Guest column: Budget will provide impetus to growth

The Union Budget presented in the Parliament by the Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman would be providing a boost to several sectors at the same time. Right from agriculture, education, infrastructure to even in the banking and the non-banking financial sectors, the Union Budget would be making a mark.

To begin with, it would be for the first time that the finance ministry has spoken about proving clean drinking water in pipes to every household in India under their Jal Shakti Abhiyan. This shows the government’s seriousness in tackling the water crises in the country. On the agriculture front, the government expressed its commitment to provide infrastructure support to farmers. They also proposed the implementation of the Zero Budget farming technique.

Many of our students go to foreign universities for higher education. The finance minister also spoke of the Study in India initiative and the setting up of the National Education Policy to bring higher education to international standards in India. This would help in attracting foreign students to study in India. The government has set an ambitious plan of becoming a $5 trillion economy from the present $2.7 trillion in the next few years. This won’t be possible without infrastructure development right from highways to waterways and ports. For this reason, the government has kept an ambitious plan of spending Rs 100 lakh crore over the period of next 5 years. This move would have a major impact on the economic development and job creation as a whole. To provide further impetus to affordable housing, additional deduction of 1.5 lakh Rupees on interest paid on loans borrowed up to 31 March 2020 for purchase of house up to Rs 45 lakh. Liquidity was one of the major challenges faced by the industry which the government has tried to address in this Budget. The government has also adequately addressed the liquidity issue faced by the industry. Public sector banks will be provided with Rs 17,000 crore to boost credit. Also, the government has proposed to allocate Rs 70,000 crore for PSU banks recapitalization. The Union government has also taken steps to revive the non-banking financial companies. Fundamentally strong NBFC would continue to get funding from banks and mutual fund companies which would be passed on to the industry. This is a major step that would infuse the much needed liquidity in the economy.

Niranjan Hiranandani, Co-founder and MD of Hiranandani Group