Bhubaneswar: As the elections close in, the Centre, that will be presenting its interim Budget Friday, is expected to launch major taxation policies to woo the middle class that comprise of about 40% of the vote bank.
In a first, the budget will be presented by Piyush Goyal, the Interim Finance Minister. Goyal, who presently is given an additional charge, has replaced Arun Jaitley who is reportedly getting treated at the US for a kidney ailment.
Apart from the experts in the central government, denizens of the Capital city are eagerly awaiting the Budget. Orissa POST shares opinions from different sectors of the society about their expectations from the upcoming Budget.
Real Estate
Introduced in 2016 the Real Estate Regulatory Act (RERA) was introduced to boost infrastructure and protect interests of home buyers.
To this, Pradeep Mallick, Marketing Head at Bivap Developers says, “The rollout of 12 per cent GST in RERA has led to a negative growth in real estate in past two years. If the Budget reduces it to 5 per cent, it will help boost the market. However, the investors should be allowed to claim the difference in the GST.”
Senior Citizens
The Centre shifted the income tax slab from Rs 2 Lakhs to Rs 2.5 lakhs in 2014 and income tax deduction under 80C was increased to Rs. 1.5 lakh.
Prafulla Kumar Panda a retired government officer states, “The Budget should look into the tax rate exemptions for senior citizens. The tax limit should be increased to Rs 5 Lakhs and income tax deduction under 80C should be increased to Rs 2.5 lakhs. That will give benefits to senior citizens of Rs 12,500 per annum.”
Start-ups
With about 356 registered statups in 20 months, Odisha is growing at a staggering rate. It generates revenue worth Rs. 40 crore.
However, Prasanta Biswal, evangelist of Startup Odisha suggests, “The initial establishment of the startups in the state and in the country is promising but the governments need to ensure that it benefits in the long run. The Budget should focus on the ecosystem. It should allocate funds towards artificial intelligence and research and development.
Banking Sector
Increasing Non Profit Assets (NPA) in public banks and amalgamations has led the sector grappling with constant financial imbalance.
Bijay Das, manager at the Central Bank here says, “The Budget can look for ways of infusing fresh capital to the sector. NPAs lead to major losses. Allocation of funds to these accounts could work wonders to the public banks.”
Meanwhile, students and teachers from the city have also expressed concern over the government’s policies for agriculture and for the poor and marginalised.
“The Budget should focus on structural reforms. Lower interest loans for women self-help groups should be provided. The core sectors of Health, Social and Education should also be strengthened. The business environment of our country is improving gradually. The Budget of 2019-20 must empower micro, small and medium enterprises,” said Sweekruti Panda student at UTKAL university.
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