On a scale of 1 to 10, I would personally rate this budget as 7: MD, RSBL

Managing Director of RiddiSiddhi Bullion Ltd (RSBL), Prithviraj Kothari, while sharing his views on the Union Budget 2017-18, stated that it can be considered as a revolutionary budget.

Some of the key announcements made during the Budget like capping the maximum cash donation to Rs. 2, 000 and steps to avoid money laundering are noteworthy.

But the Bullion Trade reforms that were the key to the survival of industry did not come through. One of the biggest casualties of Demonetisation was the Bullion Industry.

"Cash transaction limit was earlier not specified. Now it has been brought to Rs. 3lakh. Moreover, 100 percent penalty shall be levied on the recipient when the amount received from one person exceeds Rs. 3lakh. Taking it on a positive note, the limitation of cash transactions for individuals to Rs 3lakh would help towards a better cashless economy of India," said Kothari.

"Import duty on Gold has not been reduced from the existing rate of 10 percent. So also PAN Card limit remains at Rs. 2lakh only. Bullion Industry anticipated that custom duty shall be reduced in the Budget 2017-18 as import figure has dropped down to 6 percent from 10 percent but with GST to be implemented in the near future, industry was expecting a favourable duty," added Kothari.