�Overall balanced Budget,� says Jusco boss

Jamshedpur, March 1: �It is good to note that there is a lot of emphasis on the agriculture and rural development with a target of doubling up the income of farmers within 7 years,� said Jusco managing director Ashish Mathur giving his reaction to the Union Budget for 2016-17.

Mathur said another very important highlight of the Budget is the continued focus on infrastructure development with a total outlay of about Rs. 2.18 lakh crore, including the investments in railways, roads and highway sectors, airports, sea ports etc. �An interesting beginning has been made to resolve the PPP disputes and creating a platform for renegotiating PPP projects,� he observed.

In order to create an environment to boost “Make in India,” a lot of schemes have been announced. Enough thrust has been given on education and skill development. Acknowledging the fact that urbanization is also a reality, the budget has the provisions for smart city, �Swatch Bharat� etc, the Jusco chief said.

Mathur opined, �Although the first buy of a house has been encouraged by giving tax incentive, but this is one area where more could be done as a lot people do move from one property to another as their family size increases.�

According to him, there are quite a few new surcharges have been introduced specially on the people in higher income group. Provident Fund withdrawals to be taxed will have a huge impact on salaried class. Increase in service tax will impact almost all sectors.

Many schemes which have been announced like 100 percent electrification by 2018 will actually depend on very strong implementation.

�All put together, a lot will depend on the roll out of various schemes but given the circumstances, this is a balanced budget,� Mathur concluded.