It’s a highly progressive & forward looking budget: Industry leaders

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the last Budget before the country goes to the polls. Being the Interim Budget, there were no major announcements, however, there was still much cheer, with Agriculture, Infrastructure (including housing) and Green ecosystem as the key thrust areas. The Finance Minister also provided growth impetus for the EV sector, as well as for the start-up, Digital, AI, new-age technology sectors. During her Budget speech, Sitharaman stated, “Digital India is key to formalising the Indian economy”, thus emphasising the Government’s commitment to put Digital on the fast track of growth.

Aditya V Agarwal, Director, Emami Group:

“No nation can grow if half of its population stays out of the economy and in India, 45-50% of the population are women. From this perspective, the Union Budget 2024 is a highly progressive and forward looking budget making development more inclusive for the women of this nation through focus on socio-economic schemes like lakhpati didi, extension of Ayushman Bharat cover to all Asha and Anganwadi workers, etc.

Encouraging incentives and capex allocation to areas like agri-business, tourism, long-term financing in research & innovation, railways and infrastructure, housing etc are also great initiatives that will go a long way in benefitting the industry automatically and generating employment in turn. Overall, it is a very positive budget that is focussed on more comprehensive governance, development and performance to make the future of India more stronger.”

Harsha V Agarwal, Vice Chairman & MD, Emami Ltd:

“The Union Budget 2024 reaffirms the Government’s commitment to a comprehensive and inclusive development of the country. There is a clear roadmap focused on supporting the key pillars of youth, poor, women and farmers for India’s transformation. The direction of this budget is towards strengthening the growth foundation for long term prosperity.”

Suchana Sarkar, CBO, Makani Creatives:

“The interim budget has paved a visionary path, calling upon the tech-savvy youth to lead India’s growth journey. With a focus on transformative technology and digital revolution, we are expecting a new lease of innovation from Digital India. This vision propels the marketing and advertising industry as well to fortify our excellence in integrating technology into our solutions and catering to the new India.”

Nikhil Mansukhani, Managing Director, MAN Industries:

“The budget aligns with the vision of ‘Viksit Bharat’, that of creating a prosperous nation in harmony with mother nature. We see the emphasis on modern infrastructure, including metro rail network and NaMo Bharat, as a significant catalyst for urban and industrial transformation. It is commendable to see the government's strategy to triple capital expenditure, fostering robust economic growth and job creation. The 11.1 per cent increase in next year’s outlay to Rs 1,111,111 crore, constituting 3.4 per cent of the GDP, reflects a visionary approach. The focus on building infrastructure aligns seamlessly with the Government’s vision for a resilient and prosperous India.

Very importantly, the provision of viability gap funding for offshore wind energy, establishment of coal gasification and liquefaction capacity, and the phased mandatory blending of compressed biogas in CNG and PNG, are welcome steps towards India’s commitment to achieving ‘net-zero’ by 2070. These will lead to reduced imports and boost self-reliance, a very welcome approach to our sustainability goals.

The strategic economic railway corridor programs are bound to boost the energy, mineral, and cement corridors, ports connectivity, and enhanced and smoother traffic. These initiatives will undoubtedly propel infrastructural development and growth.”

Dheeraj Arora, Managing Director & CEO, HRIPL (Hygienic Research Institute – Streax, Streax Professional & Vasmol):

“We are pleased to witness the significance laid on a harmonious blend of economic growth and sustainable development in the budget speech. The emphasis on embracing new age technologies, innovation and entrepreneurship as the foundation is commendable. The allocation of a one-lakh crore rupee corpus for research and innovation is expected to catalyze private sector participation, nurturing technological advancements.

Moreover, the proposed interest-free loan of seventy-five thousand crore rupees for state governments, supporting milestone-linked reforms, is a positive stride towards realizing the vision of ‘Viksit Bharat’.

The government's initiatives to enhance the rural economy, including allocations for schemes like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee and Production Linked Incentive, are noteworthy and poised to propel the agricultural sector translating into improvement of Rural Consumption & in turn revival of consumer sector.

We believe, this interim budget appears promising, and we eagerly await the unfolding of these measures in the months to come and for Final budget post-election.”

Madhavan Menon, Executive Chairman, Thomas Cook (India):

“The interim Budget presented by the Finance Minister has focussed on Tourism with a multipronged approach that we believe will create a multiplier effect across aviation, tourism and allied sectors, boosting growth and employment generation.

We welcome the announcements on airport development and expansion: having already doubled to 149 airports in the last decade, the government’s plans to boost air connectivity by the addition of 517 new routes across Tier 2-3 cities, carrying 1.3 crore passengers via the UDAN scheme, will play a critical role with vibrant hub and spoke air corridors to boost accessibility-affordability for Regional India.

Implementation of major rail connectivity corridors via the PM Gati Shakti program together with port and metro/rapid transport expansion will serve to create valuable multi modal connectivity for Tourism.

We welcome the special focus on Domestic Tourism which represents a vibrant growth driver via the government’s plan of long-term interest free loans to States; development of iconic tourism centres by States along with marketing on global standards. What was noteworthy is the reference to Spiritual Tourism and projects for port connectivity, tourism infrastructure and amenities on islands including Lakshdweep – aimed at development of India’s hidden gems and employment opportunities.

Further, the strong capex outlay of Rs 11.11 lakh crore, a significant 4% of our GDP, will serve as a catalyst to the Country’s growth potential and job creation.”

Vishal Suri, Managing Director, SOTC Travel:

“The interim budget presented by Hon’ble Finance Minister has maintained status-quo on direct and indirect taxes thus keeping its impact neutral. The government has set focus on the overall travel and tourism sector via infrastructure development, green energy, sustainability and looked at diverse initiatives for domestic tourism via a strategic approach for each segment - aviation, ports (waterways) and rail to strengthen regional connectivity to Tier 2 and 3 cities.

We welcome the development on the rapid expansion of air connectivity with the addition of 517 new routes across Regional India’s tier 2 and 3 cities via the UDAN scheme – this will play a key role in strengthening accessibility.

The special focus on strengthening domestic tourism via implementation of rail connectivity corridors under the PM Gati Shakti initiative and upgrading 40,000 regular train boogies into high speed Vande Bharat trains will definitely strengthen surface transportation.

The Government’s plan on focus on spiritual tourism, development of iconic tourist spots and island destinations of India including Lakshadweep (projects for port connectivity, tourism infrastructure, and amenities) will generate employment thus boosting India’s economy. What is noteworthy, is the Government’s mindful move to form a panel to tackle challenges of higher population/ over tourism, especially in destinations with sensitive ecosystems.”