Union Budget 2019: Here's how India Inc reacted to Nirmala Sitharaman's budget

"At the outset, the Union Budget 2019 is an incremental and positive one focusing on the all-round development of the Indian economy. The primary focus has been towards reversing the weakening growth, boosting domestic and foreign investments, rapid infrastructure building and also at creating a conducive business environment for start-ups and entrepreneurship.

In particular, the Government’s plan to build a supportive ecosystem for manufacturing green energy technologies as well as initiatives for clean water, we believe, is a step taken in the right direction to create and build a clean and green nation. Further, with India set to become a 3 trillion dollar economy this year, we believe the Government has undertaken positive steps and reforms to promote growth and development of the economy, in the years to come," Pramod Chaudhari, Executive Chairman, Praj Industries India said.

. "With labor also forming a key component of the retail sector, the replacement of multiple labor laws into a set of four labor codes will streamline processes, ensure standardize and ensure uniformity towards operations. They will provide security, better industrial relations and above all better health and working conditions for workers, who are the very backbone of what this industry has based its foundation on."

Honorable Finance Minister made some relevant points related to the tax polices, one of the biggest highlights seen today was the widening of the lower tax slab, that now extends to companies with an annual turnover of Rs. 400 crore. This is highly important for the corporate sector as it will now cover as much as of all companies. With most of these companies facing hindrances with respect to their tax rates, this is a welcome boon to the industry as they will be able to operate in a more seamless manner," Vipul Mathur, CEO, MUFTI said.

. “The Budget lays down a vision for the next five years while staying rightly focussed on completion of the already initiated policy changes. It also signals the government’s commitment towards fiscal consolidation. The steps to shore up the financial sector via PSU bank recapitalisation, partial credit support to financially sound NBFCs and change in regulator for HFCs are key positives, in my view. The measures to serve the interest of various sectors - MSMEs, affordable housing and underprivileged segments like retail traders - are much needed and welcome. The announcements like further liberalisation of the foreign investment regime, issuance of sovereign Dollar bonds, deepening of long-term bond markets, rationalisation of labour laws, focus on infrastructure investment are steps in the right direction. On balance, the Budget would help boost the medium-term growth potential of the economy.”Zarin Daruwala, CEO, India, Standard Chartered Bank said.

. "There are no major measures were announced in the budget for the consumer durables sector. The customs duty of 20% on imported Air Conditioners has been done last year and it will not have much impact on the sector. The capitalization of Banks and measures to revive NBFCs should spur the demand from consumers which has seen dip when the whole NBFC crisis had hit the market. Overall the spend in infrastructure should follow the private investment, which should accelerate the growth in the country," Vijay Mansukani, Managing Director, Mirc Electronics Ltd. (Onida) said.

. "Hon'ble Finance Minister has presented a growth-oriented budget incorporating various reforms likely to be undertaken during the 5 year period. The fiscal deficit has been contained at 3.3%. Steps taken to increase liquidity by way of inducing capital in banks and making funds available to NBFC, coupled with higher infrastructure investments should help in revival of the growth without causing an inflationary effect. The budget has laid its special emphasis on the construction of affordable housing, moving towards electrical vehicles, labour reforms, the incentive for startups and expanding the bond and debt markets are other notable features. On the whole it's a forward looking budget and will help in revival of growth,"Anand Rathi, Chairman, Anand Rathi Financial Services Ltd said.

. “As champion for independent business, we welcome the Budget 2019’s focus on ease of business, improving livelihoods and spurring job creation at the ground level. The proposal to streamline multiple labour laws in four labour codes is an important step towards the much awaited labour reforms.

MSMEs and start-ups have a big role in creating mass employment generation and value creation as India sets course to be a US$ 5 trillion economy. Pension benefit cover of Rs 3000 p.m will allow small kirana store owners and traders to reinvest money they were setting aside for their future security into growing their business. Further, loans of upto Rs 1 lakh for MSMEs and Rs 350 cr. outlay under the interest subvention schemes will ease the much needed credit flow to the sector.

Measures like setting up new livelihood and technology business incubators to develop 75,000 skilled entrepreneurs in agro-rural industries; and 10,000 new farmer producer organisations and the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) scheme for fisherman will improve rural livelihood.”Arvind Mediratta, CEO and MD Metro Cash & Carry said.

. "The focus on new-age skilling and the job market throws light on potential job creation in several key sectors of the economy such as infrastructure, real estate, MSMEs and aviation. The formalization of the MSME sector, proposed by the government, coupled with the increased investment will see the emergence of more white and blue collar jobs.

With the government’s announcement of policies and initiatives for MSMEs in terms of financial support and technology adoption, ‘discovery’ should be a primary focus area for these companies. As the market grows larger, helping job seekers identify their ideal jobs, as well as connecting these companies with their potential workforce is becoming increasingly imperative.

