The Finance Minister has presented a balanced and pro-growth Budget. Clearly, the focus of the Budget is to revive the investment cycle in the economy while creating a solid platform for inclusive growth. The Budget gives a direction for future policy and underlines the government’s commitment to economic reforms.

The finance minister delivered a clear pro-growth message, expressing his willingness to shift the time-line for achieving the 3 per cent fiscal deficit target to make room for meaningful public investment.

The clear roadmap for implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) by April 2016 is a major positive, and will go a long way in enhancing ease of doing business. Of course, the roadmap for reducing corporate tax over the next four years is a big positive and will allow companies to invest in growth. Another positive is to create an enabling environment for a world-class start-up ecosystem in India. All these should give the much needed boost to economic growth and job creation.

India is in desperate need of plugging its infrastructure deficit and it was good to see the big focus on the infrastructure development front. The government’s decision to an additional ₹70,000 crore on infrastructure development sends out a very positive message. The commitment to reviving growth and efficiency in manufacturing and farm sectors is also a plus. That said, much more needs to be done to revive the sentiments in these two critical sectors. Foreign direct investment in retail is something that the the government needs to push to revive manufacturing in the SME sector, while also benefiting the farming community.

Financial inclusion

The most refreshing feature in the Budget is its focus on financial inclusion. To bring millions of citizens under the pension and healthcare net is extremely important and I must congratulate the Finance Minister for laying the foundation of a robust social security system in the country.

Overall, the message from the Government is to do small things right and take an incremental approach to reforms versus making big promises and not delivering.

And this is a welcome change. However, without taking away from the Government’s efforts, I strongly believe that the execution of these policies will be the key.

The writer is Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, Bharti Enterprises

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