Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2022-23 in the Lok Sabha today. Her 90-minute Budget speech included several big announcements including a vast expansion of the capital expenditure of the Union government by 35.4 percent to Rs 7.50 lakh crore, reduction of corporate surcharge to 7 percent from 12 percent, extension of tax incentives to start-ups till March 2023, and introduction of the Digital Rupee built on blockchain in FY 2023.

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Large allocations were also made for improving infrastructure in the country, including additional investment into green energy through the issuance of bonds. Sectors like electric mobility and renewable energy, indigenous defence R&D, start-ups, tech and digital sectors were also addressed.

Deepak Parekh, the Chairman of HDFC Ltd, told CNBC that allocation of large resources has been made for infrastructure. While direct taxes have not been changed, Parekh said he would have liked to see 80CC exemptions being increased. Overall, it is a growth-oriented Budget, he added.

Pawan Kumar Goenka, the chairman of SsangYong Motor Company and retired managing director of Mahindra and Mahindra Limited, tweeted that Sitharaman has steered clear of introducing any populist measures in the Budget.

“FM has stayed clear of populist measures and delivered a purely growth budget. Capex increase of 35% is the biggest move in this budget,” Goenka tweeted.

FM has stayed clear of populist measures and delivered a purely growth budget. Capex increase of 35% is the biggest move in this budget.

— Pawan K Goenka (@GoenkaPk) February 1, 2022

Deepak Shenoy, the founder of Capital Mind, added that the budget shows that there will be no inclusion of bonds in global indexes.

“No mention of capital gains removal of FPIs on bonds - means no inclusion of bonds this year into global indexes. As @latha_venkatesh says, good point to note what isn't.,” Shenoy tweeted.

No mention of capital gains removal of FPIs on bonds - means no inclusion of bonds this year into global indexes. As @latha_venkatesh says, good point to note what isn't.

Bond yields hit 6.8%— Deepak Shenoy (@deepakshenoy) February 1, 2022

On exclusions, Parekh noted that crude and India’s energy imports weren’t even mentioned in the speech.

“One sector that the FM has not talked about is crude…it will impact our import cost. This is a concern for India.” Parekh told CNBC.

Madhu Kela, founder of MK Ventures, told CNBC that the slew of measures taken in individual sectors should help deliver better results as the Budget is overall good for the market.

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(Edited by : Thomas Abraham)

First Published:Feb 1, 2022 2:05 PM IST