iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
Panelists at an online discussion last week on the 2022-23 budget of the government of India presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman cautiously welcomed the conservative, measured and growth-oriented plan despite this being an important election year.
The San Francisco and Chicago chapters of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) co-hosted along with the Consulate General of India in San Francisco, the webinar Feb 4, which was moderated by Geetha Ramakrishnan, a member of the San Francisco chapter.
The participants were TV Nagendra Prasad, India’s consul general in San Francisco, Nihar Jambusaria, current president of the ICAI, Sameer Narang, chief economist of ICICI Bank, and Ved Jain, tax luminary and former president of the ICAI.
The discussion focused on the priorities put forth in the budget, its macroeconomic outlook, and taxation changes. It also drew attention to issues pertinent to Indians living in the U.S.
Consul General Nagendra Prasad outlined the priorities of the budget. Primary among them were a focus on infrastructure development, all-inclusive welfare programs, rollout of 5G services later this year, and the growing independence of the defense sector thanks to increasing investment in R&D by private Indian players.
Asked which of these issues had been addressed correctly, ICICI Bank’s Narang offered an interesting response. He said the budget had brought to fruition several of the schemes that had been consistently funded by the government over the past decade, and given a push to the prime minister’s priority schemes of Digital India and digitization.
The building of both physical and digital infrastructure has been accelerated, Narang said, while the budget estimates, though conservative and likely to be exceeded, address several issues while allowing for increased allocation to address the next round of social welfare programs.
When the same question was put to Jain, he highlighted the uncertainty of the environment within which the finance minister had overseen the formulation of the budget, thereby making its conservatism understandable and its completion an achievement. He said, “credibility, stability, and fiscal discipline” are at the core of the budget.
On direct taxes, Jain said the schemes in the budget will generate immense employment and build one of the world’s largest manufacturing sectors. As for concessions, he said every budget must include some, and the current budget had balanced out the concessions well, given the Covid-damaged revenue streams.
Jain welcomed the finance minister’s decision not to levy any additional taxes given the damage wrought by the Covid-induced spending. The finance minister’s policies have brought much-needed stability to the taxation infrastructure, he said, particularly in the matter of long-term capital gains.
Among topics of particular interest to Indians living abroad was the creation of the International Financial Service Center in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, which will help improve the ease of doing business for Indians abroad and transform the city into a global financial hub.
Jain also gave a thumbs up to the amendments proposed in the budget to make transactions easier and quicker.