As the government stresses on laying focus on new-age digital skills, it will be beneficial for MSMEs to build a strong digital presence and build their employer brand online in order to reach the new age job seeker. In all, if the learning deficit is addressed through the proposed National educational policy; the youth are made more employable by addressing talent requirements and new-age skilling, and entrepreneurship is adequately fuelled with the support of the implementation of the new Budgets’ proposals, job creation across sectors would witness a positive boost.” Sashi Kumar, Managing Director, Indeed India said.

. “I welcome the government’s move to shift regulation of housing finance companies to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as it would infuse greater stability and provide policy support to addressing issues of lack of liquidity. The proposal of providing Rs 70,000 crore for recapitalisation of public sector banks will also enable them to lend more to the sector,” says Ravindra Sudhalkar, ED & CEO, Reliance Home Finance.

“Policy reforms to promote affordable housing have been consistent and proposals in this year’s budget in allowing tax deduction by another Rs 1.5 lakh to home buyers of affordable housing will enable more middle-class families to invest in their own homes. Overall a good budget for HFCs and home buyers.”

. "ANMI would like to thank the Finance Minister for restricting the STT to the difference between the settlement and strike price of options. We would request her to also consider the reintroduction of erstwhile Section 88E.so that professional share traders are not taxed twice once at STT stage and then on their incomes at the maximum marginal rate.This will also give the desired fillip to the volumes in share markets increasing government revenue.

ANMI appreciates the measures announced to deepen the long term bond market as well as raise funds from foreign investors which has resulted in the reduction of bond yields,"Vijay Bhushan, President, ANMI said.

. "We share and commend the idea of the Honorable Finance Minister towards taking capital market closure to common people and introducing the concept of social stock exchange for social welfare schemes under the able guidance of capital market regulator SEBI. As we know, the financial market provides an instrument and platform for raising capital through equity, debt, and bonds. However, debt and bonds market is yet to achieve a desirable level and budget is aimed at infusing strength through various reform measures. The government continued with its focus on improving physical connectivity (Through road, rail, air, seas, and inland water) and recognizing the role of public-private partnership in bringing funds towards giving further thrust for speedy infrastructure buildup,"Sanjeet Prasad, MD & CEO, ICEX said.

. "With a focus on macro development and reforms, the budget is a good attempt at kickstarting economic growth over the next five years. The integrated approach to the management of our water resources will ensure optimizing the use of these resources for the benefit of all. The target of providing drinking water to every house through the Har Ghar Jal program by 2024 under the Jal Jivan mission is very critical considering that water shortage is fast becoming a big concern," Sanjay Kirloskar - Chairman and Managing Director of Kirloskar Brothers Limited (KBL).

. "We are glad that the government is trying to address the burgeoning problem of pollution in India as a clean environment and surroundings are a must for healthy and strong India of the future. We would have been really happy if the government would have been able to give some benefits or tax relief to environment-conscious startups who are trying to push the eco-friendly products in the market. Government's assistance could make the eco-friendly products go mainstream thus helping to curb the pollution related to plastic waste which is one of the most threatening sources of pollution in India, "Rishu Gandhi, Founder & Head Brand Strategist, Mother Sparsh said.

. "It comes as a relief that the government has come up with the affordable housing scheme where with the reduction in housing loan interest rate, the housing industry will surely grow in leaps and bounds. From an industrial perspective, housing industry largely influences the demand for mattresses and hence we are extremely positive that the current budget will help to increase the demand for mattresses which will greatly benefit the industry," Ashutosh Vaidya, CMO, Kurl-on said.

. “In Budget 2019, there is an incremental thrust on infrastructure upgradation, job creation and digital economy, clearly the key tenets for the year 2019-20.Strategic thinking and an elaborate development of the 10-point agenda announced early in the year are evident in this budget. Job creation and re-skilling created a lot of stir last year. By introducing industry-relevant skills training for 10 million youth under the Kaushal Vikas Yojana, the government is clearly addressing the pressing issues in the country. The IT industry, for its part, is geared to partner with the government to enable skills training in Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, big data analytics, 3D printing, virtual reality and robotics — highly valued skills within and outside the country.

Reforms in higher education and research, and the proposal to make India an electric car manufacturing hub, the focus on building infrastructure, efforts to widen the tax net and incentives for start-ups are other highlights of this budget.

The broad narrative continues to be pro-economy, pro-development, simplifying taxation and encouraging transparency. It instils faith in the government’s intent to take along every section of the population to a promising present and future,” Keshav R. Murugesh, Chairman, NASSCOM & Group CEO, WNS said.

. "Income tax benefit of up to Rs1.5L on interest paid for electric vehicle loans is a positive boost for electric vehicle manufacturers - Olectra Infra, Ashok Leyland and M&M,"Mayur Milak - Research Analyst,IndiaNivesh Securities Limited, said.

