Tag: BudgetSpeak

By Roopam Asthana

 

This Budget has to be one that generates hope. The primary objective must be boosting of business confidence across different segments of services, manufacturing and agricultural sectors. Investment cycles in most industries are long and commitments of investment require a positive outlook over at least a medium term. This Budget must spur this positive outlook so that investment cycles in accretion of capacities and boost in production and new infrastructure projects can commence post haste. Only this will help us in generating employment and creating future accretive revenues for the government to spend on healthcare, education and food security. I would also urge that the focus of employment generation should be on Tier 3 cities and smaller towns so that growth in more equitable across the country.

 

Specifically for General Insurance Industry

1. I would like to see some more tax incentives for spends on protection of personal assets like homes and on health insurance through enlargement of scope of Sec 80 D.

 

2. To improve health coverage, corporates and SMEs need to be pushed to provide health insurance coverage for a stipulated minimum amount on a mandatory basis to all their employees. This should be combined with an effort to set standard costs for pre-defined medical procedures at hospitals where this insurance cover can be availed.

 

3. On matters of taxation, the government could consider exempting all reinsurance transactions from Service Tax, simplifying Service tax to the first point of premium collection that is, from the original insured. Claims Provisions made by insurance as per IRDA regulations are in a number of cases being disallowed and added back to income by Tax Assessment officials – this issue needs to be set straight and such provisions that strengthen the balance sheets of insurance companies should be allowed.

 

4. On the front of the Motor Vehicles Act, the following changes need to be enacted immediately and we would like to see a mention of this in the forward-looking statements of the Budget: For Motor TP Liability insurance portfolio to break even, following legislative amendments to MV Act are crucial:

– Limit  / Cap the TP Liability under MV Act;

– Limitation as regards time limit for filing the claims

– Limitation as regards Jurisdiction to file claims

– Defense available to Insurance companies to be made absolute

 

We expect a Budget that is realistic and has immediate short-term measures built in that will spur the overall business confidence in India.

 

Roopam Asthana is C E O & Whole Time Director, Liberty Videocon General Insurance Company Ltd

 

By Arun Firodia

 

The forthcoming Budget should lay down a roadmap for next five years (if not for next 10 years). The main priorities before the government are reducing food inflation, job creation, energy security, defence and infrastructure. For this purpose :

 

a) The government should release food grains into market. The government should amend APMC Act and encourage farmers to sell directly to citizens.

 

b) The government should move towards self-regulation by industries, exempt small industries from Factories Act, relax labour laws and encourage FDI in labour intensive good manufacturing

 

c) The government should encourage investment in Solar Photovoltaic Electricity and Nuclear Energy to take advantage of great sunshine in India and abundant availability of Thorium

 

d) The government should establish a strong Navy and locate nuclear powered submarines fitted with guided missiles at strategic places so that no nation dares to attack us and

 

e) The government should invite huge investment in railways, road and ports. That should be financed by an instrument like ‘Indira Vikas Patra’ where no question would be asked about the source of money but 30% to 40% would be deducted while selling IVP. This would bring all the black money into circulation and that too for the cause of national building.

 

I look forward to the new Budget with great expectation.

 

Arun Firodia is Chairman, Kinetic Group

 

 

 

By Ravi Rao

 

Every Budget creates huge expectations and one reads and discusses all rosy dreams with great expectations. Here is my list of 10 dreams:

 

1. Streamline Income Tax, reduce it to 10% flat so no more tax consultants, archaic tax laws or tax refunds – ensure no one is exempt

 

 

2. Simplify central and state laws by removing federal taxation policy so one can pay once and not worry about concurrent or multiple taxations for business sectors. Ensure it is tracked and collected fully at one point

 

3. Why is it that most builders get away with their mistakes or even conscious violation of rules and in the end the buyer stands to strip naked – don’t expect us to know all rules

 

4. Everyone talks of the black money and I am yet to see one – abolish all CASH transactions over Rs 10,000 if you are really serious about helping the economy and the common man

 

5. Give us good roads to drive on or simply permit only 4WD. Mumbai is disgusting! Can we get a list of all contractors across India who have worked on at least one road so we can create a new website and put their colour pics out there with the money they supposedly spent on building roads!

