A man watches a live streaming of the 2021 union budget on his mobile phone in Kolkata on Monday. Agence France-Presse

Imran Mojib, Special Correspondent

The Non-resident Indians (NRIs) in the United Arab Emirates termed the India budget for fiscal 2021-22, unveiled by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday, positive and a timely step in the right direction. The budget is mostly in favour of people as it covers all sectors of economy, also giving visible relief to the Non-Resident Indians in the UAE.

In his comments, Ram Buxani, Chairman, ITL-Cosmos Group, said: Indeed a budget of reforms. We could hear refreshing terminology in today’s speech by Mrs. Nirmala Sitaraman like ‘tax system has to be transparent’.

The importance to UAE in the budget speech itself makes NRIs in UAE proud. Sensex rising 1,200 points  during the budget speech. Mrs. Sitaraman by declaring disinvestment in several PSUs prove that business of the government is not to do business. Direct taxes have not been touched. We would like to see a day when India will be ruled by indirect taxes only giving respectable exit to corruption in the system. People are not happy to allow access to Babus to their private books.

According to Bharat Bhatia, CEO, Conares: The budget is a game-changer. It has all the ingredients to spur growth. The budget put in place the new customs structure that will come into effect from October 2021. Some of the initiatives introduced under the new structure should help accelerate infrastructure growth across the country. Revoking anti-dumping duties and countervailing duties on certain steel products is a welcome step. The multi-state co-operative announcement for ease of doing business is a much-needed move and should help in more investments flowing into India. The FM’s proposal to increase agriculture credit target to Rs16.5 lakh crore and integration of 1,000 more mandis with eNAM across the country shows the government’s commitment to the welfare of farmers.

The budget will revive the COVID-hit economy of the country. The massive vaccination initiative for COVID will bring the boost to Indian economy and revenue from the tax collection will increase by 15 per cent minimum. The main reason for the growth of economy is acceleration of digitalisation, especially COVID-19 lockdown period supporting many businesses experience ease of operation on digital platforms so that financial transactions predominantly routed through bank accounts. This enhanced the economic growth with cashless transactions reducing by around 5 to 10 per cent annually. This is huge in terms of growth of the economy. Due to the same, the government expects better revenues and helping it to spend accordingly on infrastructure development. I believe this will also help domestic market to improve the livelihood of people by enhancing transport and logistics system of the country making it more cost-effective in the coming years.

Abdulla Nalapad, MD, Nalapad Investments, Dubai, said: It is an outstanding budget with massive opportunities for growth and investments that would prove to be beneficial to the Indian economy at large. It is inspiring to see the FM presenting the “never-before” budget with proposals based on six pillars that covered all aspects of the economy including health, finance, infrastructure, human capital, innovation and minimum government and maximum governance.

The budget shows a strong path, the nation would be on, in the next five to ten years in line with boosting income of people and their enhancing purchasing power. However, the budget should have given the much-needed emphasis to support MSMEs and in generation of employment.

Sudesh K Aggarwal – Chairman ITEC m.e. &  Giant Group of Companies commented: In the first Post Covid budget the government assured that it cares for the health and well being of its people. There is a push on infra projects and economic activity, and I hope it shall lead to real time employment generation. Doubling the income of farmers is illusive. One-person company shall benefit NRI’s. MSME Sector is not given enough push.

Navin Kapoor, MD, Xpertize United, Dubai opined: The budget is both popular and populist. Big increase in infra spending will keep mission revival on track and generate employment. Focus on four poll bound states is a populist measure. Hydrogen mission and permitting competition in DIsCOM is a welcome initiative in power sector. UAE-India partnership in Labour upskilling and certification is a great initiative. Residency limit has been slashed to 120 days for NRIs and this would give aggressive push to NRI investments in India.

Chirag Agarwal, Director at Earningo Accounting & Tax Consultancy, expressed his views saying: The budget could be called as infrastructure and healthcare rich budget, which has given major emphasis on healthcare and infra sectors showing intention of the India government to spend on these vital sectors to boost the Indian economy post Covid-19. Investing in healthcare and infrastructure would lead to more dynamic and sustainable growth to Indian economy and create plethora of opportunities for Foreign Direct Investment. The budget aims at improving the physical quality of life.

Lal Bhatia, Chairman, Hilshaw Group: In response to the economic trauma and enormous human suffering, the country has experienced as a result of the pandemic, the unprecedented budget is designed for growth by ushering in hyper-aggressive reforms focusing on healthcare, infrastructure and financial sector.

The courageous move for higher borrowing for capital expenditure, along with focused investments, monetisation, incentives for Foreign Direct Investment and a method to clean up stressed assets and a focused tax regime signals liberal direction on fiscal management, encouraging free and fair competition, and general welfare.