The Union Budget 2022, presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday, 1 February, has elicited mixed reactions from experts.
While analysts have hailed the outlay for infrastructure, education and health experts have treated the Budget allotted to the respective sectors with more disenchantment.
"As expected, a very high focus on capital expenditure towards sectors like urban infrastructure, power, and health sector will boost employment and also revive capital good sectors. Boosting investment in urban public transportation system should benefit auto sector... Overall, a 8/10 budget," Managing Director and CEO of Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC A Balasubramanian told Bloomberg Quint.
Vikram Kotak, co-founder and MD of Ace Lansdowne Investment Services, also appreciated the infrastructure spending in the Budget.
"The Budget shows that the government has finally realised that infrastructure spending will create jobs and infrastructure development will lead to efficiency. We also like moves like higher FDI in insurance and asset monetisation, moves which have not been seen in the past. Such budgets have not been seen in the last few years, which seem like an infra-budget."Ace Lansdowne, MD Vikram Kotak to BQ
Biocon's Executive Chairperson Kiran Mazumdar Shaw opined that the increase in capital expenditure will drive infrastructure and jobs.
"Fiscal prudence and business ease has been the theme. 35% increase in capital expenditure will drive infra n jobs - Positive rhetoric with no negative surprises = balanced budget (sic)," she tweeted.
What Experts Say About Health & Education Spending
Eminent public health expert Dr Chandrakant Lahariya criticised the emphasis placed on TV-based learning of children as proposed by Finance Minister Sitharaman.
"Learning loss of two years to be compensated by Setting up TV channels, really????? It shows that we are not serious about loss of learning of our children. Open the schools and get children back for in person learning. Invest in school education (sic)," Dr Lahariya said.
Sitharaman had said in her speech that 'one class, one TV channel programme of PM eVidya' will be expanded to more students across the country.
"A great opportunity was squandered in health sector; viable universal healthcare should have been rolled out," Jayaprakash Narayan, a physician, said on Twitter.
Emcure Pharmaceuticals chief Namita Thapar applauded the attention allotted to mental health by the Budget.
"Budget 2022 - Tele Mental Health Platform was a very welcome move. Upgrading 2 lakh anganwadi workers to improve child health outcomes - execution is key. Ease of doing business and digitisation initiatives across sectors was the focus (sic)," Thapar, who recently appeared on TV show Shark Tank India, said.
Experts also indicate that the government's focus on the supply side over demand remains a disappointing factor of the Union Budget 2022.
"We would have loved to see some balance between boosting industry and supporting individuals. Think of the sacrifices the Indian consumers made over the last two years...lost livelihoods, lower incomes, health costs, higher oil and food prices, higher taxes on income and GST. The government's response in terms of some income support or a lower tax burden has been missing," Arvind Chari, CIO of Quantum Advisors, was quoted as saying by news agency IANS.
(With inputs from Bloomberg Quint and IANS)
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