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Press Release: 10th July, 2004 He was extremely critical of the pampering done to Laloo Prasad Yadav by giving a special package to Bihar while neglecting a poorer state like Orissa. Disinvestment commission is re-christened as Investment commission with the immediate task of divesting stake in NTPC to generate Rs. 4000 crores. The budget does not talk about labour reforms at all which is understandable. This budget is more like an interim budget with the policy of the new government likely to become clearer in the next budget in February 2005. He said that the exemption on Income Tax till Rs. 1 lakh is a gimmick with the real picture being that the person earning less than Rs. 1 lakh will save only Rs. 9000 under section 88(G) of the IT act. Mr. Sabath was extremely critical of the use of cess as a revenue generating mechanism. The lowering of STCG tax to 10% will help the FII's immensely. And the government does not take care of the ill effects of inflation on the general public. Mr. Sabath also forecasted a VDIS like scheme in the offing in the next budget. And concluded by saying that he was disappointed with the budget. And this budget really hurts, as it is the brainchild of a Harvard returned intellectual, under the Prime minister-ship of LSE an economist. The second half of the event was dominated by various views of the panelists on the budget announced. The penultimate speaker was Mr. S. Acharya. He began by critically examining the budget and made the initial comment that instead of simplifying the tax structure it has been further complicated. He also said that from the budget it is evident that the momentum that the economy had built in the past 2 years due to clear and assiduous planning by the previous government may be lost. He advocated privatization as the wealth remained inside the country and it has only changed hands. Mr. S. Acharya, talked specifically about the incentives for the manufacturing sector in this year's budget. He seemed pro-NDA government and while emphasizing the importance of a national budget, (unlike a corporate budget there are a lot of social implications as well, not just economic issues) he felt that the momentum which the last government had built in last three to four years, and whose results were going to be evident now, have lost their benefits. Contributed by - |
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