New Delhi: In a sharp contrast to the stock market, which dumped the Budget, corporate India on Monday commended Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee for a "job well done" under the most trying circumstances.
The industry leaders hailed the abolition of Fringe Benefit Tax, Commodities Transaction Tax and a clear road map for Goods and Services Tax.
They also welcomed Mukherjee giving a boost to the agriculture and infrastructure sector.
However, the industry was disappointed with the increase in the Minimum Alternate Tax from 10 per cent to 15 per cent.
Overall, India Inc did not toe the line taken by the stock market which has dumped the Budget with crash in the Sensex by about 870 points.
"The Finance Minister has done a tight rope walking over a huge distance in a difficult situation - of a large fiscal deficit and a steep fall in growth rate and he has done a good walk. It is a daring Budget and a job well done in the most trying circumstances," Ficci President Harsh Pati Singhania said.
CII President Venu Srinivasan was in agreement. "He has pretty much kept our expectations. It is fairly wise and measured Budget, given that international markets have still not recovered from the meltdown," he said.
Assocham President Sajjan Jindal saw a clear focus on the aam-admi.
Source: PTI
