“The Budget has focused on Rural India – farmer, agriculture, rural economy and infrastructure. The budget provides for ensuring better roads, electricity, irrigation and farming facility in a time bound manner, which is welcome. The higher allocation for MNREGA, roads and even social sector proposals, if implemented well, could be a game changer in bridging the gap between ‘Rural’ and ‘Urban’ India. Financial sector proposals have been on expected lines including recapitalisation of PSUs and changes in RBI and SEBI Acts. For majority of individual tax payers announcements may not necessarily contribute to a significantly lower tax burden. Some impetus to housing sector but no major policy change. From the industry perspective, there is not much to cheer about. Some tax sops to the MSME sector is welcome, however, no major thrust to enable growth in this sector. The biggest silence was on GST, with new cess being added, taxation continues to get more cumbersome. End of plan and non-plan budget may not be a wise move. We will have to wait and watch for proposed changes in the Companies Act and fine prints of the budget. Overall a very moderate budget.”