The big picture the Budget presents and its projected India story looks good to me. While I have often heard about how this government is pro-corporate, it was welcome to see the focus on the poor, aged, children and women.

I have two daughters, Maanya, 11, and Mahita, 6. I am glad this government has made the Sukanya Samriddhi scheme for young girls quite attractive.

I will definitely consider investing money for my daughters in this scheme as the Budget has given tax deduction for investment as well as made interest income and withdrawal tax-free as well. The interest of 9.1 per cent offered and the completely tax-free status makes it attractive to me.

Discouraging hike

After working for an IT major for several years, last year I decided to go it on my own as a sales and marketing consultant. I am not too happy that the service tax has been hiked in this Budget to 14 per cent. Paying service tax in advance before I collect from my customers will impact my cash flow for sure. That is an unkind cut the Budget has delivered to self-employed professionals such as me. As a family, we eat out a lot, and travel as well. The hike in service tax, I fear, will affect me in many ways. Even paying my phone bills is going to get costlier now.

Now that I am on my own, and do not have the cover of a medical scheme that a corporate offers, I have to ensure that my family is well taken care of in terms of health insurance. I am glad the Budget has hiked the exemption limit on insurance paid from Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000. That exemption will mean more money in my pocket. The move to exempt up to Rs 30,000 for health insurance premia paid for senior citizens means I can also enhance the cover for my father.

I am 44 now and will have to think about the time I will hang up my boots. In that context, the Budget enhancing the investment and exemption limit for the National Pension Scheme is welcome indeed. It allows me an additional Rs 50,000 exemption under Sec 80CCD, which is good for my finances.

My wife, Mala, who runs her own dance school, is over the moon about the Finance Minister’s gold monetisation scheme and proposal for a sovereign gold bond. She says the scheme to allow the depositors of gold to earn interest in their metal accounts is a terrific move. “It will help divert our dormant gold investments to one that gives us a return and I am keen to increase our investments into such bonds and accounts,” she says.

Better education, here

Mala is also happy about the focus on increasing premium institutions such as the IITs and AIIMs, so when our kids grow up they can get quality education in our country, instead of having to spend on educating them abroad. All in all, this budget’s thinking is that you have to teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime, than to feed a man a fish only for a day. It’s a very encouraging budget that will create many employment and business opportunities, thereby creating self-reliant Indians.

The writer is a go-to-market consultant and former Regional Director, Microsoft India

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