Interim Budget: Focus on consistency, continuity of policies, say experts

MANGALURU: Though the salaried class were left disappointed with no cuts in direct taxes, experts said that being an interim budget, one cannot expect much and the main focus was to maintain consistency and continuity of the policies.

Nitin J Shetty, Chartered Accountant, welcomed the withdrawal of disputed Income tax demands of Rs. 25,000 up to the year 2009-10 and Rs. 10,000 for the years 2010-11 to 2014-15. ``This is very much appreciated as it was causing a lot of inconvenience for small assesses in receiving their refunds for subsequent years. He estimated that this move would benefit about a crore assesses. On the Government creating a corpus of Rs 1 lakh crore to encourage Research and Development by the private sector, provide long term loans at nil or low interest, Shetty said with Indians getting Tech Savvy, this is a Very good initiative which will help the young minds.

Ananthesh V Prabhu, President, Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) said the Chamber was excited about some initiatives announced, which will be of impact for Coastal Karnataka. Some of the Key initiatives that have caught Chamber’s attention are: Rooftop Solarisation and Muft Bijli; EV Charging Points installations and maintenance; Middle Class housing Schemes for transitioning from rental homes; Agricultural and Food Processing including investment in post-harvest marketing and branding; Atmanirbhar Edible Oil Abhiyan Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) to enhance aquaculture productivity, Support to SHGs in making more Lakhpathi Didis; Tourism promotion, including Lakshadweep, which has long term bonds with Mangaluru, Support to Start ups and Innovation with a corpus to provide fifty-year interest free loan and increased Infrastructure Outlay by 11.1 per cent to Rs 11,11,111 crore for the year at 3.4 percent of the GDP.

Prabhu said that KCCI feels that Coastal Karnataka would definitely qualify to these parameters and the Chamber would follow up on the same by impressing upon the elected representatives and Government Development Agencies to ensure that the coast is not left behind in reaping the benefits.

BA Nazeer, president, Canara Plastic Manufacturers & Traders Association (CPMTA), said that as expected, the FM has presented the interim budget with impetus to infrastructural development and rural development. ``The Government has acknowledged the requirement of MSME to ensure timely and adequate finances, relevant technologies, and appropriate training for the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) to grow and also compete globally. The Withdrawal of outstanding direct tax demand up to FY 10 is a step in the right direction,’’ he said, adding that there should have been schemes for increasing employment as many jobs have been affected by economic slowdown and industries are still unable to create employment.

Prof. M.S. Moodithaya, Vice-Chancellor, Nitte (Deemed to be University), noted that among some of the proposals FM made, provision of Rs. 1 lakh Crore for providing interest free loans to techno-savvy youth for starting their enterprises is a welcome development. Since many of our youngsters today are pursuing emerging technologies like AI, Robotics, Data sciences etc, this could help in harnessing opportunities in sunrise domains, he said adding this can boost start-up and entrepreneurship culture among our youth.

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