 

6. With almost 70% + reservations for everything, why can’t reservation for women be done across all companies at 50%? Begin with the service industry at least

 

7. Create the third sex and be done with it – let all the silly moral policing politicos worry about the economy rather than tell people how to walk and dress.

 

8. Penalise all those who pollute… please see the Mithi river or even the nullahs of Mumbai – we have chemical rivers and rivers of plastic. When can you boldly set foot into the Juhu beach and not feel like getting into a watery ditch?

 

9. I have turned 50 hoping every year these dreams come true – somehow I keep dreaming.

 

10. We will be No 1, when 1 USD = I INR

 

Dream on!

 

Ravi Rao is Leader, South Asia, Mindshare

 

By Dr Amarnath Ananthanarayanan

 

The Union Budget 2014-15 comes with a lot of promise. The motive of the new government is to boost the economy even if that requires some tough short-term measures. There are common expectations on the Budget expressed by the industry on multiple aspects including Motor Third Party de-tariffing, Taxation, FDI in insurance, creation of a Nat-Cat pool, and common insurance database pool including a common fraud detection agency.

 

The only additional aspect which is not entirely Budget-related though is to get General insurance industry to the forefront and get it a seat on the table on all discussions and actions in the area of financial inclusion.

 

Dr Amarnath Ananthanarayanan is CEO and MD, Bharti AXA General Insurance​

 

By Anita Nayyar

 

Expectations from this Budget are tremendous and people are looking at immediate action on growth and job creation which in reality will take longer.

 

India is plagued with high inflation and fiscal deficit coupled with a weak monsoon outlook. Current Account Deficit (CAD) is being contained restricting gold import which will at some point affect export. Lowering interest rates will not have the effect of capital inflows and real growth. Globally too the possibility of another crisis looms if Iraq instability and oil prices spin out of control.

 

Yet, India’s golden age with its youth, rising millionaires and entrepreneurs will lead right up to 2025.  India has a great future, the next 2-3 years are critical and this Budget should attempt to clear bottlenecks and layout the roadmap to unlock potential. Needless to say, this must be one of the toughest Budgets to present.

 

Some of the big-ticket focus areas that will curb fiscal deficit and drive growth:

Administrative reform is low-hanging fruit – tax, subsidiary handout, project clearance, etc; besides it will garner positive sentiment on Indian governance.

 

The climate for investment needs to be created restoring investor confidence and curbing red tape. Tax clarity without retrospective tax will give an impetus to the private sector.

 

Just as raising tax exemption on instruments will encourage savings of salaried people, so would raising their income tax slabs; as also a tax structure for start-ups. It will not only encourage entrepreneurship and jobs but also positively impact consumption.

 

GST implementation should be given definitive timeline. Government divestment and diluting stake properties in sectors like banking, must be identified and with timelines.

 

Pending projects revival need to be closely reviewed. For those burdened with over capacity, the long-term loss would be far greater, contained here with selling of assets. Also, many are at the state level so it would need the co-operation of the ruling and opposition parties.

 

Others like radio expansion through Phase 3 need clearing with immediate effect.

 

Subsidiary allocation should have serious laws. In addition to subsidiary caps, there must be reverse-escalation caps over a period of time to make a sector/people independent focusing on the cause.

 

Education policy and investment in education, teaching and training will have reach beyond 2025. Services today are about 50% of GDP. India is the global outsourcing hub of low-end tasks where cost is the business changer; this poses a dangerous future fiscal deficit outlook.

 

Action on issues related to land acquisition and environmental consideration should be charted.

 

Bottlenecks related to growth and job producing sectors like manufacturing, infrastructure, agriculture need to be identified.

 

Industries with potential like Media & Entertainment and IT where GDP contribution can be higher need to be encouraged. For M&E, as per latest EY M&E report, India is one of the most attractive places to invest and diversify. So from an M&E perspective the outlook should be good.

 

It may not be the best of times to present a Budget but neither is it the worst and the world is nowhere near 2008-09. India has a glorious future and the makers of this Budget could claim to have had a hand in it.

 

Anita Nayyar is CEO, Havas Media Group, India & South Asia

 

 

Replaying the MxMIndia series powered by Bloomberg TV India where industry captains highlight their Budget Expectations

 

 

 

BudgetSpeak #1: CVL Srinivas: Budget 2014 – An opportunity to reboot M&E If Information Technology was the hero of the 1990s and early 2000s, the Media and Entertainment (M&E) Industry has the potential of emerging as the next big growth driver of the Indian economy. Read more…	BudgetSpeak #2: Sanjay Tripathy: Long-term financial planning needs impetus In the absence of a formal social security framework there is a need to provide tax incentives for growth of disciplined savings behaviour. I believe Life Insurance plays a critical role in using small savings for capital formation. Read more…	BudgetSpeak #3: Ashish Bhasin: Need for incentives to do more R&D Rationalization of Tax Practice on Advertising and Media Industry: Here, specific reference is to the service tax which has to be rationalized. The surcharges need to be removed. Read more…
BudgetSpeak #4: Anisha Motwani: Need relief in I-T to increase household savings With strong fundamentals, the Indian economy has tremendous growth potential. The new government has shown intent in the right direction and the Union Budget must turn them into actions to make a difference. Read more…	BudgetSpeak #5: Sandeep Sharma: Time to translate intent into action from the Budget After the new government has taken charge there is a huge expectation on the economic development of the country. The government has also made the right noises on various subjects signalling an intent to progress and accelerate the economy. Read more…	BudgetSpeak #6: Kartik Sharma: Budget of Hope I expect the first Budget from the new government to have significant policy changes for both the short- and long-term. While the list of expectations is large I expect improvements in five areas from this Budget in the short-term. Read more…
BudgetSpeaks #7: R S Sodhi: No toll for milk tankers on highways, please… A] Income Tax: 1. Reduction in Income tax on Cooperative Sector : Cooperative Societies are working for the benefit of farmers and it has brought prosperity especially in the villages. At present, there is no basic exemption to cooperatives under Income Tax Act. Read more…	BudgetSpeak #8: Harish Shriyan: Exempt small- and medium-sized advertisers from service tax My expectations from the new Budget: 1. In general, the Budget should focus on containing inflation, investment on infra and power sector and create more jobs. Read more…	BudgetSpeak #9: Amar Babu: Need to rectify inverted tax structure This Budget marks the first litmus test propelling the development agenda; the past years have witnessed an economic downturn and a downturn of domestic growth. The Budget should address the issues curtailing investment sentiment and bring renewed optimism for sustained economic growth. Read more…
BudgetSpeak #10: Suresh Balakrishna: Govt will have to take tough measures To me, it will be a development-focused Budget which means it will be a mixed bag Budget. The government will have to take tough measures. Read more…

By Suresh Balakrishna

 

To me, it will be a development-focused Budget which means it will be a mixed bag Budget. The government will have to take tough measures. There will be rationalization in tax structure but they will do away with all the retrospective tax schemes which the earlier government was talking of. I hope they will. They will try to drive growth as a major focus in this Budget. May be for retailers, FDI might get a push. There will be some steps taken in the next two Budgets to bring the economic growth on track.

 

Personally, taxes are already a high, they might go up further. I expect that luxury products will get more taxed. Taxes will also go up for people with a higher income though this is not something I am looking forward to but this might happen.

 

Suresh Balakrishna is CEO, BPN India

By Amar Babu

 

This Budget marks the first litmus test propelling the development agenda; the past years have witnessed an economic downturn and a downturn of domestic growth. The Budget should address the issues curtailing investment sentiment and bring renewed optimism for sustained economic growth; conversely the government should quickly amend the policy paralysis with regards to the ease of doing business.

 

Some important points that the government should keep in mind:

>> Despite being key to boost domestic manufacturing, component ecosystem is not yet ready in India, for which, government needs to take a series of actions.

 

>> Stability in taxation and regulatory regime; conducive business environment that include GST rollout; and creation of a robust market for locally-made products are some of the vital elements. There is also a need to rectify the inverted tax structure.

