Financial experts associated with various companies commented on the Union Budget 2019 tabled Friday by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Parliament. Here’s what they had to say.
Anil Talreja (Deloitte Partner): It would depend on the exact details of the relaxation of sourcing norms for FDI. The announcement is clearly laying out the carpet once again for the global single brand retail companies in India. Many of these companies are sitting on the border in a dilemma over investment in the Indian market on account of difficulty in meeting these sourcing conditions. It would now be a race for all these retail companies to evaluate the conditions and take a quick decision to invest into India.
Pankaj Mohindroo (India Cellular and Electronics Association Chairman): By its core character, single brand retail promotes the brand, enhances retailing standards, keeps the sanctity of price which does not exert predatory pressure on our small retailers intact. So the relaxation of FDI norms is definitely a welcome move.
(Jehil Thakkar, Partner, Deloitte): Greater investment in media and animation services is key to taking advantage of the opportunities created by the drop in data charges.
Gene Fang (Associate Managing Director, Moody’s): There’s a risk that India could miss its deficit target for fiscal 2019 if income from tax revenue underperforms projections, as it did last year. Achieving these competing goals will be challenging. We expect the economy to grow relatively slowly, despite the government’s income support measures.
HK Bhanwala (Nabard chairman): The proposal to revive zero budget farming is a well-thought-out plan as it can help millions of famers bring down their input cost and follow sustainable farming. This initiative will help mitigate the rural distress to a great extent. The focus on the villages, the poor and the farmers will augur well in addressing the rural distress and providing succor to the rural populace.
Agencies
