Various sectors term budget as 'promising'

The Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitely has come in for praise from different sectors, including IT players, here.

Apollo Hospitals Managing Director Suneeta Reddy termed the budget presented yesterday as promising.

"The 2014 Union budget seems promising and has laid clear emphasis on facilitating infrastructure and long term funding. Overall a realistic and investor friendly budget", Reddy said in a statement here today.

The proposal for setting up four AIIMS and thereafter in every state, increase in FDI provision to 49 % for the insurance sector would have a direct bearing on access to overall coverage with healthcare being a "critical subset", she said.

Reddy said the increase in taxes on tobacco and cigarettes is once again an effort to make India healthier.

Chennai-based public sector Indian Overseas Bank Chairman and Managing Director M Narendra termed budget as a "bold" and "innovative" attempt to turn conditions into an opportunity to take India forward on the path of sustainable and inclusive growth.

"The budget seeks to contain deficit, control inflation through a supply side response and stimulate growth through fuller capacity utilisation", he said.

Chairman and Managing Director of city based financial technology company Polaris, Arun Jain said, "the iteration of the budget was able to enhance prospects for key aspects of Indian industry.

"I call this a budget 360 because of its all-round focus. While on the one hand it caters to Industry, on the other, the attention to detail was encouraging. The IT and ITeS sector will benefit from the clarity in tax pricing and positive lack of major surprises in the budget," he said in a release.