“I believe in Warren Buffett's philosophy of taxing the rich more and that they are not being taxed adequately,” said Ms Vinita Bali, Managing Director, Britannia Industries Ltd.

The impact of income-tax exemption limit being raised to Rs 2 lakh is ‘very small' that it really does not matter, she added.

On increased excise duty, she said that this would definitely have inflationary impact, but the company needs to work out in detail the costing for their products. “It's too early to comment on impact on sales,” she said.

Ms Bali termed it a mixed budget with ‘fundamentally positive steps in some areas, not enough in others and large concern areas like the projected fiscal deficit of 5.1 per cent.

A few of the positives of the budget include raising the Plan outlay for agriculture by 18 per cent, initiatives for R&D in agriculture, allocations for improving warehousing and storage facilities for agricultural produce. “All of these, executed well and on time, will address the supply side on food and agriculture that will drive domestic demand and consumption, which is one of the key priority areas.”

> anjali@thehindu.co.in

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