Page 44 - Banking Finance February 2018

BUDGET

poor and vulnerable families. Recognizing the contribution of SME, the budget announcement of taxing companies with
turnover of up to Rs 250 crore at 25% is a welcome news. The proposal of a unified regulator for the International
Financial Services Centre (IFSC) at GIFT City in Gujarat is a positive step towards efficient and effective regulation and
supervision of the financial entities.

The impact of consolidation in the Public sector insurance space by merging United India Insurance, Oriental Insurance
and National Insurance and then their listing as well as meeting Disinvestment target for 2018-19 at Rs 80,000 crore
could prove vital for addressing the fiscal deficitof 3.3% of GDP for 2018-19. The revised estimate of 3.5 % for FY 18 is
on expected lines as indicated in the Economic Survey.The announcement of long term capital gains tax at 10% on equity
gains of over Rs.1 lakh is something that came unexpected for the markets. However, if the economic fundamental is
strong and the returns are great, it should not hurt the investment sentiments.

Amitabh Chaturvedi, Managing Director, Essel Finance
"As anticipated this is certainly a well balanced budget keeping in mind the politics, election and solid
long term economic growth. We did see a good emphasis on rural economy and could term this as an
inclusive budget for the lower strata of society. At the same time, the development of the country as
a whole continued to be the focus of the Financial Minister, with favourable announcements for the
infrastructure and tourism industry. Reduction in corporate taxes is definitely a good initiative, given
the impact GST has had on some sectors. I also support introduction of long term capital gain tax as
Amitabh
Chaturvedi this is one way to track and control tax evasion by many. Overall this is definitely a positive budget for
the nation and the economy."

Mr. A.K. Basak, Chairman, PLEXCONCIL
We foremost wish to welcome the development oriented Union Budget 2018 presented by the Union Finance Minister.
Plexconcil will support the Government's endeavour to increase exports and plastics has contributed
significantly to the exports growth of 15% in FY18 as envisaged by the Finance Minister.
Plexconcil welcomes the key announcements with respect to the MSME sector because the majority
of the plastics industry consists of MSMEs/ SMEs. The Plastics industry predominantly comprises the
MSME businesses and the Rs. 3794 crores allocated in capital support and interest subsidy is sure to
help the sector grow. Needless to say, this would encourage more of our trade members to explore
expansion of their businesses, thereby not only increasing output capacities, technological advance- Mr. A.K. Basak
ment, but also facilitate increased employment creation and skill enhancement. This move will also incentivise new
entrants into the segment and help grow the industry sector as a whole. The stimulus to growth of the manufacturing
sector will also further boost exports. We feel that the incentives given to the Footwear, Leather and Textiles sector
should also be extended to the plastics industry.
The cut back on Corporate tax to 25% for businesses with turnover of upto 250 crores is also a welcome reprieve for
many of our manufacturers who will now be able to utilize funds thus saved to reinvest in their own businesses and
improve their manufacturing capacities to meet the increasing demands of the international markets. This will also stimu-
late job creation.

We welcome the schemes and increased outlay for MSMEs as well as the initiative to create a database and identity for
MSMEs. The financing schemes announced for MSME sector should be applicable to the plastics MSMEs too. We wel-
come the Government’s move to incentivise domestic value addition and Make in India in the plastics sector.
We welcome the Government's move to contribute 12% EPF in wages of new employment in all sectors including plas-
tics. In sync with the Government’s emphasis on manufacturing and creating infrastructure, more plastics manufactur-
ing parks with shared support services and resources can be created to stimulate job creation.

44 | 2018 | FEBRUARY | BANKING FINANCE

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