Growth oriented and balanced budget: FTAPCCI

Hyderabad, Feb 28: The Federation of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FTAPCCI) said that Union Budget 2015-16 was although not a big bang budget, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has given a direction which would increase development and growth in the country in a phased manner in the next two to three years.

"It is a balanced budget. We feel that in major three/fours areas, the finance minister has announced policy measures and made allocations to achieve that through "Make in India". Infrastructure allocation has been made mainly for roads, rail, etc. National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) to be established with an annual flow of Rs. 20,000/-. Tax free infrastructure bonds for projects in rail, road and irrigation sectors will be made. To help IT start up business, Rs.1,000/- crores is being set aside for establishing Self Employment and Talent Utilization programme," the FTAPCCI said in its reaction.

In Financial Markets, Public Debt Management Agency (PDMA) is to be set up for bringing both external and domestic borrowings under one roof. GST will be implemented from 01/04/2016.

The finance minister has announced Gold monetization Sovereign Gold Bond scheme to be developed. Payment of cash transaction to be limited to only Rs.20,000/-. Visa on arrival has been extended to 150 countries, which will boost tourism and medical tourism. For clean environment, clean energy cess increased from Rs. 100 to Rs. 200 per metric tonne of coal for financing clean environment initiatives.

A national skill mission has also be announced. Five new Ultra Mega Power Projects, each of 4000 MW on plug and play mode is welcome step.

For Andhra Pradesh and Telangana there is no specific allotment except IIT for AP and development of Qutub Shahi Tombs, there is nothing specific in the budget, it said.

"The FDI in defense announced. Service Tax has increased from 12.36 to 14% which is a huge burden on all and an area of concern. The finance minster announced several measures to curb black money and prohibited acceptance or repayment of an advance of Rs.20,000/- in cash in immovable property transactions. A notable feature is abolition of wealth tax and imposition of 2% additional surcharge on super rich earning more than Rs. 1.00 crore. Immediately there are no benefits or losses but the budget aims at development financial markets and growth prospects for industry due to Make in India initiatives in future," the FTAPCCI officials said.