With the Union Budget being presented by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1 for the financial year 2021-2022, Ranchiites from varied backgrounds have welcomed the budget and said it is one that will boost India’s self- confidence.
“Budget 2021 has been billed like never before in expectation that the Government will take necessary steps to heal the Covid hit economy. It is a budget with increased spending pushing towards fiscal growth. The sustained buoyancy in GST has now come across as a major relief and should prove helpful. Equity markets spiked as soon as the FM’s speech ended which is a reflection of positive sentiment. A major boost to healthcare, education, infrastructure, R&D and innovation is provided. It is a pro-active budget and not a reactive one aimed to boost India’s self-confidence,” said Yakshi Panjwani, who works with a reputed bank in Ranchi.
“The budget announced seems to boost the businesses in India along with making them more accountable. It has also focused on promotion of startups through tax reliefs as they will create employment opportunities in the country. The proposal for creating a portal for gig and platform workers, providing safe working environment to women and ensuring social security to them is a great step. Being a rural development professional, I think the increase in allocation for rural infrastructure development will shed the burden on the agriculture sector in rural areas,” said Aiushi Singh, a rural management student at XISS Ranchi.
Ranchi based businessman Nilesh Agrawal was elated once the budget was declared. “I absolutely love the extension of the ‘Tax Holiday Period’ for startups and it’s good to know that senior citizens post 75 years on pension or on interest income will now not have to file tax. Relaxations on the compliance for small companies make me super happy as it reduces my tax filing hassles. I am also to know that the dividend tax is now exempted from TDS. Overall, it’s a very positive declaration and even the stock exchange is relishing the announcement,” said Agarwal.
“Budget 2021 seems to be a budget with no bad news and that may probably be the reason why the sensex surged by 2000+ points. So far as direct tax proposals are concerned, though there are not much changes in tax rates which would impact a common man but there are many procedural changes such as relief to senior citizens for filing their tax return. In certain situation reduction in time limits of re- assessment will give an early sigh of relief to taxpayers. Disposal of cases at Appellate Tribunal level has also been made faceless which will again reduce human intervention,” said Aditya Shah a Ranchi based Chartered Accountant.
“The budget this year is meant to sustain the economy in the current adverse situation. The government needs funds, but it hasn’t increased the liabilities on the common man which shows that the government understands that the people are also short of funds and are trying to sustain their families. The fiscal deficit as mentioned by the Finance Minister stood at 9.5 percent in the financial year 2020-21 and is estimated to be at 6.8 percent in 2021-22. This shows the government’s confidence and commitment towards raising the economy even during this pandemic,” said a City based recruiter Sakshi Choudhary.