Post Budget Response – Mr. Pradeep Misra, CMD, REPL

The budget is on expected line. Hon’ble Finance Minister, Mr. Arun Jaitley has been able to keep balance between the growth concerns and the expenditure in social welfare schemes such as healthcare and education. The challenge would be to see how the resources are mobilized for these purposes. The fiscal deficit of 3.5% this year against target of 3.3% is however certainly a concern area. But that was natural owing to the increased government expenditure.

There is adequate emphasis on the infrastructure sector. As the finance minister stated, under AMRUT scheme water supply contracts for 494 projects worth 19,428 cr. awarded, and 115 aspiration districts have been identified taking various indices of development into consideration. Construction of a tunnel under the Se-La pass in Arunachal Pradesh has been proposed that will develop 10 prominent tourist destinations as Iconic tourism destinations. Airports Authority of India now has 124 airports which will be expanded by five times. Under smart city mission, 99 cities have been selected with an outlay of Rs. 2.09 lakh crores. Rs. 1.48 lakh crores have been allocated for Indian Railways. All these initiatives will overall boost the infrastructure industry and benefit the other industries associated with the same. Focus on MSMEs will have direct impact on employment scenario.

We were expecting the infrastructure industry status for the real estate sector, which has again been overlooked in the policy announcements. The rationalization of GST for the properties purchase was also required for the industry which is going through very sluggish phase.

Overall, we look forward to a positive holistic effect of the budget.