. “The Rs. 700 billion recap is likely to be further topped up once RBI reserves transfer becomes clear. The recap along with a likely decline in the NPAs would mean PSB Tier 1 ratios shall push up adjusted Tier 1 ratios meaningfully. A kick-start in the lending cycle among PSBs shall happen,”Ravikant Bhat - Research Analyst,IndiaNivesh Securities Limited, said.

. "FDI is generally required for Capital Intensive Industries or Technology heavy Industry. Insurance Intermediation is a consultancy and service Industry wherein the capital requirement is very minuscule. For example, To become an Agent or Corporate Agent it requires a few thousand rupees, whereas to becomean Insurance Broker it requires a Capital of 75 lakhs to 500 lakhs for Direct and Composite Broker respectively.100% FDI will benefit the likes of E-commerce companies like Amazon, Paytm, Policy Bazaar, etc who will kill the small agents and intermediaries through pumping huge amount in technology and through huge discounts. This will further impact the Insurance Companies and put additional stress on their solvency margins.FDI will also allow MNC Broker to set up shop in India and existing Indian partners will get a rich exit. This will create additional pressure on the Indian Brokers who are part of the MSME sector which the Government is focussing on and would like to grow further. In fact,this will create a Reserve FDI wherein the money will flow out from the profits generated by these MNCs,"Sumit Bohra, Chief Executive Officer, IndiaNivesh Insurance Brokers Private Limited said.

. "The recommendation of increasing public participation from 25% to 35 %, expect the float of several more companies to increase in the next 2 years, leading to several INs and OUTs of the Nifty which is currently based on Free Float methodology. A lot of MNCs, Insurance companies and Consumer companies like DMart will stay in focus because of it. The Index will become more BFSI and Consumption heavy unless sectoral caps are brought in. This will also offer greater float in the market for institutional participation,"Vinay Pandit, Head - Institutional Equities, IndiaNivesh Securities Limited, said.

. “The budget is not very different from the interim budget even as market participants await fiscal deficit proposals.”

“Trade will be fluctuating. Until the fiscal deficit proposals are heard, one should not jump to conclusions,” Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities, said

. “The government has the primary focus on infrastructure building. However, we need to see what the cost and budgeting of the same will be,”Suvodeep Rakshit, Senior Economist, Kotak Institutional Equities, said

. “The proposed announcement to increase minimum shareholding threshold from 25% to 35% is a move to increase public participation in listed entities, thereby fortifying the fundamentals of governance.”

“One would need to evaluate once the fine print is available (as the FM mentioned that SEBI will be issuing the requisite circulars) as there would be some clarifications expected, including on grandfathering of existing situations, movement to the desired threshold,” Anil Talreja, Partner, Deloitte India, said

. “The move to increase minimum public shareholding for listed companies from 25% to 35% must be implemented carefully. Timing, applicability, etc (need) to be closely evaluated. We don’t want this to be another ‘forced sale’. (This is a) good opportunity for institutional capital and funds,”Vivek Gupta, Partner & National Head- M&A/PE Tax, KPMG, said.

. “The nominal GDP growth assumption is realistic and can be achieved with giving a boost to infrastructure. The economy has enough strength to achieve this growth rate, however, the risk to this forecast would be from a financial market turmoil, or an increase in commodity prices like oil which may result in a significant depreciation of the rupee.”

“The increase in public shareholding from 25% to 35% is a good step for deepening of capital markets. It also means that many companies will need to increase their public shareholding, mostly by selling of promoter stake or additional equity issuance. The requirement to meet 35% would result in companies needing to offer approximately 1 trillion rupees to the public.”

“The additional supply of equity should keep a lid on valuations, but in the longer term, (it) should help in getting more retail money in equity markets,”Rajiv Singh, CEO, Stock Broking, Karvy Hyderabad said.

. “Agriculture sector is a major employment generator in the country and is currently reeling under stress. Hence, Sitharaman’s focus on agriculture and rural sector is a welcome step.”

“Moreover, the proposals to make India an electric car manufacturing hub, large investment in quality higher education, focus on building infrastructure, efforts to widen tax net, incentives for start-ups etc. are big positives. She also proposed to provide 700 billion rupees for PSU bank recapitalisation and raised the disinvestment target to 1.05 trillion rupees, which will be taken positively by the market.”

“On the downside, the proposal to increase minimum public shareholding in listed companies to 35% could negatively impact some companies. If budgets in the coming years keep focusing on the right areas, the target of making India a $5-trillion economy in the next 5 years looks achievable.”

“There was widespread expectation of a stimulus to combat the current slowdown. The budget did not announce any stimulus. On the contrary, (it) raised some of the taxes. Also, fiscal deficit target for FY20 was revised down to 3.3%, which is surprising, ” Anagha Deodhar, Economist, ICICI Securities, Mumbai said.

