Five quotes

1) Prices of items of daily use are likely to go up as a result of the agricultural cess of Rs 2.5 per litre on petrol and Rs 4 on the same quantity of diesel. Because of this, the freight, passage expenses and the production cost would enhance instantly. The Budget proposals seem to be skewed towards privatisation…. Dr SS Chhina, Senior Fellow, Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi, said

2) Allocation of Rs 15,700 crore for the MSME sector, which has share of 40 per cent in the GDP, is highly insufficient, especially after the Covid-19 induced economic crisis. Announcement of seven mega investment textile parks to attract investment in the sector has brought some cheer among the textile players. This would herald a new era in the economy …. Piara La Seth, President of the Punjab Pradesh

Beopar Mandal (PPBM)

3) The Budget acknowledged the pandemic challenges and is equipped to support the economy. The main pillars of the Atamnirbhar Bharat Package will prove to be a good move. The spending of Rs 64,000 crores, spread over six years, should be used to improve the quality of available infrastructure in rural and urban areas so as to tackle any pandemic in future. …… Kuldeep Kaur Professor Economics at GNDU

4) The commerce segment was bracing itself for an enhanced tax burden keeping in view the adverse fiscal scenario. However, the Union Budget allayed these fears with no new tax levies, but instead looked at mobilising required funds through disinvestment and privatisation, thus monetising assets worth over Rs. 1.76 lakh crores …..Gunbir Singh- Founder Chairman, CII Amritsar Zonal Council

5) The Budget has not talked about boosting measures on taxation and is concentrated more on the administrative reforms. There is no relief to the salaried middle class taxpayers which suffered the most during pandemic. There is no hike in the standard deduction limit in the Budget and no increase in compulsory audit limit except for digital transactions. ……Saanya Aggarwal, a Company Secretary