BENGALURU: Welcoming the interim budget presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday, the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FKCCI) congratulated the government for not resorting to a populous budget but focussing on impacting visible all-round development.
“We are happy to note that the policies are being framed to boost productivity in infrastructure and focus largely on governance, development and performance. The budget is expected to meet growth parameters, with the fiscal deficit reducing from 6.5% to 5.8% of GDP for the financial year 2024. Further, the overall growth in economy is above 7% for the third time in a row,” stated FKCCI president Ramesh Chandra Lahoti.
The trade body welcomed the move of not levying additional taxes and relief extended to the disputes of taxpayers. “We also welcome the focus made on connectivity, infrastructure and railway corridor. The proposed Middle-East Corridor to Europe is a welcome step which will boost the economic growth,” Lahoti said, adding that the focus on promoting tourism with increased rail and road connectivity to enable people to spend in our own country will enable the tourism sector to grow.
“This is in line with FKCCI’s proposed Dakshin Bharat Utsav, which aims at promoting tourism of the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in March,” he added.
S Devarajan, president of Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce said, “The government has presented an all-round growth-oriented budget. There is a strong fillip to rural housing, rooftop solar initiative, infra development to reduce logistics cost, optimise hospital infra and railway infra worth noting.
On the whole, the budget assures continuity of the policies going forward towards Viksit Bharat in the Amrit Kaal. While the main focus of the interim budget is on development and reigning in fiscal deficit, it is progressive and has something for everybody with continued attention towards social justice, poverty elimination, youth, women empowerment and doubling farmers’ income.”