Perfect Budget: PHD Chamber

No.PR-149

February 1, 2019

New Delhi

Perfect Budget: PHD Chamber

Budget for Poor, Farmers, Middle Class and Youth

Overall the Budget deserves 9.5 out of 10

While congratulating the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi, Hon’ble Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley and Hon’ble Interim Finance Minister Shri Piyush Goyal, Mr Rajeev Talwar, President, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said in a press statement issued here today, that this Interim Budget is the budget for all the citizens of India as it has focused on the livelihood of the poor, addressing the distress of the farmers, increasing the income level of the middle class, reforms in the promising housing and construction sector and creating employment for the youth.

This budget deserves 9.5 points out of 10 on creating a dynamic, promising and confidence-building environment in India, said Mr Rajeev Talwar.

As the economy is projected to become a US$ 10 trillion economy in next 8 years, the government has rightly focussed on roadmap for the developmental transformation of the country, said Mr Talwar.

The government has provided a great tax relief to middle class by giving tax exemption of upto Rs. 5 lakh to around 3 crore people. This would go a long way to boost the consumption demand and increased saving rates in the economy, he said.

Increase in investment in one residential house to two residential houses with the benefit of rollover of capital gain tax upto Rs 2 crore, once in a lifetime is a great reform for the housing and construction sector. This would enhance the employment opportunities for the unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled workforce in the country, said Mr Rajeev Talwar.

Extension in the period of exemption from levy of tax on notional rent, on unsold inventories, from one year to two years, from the end of the year in which the project is completed is encouraging as it will give an impetus to the real estate sector, said Mr Talwar.

Increase in allocation to Rs. 64,587 crore for capital expenditure in railways would not only modernize the railways but would give an impetus to Make in India and create employment opportunities, said Mr Rajeev Talwar.

Digitalization of one lakh villages in the next five years would enhance speed of the economy and spread awareness of the policy environment at the grassroot level, added Mr Talwar.

The increased allocations for MGNREGA to Rs. 60,000 crores in 2019-20 would enhance rural employment and rural demand, said Mr Rajeev Talwar.

Seperate department of Fisheries would provide sustained and focussed attention to the sector which would improve the standards of living of people employed in the fisheries sector, he said.

Direct income support to 12 crore small and marginal farmer families with land upto 2 hectares at the rate of Rs. 6,000 is a major breakthrough which will create transparency in the system and will have positive impact on addressing the farm distress, said Mr Talwar.

The ten dimensional vision for the next decade really shows the confidence of the government to transform India to the next level with the strong and sustainable growth trajectory, said Mr Rajeev Talwar.

Vision for social infrastructure for a $10 trillion economy and to provide ease of living are the well-thought reforms for the next 10 years to enhance the human development and standards of living, said Mr Talwar.

The other dimensions such as Digital India, Pollution-free India, Rural Industrialization, Cleaning of the rivers, self sufficiency in food, vision of a healthy society among others are inspiring and promising in building confidence of the people, added Mr Talwar.

We are pleased to know that the government is equally concerned about the national security of India as the defence budget would be crossing Rs 3 lakh crore for the first time in 2019-20, said Mr Rajeev Talwar.

The self-employment schemes including MUDRA, Start-up India and Stand-up India would create employment opportunities as well as harness energy of the youth, said Mr Talwar.

Under MUDRA Yojana 15.56 crore loans have been disbursed amounting to Rs.7,23,000 crore, he added.

We are proud of the hard work and innovative ideas of our youth due to which India has become the world’s second largest start-up hub, said Mr Rajeev Talwar.

Overall, we believe that the budget is pragmatic and would promote all-inclusive growth of the country in the coming times, said Mr Rajeev Talwar.

Ends.

Koteshwar Prasad Dobhal

Consultant (PR)