One Would Have Liked A Greater Clarity Of GST Implementation: Mr. Prasun Gajri

The Union Budget presented today was pragmatic without being over ambitious. There are no big bang reforms but that was anticipated. Given the limited room for fiscal manoeuvring the FM has stuck to the fiscal deficit target of 4.1% of GDP and has laid down a road map for reducing the fiscal deficit to 3% of GDP by FY16-17. This is laudable. The Budget has also taken steps to encourage financial savings and investments by giving incentives to both the savers as well as entrepreneurs. Steps like increasing FDI in defence and insurance are welcome. We also believe that clarity on tax structure for REIT's and infrastructure investment trusts augur well for channelling savings towards these sectors. One would have liked a greater clarity of GST implementation, subsidy reduction and how the government plans to tackle the retrospective tax issues. However, the FM talked about these issues and reiterated the resolve to move ahead on all these issues. We believe that it is a good beginning and all the small steps will add up. We expect that by next year the FM will have a greater room to implement his strategy and help take the growth back to 7% or higher levels.