There is not much to criticise in the Budget. It has kept the fiscal deficit in check, at 3.2 per cent for 2017-18, down from 3.9 per cent in 2015-16, which is good for economy.
It did not come out with knee-jerk populist measures, post demonetisation. The cash limit of ₹3 lakh is the next logical step of the many required to restrict flow of black money. Although much is required to reform the funding of political parties, the cap on cash contributions of ₹2,000 and introduction of election bonds are steps in the right direction.
Tax rationalisation
On the personal front, income-tax has been halved to 5 per cent for the ₹2.5-5 lakh income bracket, and a 10 per cent surcharge has been imposed on incomes from ₹50 lakh to ₹1 crore. This move will help transfer some of the income-tax liability to the rich and will help widen the tax base; of the 37 million individuals who filed tax returns in 2015-16, 29.4 million showed incomes below ₹5 lakh.
For corporates, the tax rate cut to 25 per cent for companies with up to ₹50-crore turnover will help smaller players, which is critical for a positive India story.
(The writer is a PGDM student at XLRI.)