MANGALORE: A progressive Budget with an eye for clinching the opportunities that are on the threshold of the Indian economy: this is how former Chief Minister and Chairman of the National Administrative Reforms, Veerappa Moily, summed up this year's union Budget. This Budget is what India needs and it will enable the country to achieve 10 per cent growth rate in GDP, he added.

Mr. Moily told The Hindu that the Finance Minister in his speech has shown that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is keen on ensuring the success of its policies in the manufacturing and agro sectors. This is why the Finance Minister has announced concessions in these two sectors. The budget has provided adequate "growth incentives" to public sector units, which is another one of its highlights, he added. He said the strict fiscal discipline that the UPA Government has followed has allowed it to present such a "forward-looking" Budget.

Praising the Finance Minister for giving a "workable fillip" to higher education, Mr. Moily said that spending Rs. 100 crores on universities such as the Punjab Agricultural University, Calcutta University, Bombay University and Madras University is an encouraging gesture

Service tax

A positive budget on the whole, but some expectations of traders have not been met, President of the Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) A. Srinivas Rao said on the Budget. He said the retention of the service tax on the goods transport industry is shocking, as this tax will be levied on the receiver of the goods and not the provider of the services. The 2 per cent increase in the general service tax is also a retrograde step, Mr. Rao added. He said cities such as Mangalore, which are experiencing a spurt in construction activity, will suffer. Minister for Fisheries, Horticulture and Muzrai B. Nagaraja Shetty told The Hindu that the increase in service tax will trigger a general inflationary trend, particularly in the goods transport industry. He, however, welcomed the Finance Minister's proposal to set up a National Fisheries Development Board, an apex body for fisheries development. The incorporation of various components of tax benefits in the agro and horticulture sectors is also to be appreciated, Mr. Shetty added.

Inflationary

General Secretary of the district unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Vishweshwar Bhat has said the budget could have been better. Mr. Bhat said that though it is a "decent" budget it has nothing spectacular. He said a farm credit target of Rs. 1,72,000 crores is good, but this can achieve only 2.3 per cent growth in farm sector as against 4 per cent expressed by the Prime Minister. Mr. Bhat said the Finance Minister should have set a higher target of around Rs. 2,00,000 crores.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail