At macro level, the budgeted allocations made for improving the infra assets looks fine as it would create jobs both directly and indirectly. Major river linking projects are being given a push. It is quite appreciable to note that more than 68 per cent of procurement for the Defence sector would be met indigenously and more than 400 Vande Bharat trains would be rolled out in next three years. But individual tax payers are disappointed as there were no concessions or reliefs for them.

There is a wide gap between the budgeted expenditure and receipts. The total expenditure for FY22-23 is estimated at ₹39.45 lakh crore against the total budgeted receipts of ₹22.84 lakh crore. The Finance Minister has said that the fiscal deficitis well within the limit when compared to previous years, but it is no way nearer to the promised level of below 4.5 per cent by 2025-26. If the government resorts to borrowing to bridge the deficit , it is feared that the cost of borrowing would have its cascading impact in the ensuing years too.

R V Baskaran

Chennai

Centre ignores traditional vote bank

The Union Budget, 2022-23 has once again dashed all hopes of the nation's middle class as also the senior citizens who were expecting some genuine relief on the IT front this time around, after being economically hit by third Covid wave.

With no change being announced in either the basic income tax slabs or the related highly complex tax structure, the government seems to have conveyed that it no longer needs their support, either economically or politically This could hurt the ruling party during the upcoming Assembly elections in five States. S

Kumar Gupt

New Delhi

Good effort under pressure

Coming on the very threshold of major Assembly elections this month, the Budget 2s significant in eschewing a self defeating populism pThat growth has been privileged over fiscal deficit is seen in the rise in Ital expenditure rai7.5 lakh crore c Cr₹6.03 lakh crore c Cr e current fiscal. . But then of this, ₹1 lakh crore that was to have been borrowed by the States is now a loan to them from the Centre's account, just a transfer of burden onus.key is to utilise these funds fully. must

Though the funds available to MSMEs have gone up substantially in this Budget, the problem till now has been with the lower end of the sector that was unable to access finance have aunderscores the need for government's administrative acumen to ensure flow of funds more than its higher provisioning.

The equity market is clearly pleased with the Capex bonanza but the tax payer has not been given relief and given the rising inflationary pressures palpavernment has chosen to shift much of its fiscal burden on his shoulders

R Narayanan

Navi Mumbai

A mixed bag

The union Budget 2022-23 is a mixed bag. In the backdrop of a discernible rise in tax revenues which offered a huge space for a hike in capital expenditure, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced a conspicuous jump of 35.4 per cent in capex to fund various infrastructure projects.

No doubt, it does augur well for our ailing economy that has been struggling to script a robust economic recovery following the havoc unleashed by the dCovid-19 pandemic. If the introduction of a tax regime for tigital assets can be considered as a significant step in mainstreaming of this asset class, the announcement for the launch of crypto currency by RBI is an indication that the government will discourage private crypto currencies.

The Budget's push for country's transition toward green economy is laudable. While the Budget has underlined the need government focus on long-term growth support, it fell short of unleashing measures to boost employment generation.

M Jeyaram

Sholavandan (TN) 

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