India’s Union Budget: Balances today’s needs while establishing priorities of tomorrow

India’s Union Budget 2024 is a thought-provoking one that balances the needs of today while establishing the priorities of tomorrow.At the same time, one could always view it as a budget that could have done more in addressing immediate concerns.The focus on promoting entrepreneurship, skilling, and MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises ) is commendable. The scheme offering internship opportunities in the top 500 companies will enable students to effectively translate their academic knowledge into practical professional skills, facilitating a smoother transition into the workforce.MSMEs have a vital role to play in the country’s development going forward and the moves taken in this budget to increase credit access and financial support will help these companies to scale and modernise. The initiatives to ensure credit access to MSMEs during their stress period and increase the limit in MUDRA (Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency) loans are welcome ones.I am also happy to see the initiative to bring out a Financial Sector Vision and Strategy Document. This will provide a clear agenda for all stakeholders over the next five years, ensuring that the efforts of the government, regulators, financial institutions, and market participants are aligned towards common goals.At the same time, there could have been more incentives for the tourism and hospitality industry. Rethinking lending norms and envisioning hospitality development as a vital part of infrastructure development were necessary. With the growing use of AI in other sectors, tourism and hospitality are poised to become a major driver of job creation and the sector needs more support.There could also have been more in terms of measures to attract NRI investments to the country. Reducing corporate tax for foreign companies to 35% is a welcome development, while the move to abolish the Angel Tax for startups is indeed commendable. However, the NRI community was expecting more policies and reforms to boost NRI investment in India.Overall, while this budget is a balanced one and will stand the country in good stead over the long run, one could always argue that there are missed opportunities.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/687244/international/indias-union-budget-balances-todays-needs-while-establishing-priorities-of-tomorrow