Vikram Kirloskar: ‘Budget 2017 could have provided sharper focus on environment issues.’ 

Given the economic – and other – turbulence in the rest of world, India looks like an oasis of stability. The Union Budget 2017 maintains that positivity by cautious policy improvement and a focus on continued growth. This was the overall opinion of a good number of captains of industry who attended a live viewing of the Union Budget at the CII Southern Region headquarters in Chennai on February 1.

Most industry leaders from Southern India, which is one of India’s major automotive hubs, believe this year’s Budget reveals a marked shift towards growth and a step in the right direction. It does not pack many surprises; instead, there is a steady nudge towards stable continuous policies. Most industry heads are of the opinion that the government’s investments will spur growth in manufacturing, services and infrastructure.

Vikram Kirloskar,  deputy chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Southern Region, and vice-chairman, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, said, “This year’s Budget has been really good in several areas with its thrust on the rural sector and infrastructure, and attempts to bring underprivileged people back into the economy.”

“Spending on highways will pave the way for better mobility, while the focus on infrastructure, rural areas and railways is good for overall growth. The tax proposals are expected to reduce the effect of demonetisation and, hopefully, more people will pay tax. The big thrust towards digital has clearly seen everywhere in the budget announcements with any transitions including the political donations,” he said.

Commenting on the Budget’s impact on the automotive sector, Kirloskar said, “Infrastructure spending, the focus on building highways and rural areas will help the auto sector. But the government has not made any new announcement on electric and hybrid vehicles, which mean whatever has been announced in the past, will continue.”

Pointing out that the Budget does not have any environment-related proposals, Kirloskar said, “We are in a situation where we clearly need to clean up our environment and some incentives for longer-term planning would have been useful. Many Indian cities are rated as the world’s worst from the environment point of view and a big pack of investment money to be spent on cleaning up the environment would have been helpful.”

Ramesh Kymal, chairman, CII Tamil Nadu and chairman and MD, Gamesa Renewables, said, “Budget 2017 has been very balanced and the big announcement of developing 20,000 of MW of solar power is a big positive. Curb on cash transactions above Rs 300,000 is a good move as is the continuation of the demonestisation policy. This will surely help curtail the black economy.”

“The new FDI policy is welcome as India needs more and more foreign investment into the manufacturing sector and this will pave the way for fresh investment,” he added.

S Santhanagopalan, CFO, TVS & Sons, said, “The ambitious focus on infrastructure spending and focus on highways is only positive for the automotive sector.”

Industry leaders representing various sectors such as power, agriculture, infrastructure, SMEs, automobiles and manufacturing have termed the Budget as a positive one. Most of them are optimistic about the announcement of reducing corporate tax by 5% to companies with a turnover of up to Rs 50 crore. Also, with people who have below Rs 500,000 taxable income get around Rs 12,500 relief, which should help drive demand, albeit slowly.