Chef Manu Chandra's take on the best things in Union Budget 2024

'Would've liked better tax benefits for entrepreneurs', says Chef Manu Chandra

What is the best thing about the Budget?

A favoured upside with today’s Budget announcement would be the push for better infrastructure in our distribution and supply chain networks with respect to agriculture. I’m particularly optimistic about potentially bringing down food inflation with locally sourced produce. A definite win-win scenario.

Will the Budget help sustain the Indian economy’s growth momentum?

Today’s Budget leans towards providing some growth opportunities, albeit tremendous growth, which puts us on par with the rest of the world, will only come about when debt is not as expensive.

The focus on skilling, support for women, credit lines for budding entrepreneurs, sops and incentives for professionals are sure to drive better employment opportunities for more individuals.

That being said, I personally would have liked to see better tax benefits for entrepreneurs like myself whose burden of double taxation is always present given that we don’t qualify for input tax credit, making growth challenging.

Will the Budget help create jobs and improve infrastructure?

The answer is yes. Although a whole lot of effort is being focused on creating new urban centres in different states, there should be an equitable bolstering of the existing ones (given that there is a ready availability of employees here). Without these benefits, the ability to create jobs will always be finite.

That said, if newer urban centres can create a considerable level of employment at a fair pay benchmark, this Budget holds promise.