Print industry says it is a well thought budget

In 2014, the finance minister Arun Jaitley delivered a record length speech. It was two and a half hours long which included a five-minute break. This third budget presentation was shorter. In the 2016-17, the finance minister stuck to the fiscal deficit target of 3.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) for 2016-17, after achieving the 3.9% of GDP target in 2015-16.

01 Mar 2016 | By Samir Lukka

Pankaj Poddar, the CEO of Cosmos Films said, "This is a budget which takes care of most especially farmers, start-ups and infrastructure of the country. These initiatives are basic building blocks for our country and a good execution shall mean that country shall do significantly better in coming years with rural demand picking up and the creation of jobs for youth."
 
Poddar added, "(The) FM has also struck to financial prudence which should help to reduce interest rates which can be a big boost for the economy at large. This shall take care of some budget disliking’s such as higher taxes on automobiles, agriculture cess, and reduction of tax rebates on R&D (without reducing the overall tax rate) etc. Overall a well thought out budget!"
 
V Sivaramakrishnan, the managing director of Oxford University Press India said, "It is heartening to find education listed amongst the ‘Nine pillars’ identified by the FM for this year’s budget. The specific to education announcements seem pragmatic and progressive – digital literacy for six crore rural households combined with the promise of 100% electrification will provide impetus to knowledge dissemination efforts in suburban parts of India. A large outlays for skill development will resonate with India’s youth seeking to improve their employability quotient."
 
Sivaramakrishnan felt, "The higher education sector which has been sluggish for past few years will get a much-needed stimulus through the appointment of the proposed financing agency. I think the policy makers have responded well to the collective vision of a modern and educated India."
 
C G Ramakrishnan of TechNova Imaging Systems said, "This is a good balanced budget. This year, the budget had to focus on rural and infra and small business."
 
Ramakrishnan added, "They have maintained fiscal deficit target discipline despite the temptation to relax the deficit figure given the global financial and economic situation." This, Ramakrishnan felt is commendable. He said, "It will delight foreign investors and credit rating agencies."
 
Ramakrishnan liked the good directional themes in terms of kickstarting the economy, especially the rural and infra sector. His disappointments were about the corporate tax rate not going down.
 
As Ajay Agarwal of Insight Communications said, "100% FDI in food processing industry will cut down on waste and most importantly give a big boost to the packaging industry."
 
Ramakrishnan echoed the industry sentiment when he predicted, "the print and packaging industry in 2016-17 will have a better performance."
The Union finance minister Arun Jaitley accepted Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's suggestion of tax exemption for Braille paper. This was based on an input to the commerce ministry to slash the import duty on specialised equipment for visually-challenged people.