce the clichéd game-changer, today's budget has been disappointing to say the least," he added.
The National Association for Software and Services Companies of India (Nasscom) termed the budget as 'responsible and reasonable' given the need to balance the imperatives of growth and inclusion, under the constraints imposed by the current state of the Indian economy and still tepid global recovery.
Child Rights and You (CRY), a leading child rights organisation, welcomed the increased allocations to child-related programmes on health and education in the budget. However, it notes that as a percentage of total expenditure, the child budget stands at 4.63 per cent, down from 4.78 per cent in 2012-13.
"It is disconcerting to note the decline in the proposed percentage of total expenditure to 4.63 per cent against 4.78 last year," remarked Puja Marwaha, CEO, CRY. "The trend and direction is far from encouraging given the fact that children - individuals up to the age of 18 constitute about 42 per cent of the country's population today. A lot more vision and innovation is called for."
Joginder Singh, president and managing director, Ford India, welcomed the focus on infrastructure development, social benefits for inclusive and sustainable growth in the country. "The investment allowance to boost the manufacturing sector is a positive move," he said.
But he was disappointed that there is very little in the budget that will help boost consumer confidence and revive growth. "It is a missed opportunity to introduce measures that would have revived industrial growth significantly," said Singh. "As we all know the automotive industry has been going through very challenging times, we are disappointed with the increase in the excise duty for SUVs."
Anuj Puri, chairman and country head, Jones Lang LaSalle India, said he did not expect the budget to be a game-changer. "The realities of the Indian economic situation need to viewed in context with the factors that drive it, not least of all the global economic situation," he said.
"There is no escaping the fact that the business which comes to India from the European Union and the US has a trickle-down effect on key economic drivers in India, and the finance ministry does not control these factors," said Puri. "The union budget can only hope to address factors within its control."
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