Check on inflation, fuel prices and tax relief among budget wishes

Bhopal: Ahead of the Union budget, people belonging to all walks of life—from industrialists to homemakers—are looking forward to “relief amidst the pandemic”. While the indutrialists hope that the government will announce Corona relief measures, the middle class feels that the budget shold not ignore them. “The most important issue for the past few months has been skyrocketing prices. The government should do something to keep inflation under control,” says Roshini Bhargawa, a homemaker. “Look at the prices of fuel-petrol, diesel and LPG cylinders- all going beyond your pocket and disturbing the budget of your home,” she adds.The salaried class taxpayers are expecting that the Union Budget will give them relief by slashing the income-tax rates and surcharges as inflation continues to increase.“The salaried class individuals are seeking an increase in deduction available under Section 80C of the Income-Tax Act. Besides, home loan repayment exemption, and relief on dividend taxation will bring relief for the salaried class,” said Uma Shankar Tewari, an employee organisation leader in Bhopal.President of Industrial association of Mandideep Rajeev Agrawal says, “There is a need to rationalize the MSME taxation and also necessary to strengthen the payments to the sector.”In the backdrop of Covid, when the MSME sector is under more stress, the government is considering a little more refinancing for the MSME sector, said sources. “We expect a growth-oriented budget,” says Agrawal, adding that security transaction tax needs to be rationalised. Chairman of the Federation of India Chambers of Commerce and Industry Shantanu Patidar says, “Most of the rooftop solar capacity has come in from the industrial, commercial and institutional sectors”.“A credit guarantee scheme should be created, specifically for risk mitigation for customers with lower credit rating. This will enable such consumers to avail bank financing for setting up rooftop solar projects,” says Patidar. “A housing and real estate sector can be a force multiplier for growth and for kickstarting investments/ capex cycle,” he adds.