 

>> The new government would introduce long-awaited GST that would also help GDP to grow, and bring in new investment for the sector.

 

Amar Babu is Managing Director, Lenovo India and President of MAIT

By Harish Shriyan

 

My expectations from the new Budget:

1. In general, the Budget should focus on containing inflation, investment on infra and power sector and create more jobs.

 

2. The kind of inflation we are witnessing today, the Income Tax exemption limit for the individual should be raised to at least Rs 5 lakh. This will ensure more money in consumers hand and promote saving.

 

3. We need to move away from a society of entitlement to a society of opportunities. Hence the Budget should focus on growth and providing more opportunities. The policy on reservation and entitlements need to be revisited. The government benefit should be restricted only to economically deserved and not on the basis of caste or religion.

 

On the industry front:

1. As the government wants to cover the whole cable industry to be digitized, providing proper infrastructure, rationalisation of tax and reduction in custom duty for the Set Top Box is important.

 

2. Implementation of Phase 3 FM radio expansion and allowing news on FM is crucial.

 

3. Small- and medium-sized advertisers should be exempted from paying service tax so that they can afford to invest more money on advertising and become more competitive in the marketplace. In print, there is no service tax. Likewise, it should be extended to other media as well.

 

Harish Shriyan is COO, OmnicomMediaGroup

 

By Kartik Sharma

 

I expect the first Budget from the new government to have significant policy changes for both the short- and long-term.  While the list of expectations is large I expect improvements in five areas from this Budget in the short-term.

 

 

They are :

 

>> Boosting exports: I expect policy changes to help boost exports for India. The restoration of tax incentives for promoting exports is long overdue and will be welcomed by all.

 

>> Curbing food inflation: Any and all measures to curb food inflation is much needed. While the government has recently taken some measures in this direction more reforms are expected

 

>> Infrastructure: I expect government to speed up infrastructural growth for India as a whole with clear timelines. There should be severe penalty on missing deadlines and a transparent way of sharing progress with people.

 

>> Literacy drive: One of the biggest problems for India is the alarming nature of illiteracy even after so many years of independence. I expect concrete measures from government to accelerate literacy. This one initiative itself will awaken all the citizens of India and lead to great economic prosperity and weed out several social issues.

 

>> Individual taxation: Last but not the least, I expect increase in limits for deduction for individuals which will encourage savings for the growth of the economy. I expect the present limit of deduction under 80C of Rs 100,000 in respect of investments such as ELSS, life insurance premium, housing loan repayment etc to be increased to Rs 200,000.

 

This Budget will be one of the most anticipated events in the history of India. This Budget is a Budget of hope. Hope for a better India, hope for removing corruption, hope for equality, hope to live a decent life and every citizen feeling proud to be an Indian.

 

Kartik Sharma is Managing Director of Maxus, South Asia

 

By Sandeep Sharma

 

After the new government has taken charge there is a huge expectation on the economic development of the country. The government has also made the right noises on various subjects signalling an intent to progress and accelerate the economy. I would expect a clear policy direction and a roadmap being spelt out clearly on the macro front viz managing inflation, getting infrastructure back on track,  power reforms, railway reforms and agriculture reforms. The government has clearly said that it is for increasing FDI in various sectors to accelerate reforms and hence a timeline to this would help.

 

While there is a long-term plan spelt out, it is important to catch the low hanging fruit and clear pending decisions in the pipeline which can get things moving. The government needs to show that it can bite the bullet and take some tough decisions ( the recent railways fare hike is one such), diesel deregulation, food bill, their stand on various subsidises and most importantly tax reforms. A single window  clearance is a step in the right direction and it will be interesting to see how they balance environment  clearances and industry development.

 

I expect the current Budget to state an intent and roadmap  on the issues above and then by next budget in February  put the plan into action. Clear policy-making, fast approvals, accountability and creating an environment of positivity and  economic friendliness is the expectation. This  Budget is the starting point to translate intent into action and thereby come true to people’s  expectations. Personally I am bullish and anticipate a decade of positive growth for the country.

 

Sandeep Sharma is President, R K Swamy Media Group