Budget focus on skill development a positive: Devina Mehra

The Chief Global Strategist, at First Global, says the FM managed to walk the tightrope

This budget was a difficult balancing act to pull off with circumstances being less than salubrious both globally and in India. Did the FM manage the tightrope walk? In the most part, yes.

The big gestures were related to kick-starting growth in investment and infrastructure – both lagging far below where they should be. These ranged from the investment allowance to the boost to tax-free bonds to the initiatives on road-building.

This was also in line with the FM’s statement on the necessity of growth, even before issues of equity can be addressed.

Nevertheless,  these may not be sufficient to boost investments and GDP growth, especially given a monetary policy that is reversing gear glacially and also given the brakes on government investment in order to achieve fiscal targets.

There were also other important moves that tend to often go below the radar. This government has seriously focused on skill-development and hence the employability of the citizens in order to  translate India's demographic dividend into reality. That focus remains in this budget.

As does the effort to take the next Green Revolution to areas missed out by the first one. From the market perspective, the corporate tax surcharge is a negative–one can’t really take the one-year window too seriously as such surcharges have a habit of staying on.

The GAAR provisions have been pushed out into the future, but should have been scrapped.