Grand focus on rural economy, infrastructure
development in the Budget 2016-17 : ASSOCHAM president, Mr. Sunil Kanoria
Huge focus on rural economy with a commitment to double
the farmers’ income by 2022
Betting quite high on rail and road infrastructure and
yet sticking to the financial discipline by retaining the fiscal deficit
targets for 2016-17 are the most important takeaways from the Union Budget
2016-17, ASSOCHAM President Mr. Sunil Kanoria has said,
“The government
has rightly realized that a sustainable and equitable growth model cannot be
built as long as the rural economy is in distress," said Mr Kanoria.
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| Mr. Sunil Kanoria, President, ASSOCHAM |
"With successive monsoon
failure, the farm sector was in distress and the Finance Minister with a clear
vision of the Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi has tilted the balance in favour
of the agriculture sector, this would certainly yield dividends for the entire
economy and provide a solid foundation for a robust economy,"
said the ASSOCHAM chief.
There has also been a realization that in the absence of
demand for the industrial products all over the world with the businesses
battling under- utilization of capacity, the growth has to be led by the
under-developed infrastructure, he said.
”A huge commitment of Rs 2.18 lakh crore on
the rail and road infrastructure will not only kick start the economic growth
but would also result in having a multiplier effect on India’s economy,"
said Mr Kanoria.
He said re-opening the window for tax compliance is a
clever and smart strategy to bring unaccounted money into the mainstream. “We
hope several individuals and entities would be willing to join the mainstream
by paying an overall 45 per cent tax.”
Although ASSOCHAM would have liked higher amount than Rs
25,000 crore for bank re-capitalisation, the Finance Minister’s commitment to
come to rescue of the state owned banks should reassure lenders and other
stakeholders about stability of the Indian financial system, besides, fiscal
discipline in the government finances would keep the inflationary pressure at
bay.
Yet another positive feature of the Budget is a slew of
measures to reform the tax regime and dispute resolution mechanisms.
“However, the
government must ensure there is a good amount of coordination." Mr Kanoria also said that rationalisation of
TDS (Tax Deducted at Source) should help small taxpayers, besides, relaxation
of presumptive tax rules for SMEs and professionals would make life easier for
them.
”Realizing well the limitations brought in by slow
demand and global slowdown, the Budget has rightly put emphasis on creation of
employment through Start Up India and Skill Development, however, rationalisation
of and simplification of tax rates would have benefitted the overall ease of
doing business, especially keeping in mind that GST implementation seems to
have been pushed ahead," said the ASSOCHAM
chief.
”All in all, Mr Jaitley’s Budget is a
balanced budget covering all nine pillars as stated by him,” He
added.
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