CII official says budget will help farmers, middle-income group

The budget presented by Union Finance Minister Piyush Goyal was along expected lines for an election year, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Telangana chairman Sanjay Singh said Friday. "This being an election year, the Budget was on expected lines. It is a Peoples Budget. It will go a long way in providing relief to distressed farmers and the middle-income group," he said.

Simplified procedures will help improve tax collections, Singh said. He said that the defence Budget hike would help in making the country stronger "Keeping Vision 2030 in mind, the Budget is a positive step towards the growth and development of the country, Singh added.

B V R Mohan Reddy, former chairman of NASSCOM, said the budget places a lot of emphasis on technology adoption and penetration - One Lakh Digital Villages, electronic tax return assessment, digitization for customs transactions and support to CSCs to render digital services are welcome initiatives. "However, the government missed clarity on Angel Tax, which has been a major challenge for Start-ups.

While there were some positive announcements for the general public, being an election year and an interim budget, it had few initiatives for the industry at large," he said. The announcement of a National Center for Artificial Intelligence would help India emerge as a key player in Artificial Intelligence development and implementation in applications, he added.

(With inputs from agencies.)