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Here is what the Indian industry has to say about the Union Budget:
P BALENDRAN, VICE PRESIDENT, GENERAL MOTORS INDIA, NEW DELHI
"The hike in excise duty is not on expected lines, specially when automobile industry continues to remain sluggish.
"Unless you see the fine print, you may not be able to know how much is going to be the impact. In auto industry, for the commercial vehicles, good (budget). From GM India perspective, the budget doesn't get more than out of 10 points."
HM BHARUKA, MANAGING DIRECTOR, KANSAI NEROLAC, MUMBAI
"There was nothing exciting in the budget but it's not a populist one which is good. What remains to be seen is how the own to 4.8 percent when planned expenditure has been increased by 30 percent and that I think is the most important part.
"The other bit is he has increased expenditure in rural markets so overall consumer spending should not be affected in the coming year. The consumer industry will also cheer the development on the GST front. The finance minister indicated that there has been some consensus that has emerged on the issue and that it will get passed in the near future.
SUNIL DUGGAL, CEO, DABUR INDIA, NEW DELHI
"Rural stimuli has been continued which is good for the consumer sector. We are expecting the implementation of the goods and services tax from April 2014 and the finance minister indicated a positive build up to that which was good.
"Major issue for us will be to watch the impact this budget will have on inflation, which will have an impact on demand for us."
S SANDILYA, PRESIDENT, SIAM & CHAIRMAN OF EICHER MOTORS , NEW DELHI
"Overall tax rates not having gone up ... is very good.
"However, on the SUVs, he increased excise duty, saying they occupy more parking spaces, which is totally surprising. We need to find out how it affects the overall sales. It was one area where growth was significant and yes, this will have an impact.
"Also on imported vehicles, he increased the customs duty whichxpected."
MALVINDER MOHAN SINGH, CHAIRMAN, DION GLOBAL SOLUTIONS, NEW DELHI
"It's a good budget ... portrays an optimistic picture. I hope the higher taxes on corporates is only for a year."
RC BHARGAVA, CHAIRMAN, MARUTI SUZUKI, NEW DELHI
"A budget can't provide solutions to all the problems in the economy. Solution lies in various ministries of government of India. Finance Minister doesn't have capabilities to take action on their behalf. Actions have to be taken at state levels, at ministry levels, if we are talking about 6 to 7% growth.
"It is neither political nor populist. He has kept the fiscal deficit down. He is trying to bring in investments to the country. Overall it's a good budget."
ISSAC GEORGE, DIRECTOR, GVK POWER & INFRASTRUCTURE LTD, NEW DELHI
"Our expectations were higher this time. We expected the budget to be a big growth booster but within the constraints that he had, he has handled it fairly well.
"Couple of positive things were the extension of tax holiday on power projects by one more year. The investment allowance of 15% he is planning to give for projects where investment is greater than Rs 100 crore is positive. This will bring back capital.
"Infrastructure debt funds being encouraged is a very big positive because that will ease some of the financing problems that infrastructure projects are facing today."
BHASKAR PRAMANIK, CHAIRMAN, MICROSOFT INDIA, NEW DELHI
"The intent is very strong. It is really to see how they implement this. There seems to be a lot of focus on reviving growth. A lot of issues in the IT sector has been addressed. One of the areas which was a concern is that we have been seeing a decline in new investment in R&D units."
PRANABH MODY, PRESIDENT, JB CHEMICALS & PHARMACEUTICALS, AHMEDABAD
"The budget looks good on investment side. The incentive for investment above Rs 100 crore is attractive. Other than this, there is no concrete announcement on tax front, nothing on the proposed goods and services tax. So it's neutral budget."