. "While we need to await SEBI regulations regarding how much time will be given to these companies to meet with minimum public shareholding norms, the overhang of this requirement of off-loading of promoter shareholding can have a significant impact on the markets and the specific stocks. The regulator needs to provide sufficient time to meet this requirement so as to not over-flood the markets with stake sales by promoters,”Jagannadham Thunuguntla, Senior VP & Head of Research (Wealth), Centrum Broking Ltd, Mumbai

. “The budget strikes a reasonable balance between addressing the objective of inclusivity and laying the path for a $5-trillion economy by focusing on infrastructure spending, incentivising affordable housing, providing growth capital for PSU banks and signalling support for sound NBFCs.”

“Additional areas of spending have been created not at the cost of a higher fiscal deficit. The fiscal deficit has been reduced by 10 bps to 3.3% in FY20, which is heartening,”Garima Kapoor, Economist & Vice-president, Elara Capital said.

. “This budget is a mixed bag with a significant increase in taxation for the wealthy. Also, the increase in excise duty for petrol and diesel will stoke inflation.”

“On the positive side, reducing stake in PSUs and borrowing money in overseas markets is a good move. For NBFCs, some of their challenges are likely to be resolved as there is clear signaling from the government to increase credit lines by banks,”Abhimanyu Sofat, Head of Research, IIFL Securities Ltd, Mumbai.

. “I liked the progressive undertone of this budget, which is the need of the hour. Measures taken to increase the growth capital of PSBs and to address the funding crunch of sound NBFCs will put energy into important credit intermediaries.”

“What I am not comfortable with is the proposed sovereign bond issue, which has the potential to impact financial stability if financial stress event takes place,”Rupa Rege Nitsure, Chief Economist, L&T Financial Holdings, Mumbai said.

. “(It is) an improvement on the interim budget with a number of reasonably good proposals on disinvestment, bank recapitalisation and quite a substantial discount on affordable housing in taxes. Focus on affordable housing and infrastructure is noticeably higher compared to earlier budgets.”

“Commitment to restrict fiscal deficit at 3.30% compared to 3.40% is a good intent, but we need to look at the revenue assumptions more closely to draw more comfort. A partial dependence on external markets for government borrowings may help the government meet the borrowing targets, but the dynamics of currency management and its impact on yield movements should not be ignored,” said Joseph Thompson, Head of Research, Emkay Wealth Management, Mumbai.

. “Eagerly awaited budget post the overwhelming majority. We see this as a right step towards Realizing the dream of Startup India and other such initiatives. We are particularly excited and eagerly awaiting to see the details of the much needed and talked about Modern Tenancy Law proposed, which we envisage being a cornerstone in this new found co-living space. Push towards Study in India has the potential to augment the existing market and help gain better focus in the future. Consolidation and modernization of labour laws which shall help in ease of business is a welcome step. push towards Digital payments helps reduce costs while being a part in the govt initiative to move toward Digital India. Ease on angel tax laws was a much-awaited policy and a welcome step in this budget,”said Nikhil Sikri CEO & Founder, Zolo Stays.

. "We see multiple positive takeaways from this year's budget. The government, while adding greater impetus on digital adoption and infrastructure enhancement, has a positive outlook towards promising technologies including Artificial Intelligence and Big Data. It has recently announced the launch of National Artificial Intelligence Center and National AI Portal and now, in the Union Budget, has promised to build skill sets in ultramodern technologies such as AI, Big Data, and Robotics. The Government's technology-centric strategy is highly appreciable and we believe that favourable results will be visible in the near future,"KartikWalia, Head of Operations (India),Amplify.ai said.

. "The new Government's first Union Budget has perfectly balanced all essential parameters of our economic dynamics including infrastructure enhancement, skill development, job creation, and technological advancement. This has been done while also creating favourable environment for businesses and especially, tech-centric startup. We would specifically like to highlight the Government's strong focus on the Indigenous Research and Development with the establishment of National Research Foundation will promote indigenous technological development, particularly around globally scalable technologies such as ArtificialIntelligence, Big Data, and Robotics. We believe that this will pave the way for cutting-edge indigenous solutions and make India a technological epicenter in the international grandstand,"Atul Rai, CEO and Co-Founder of Staqu said.

. "The budget clearly focuses on increasing foreign fund inflows by increasing FDI limit in certain sectors like aviation and insurance, permitting increased FPI investment up to FDI sectoral cap, as against 24 percent currently, as well as permitting NBFCs, REITs and InvITs to raise foreign debt.

It would be interesting to see the extent and form of relaxation that is announced to local sourcing norms in relation to FDI in single brand retail. This relaxation would certainly encourage more foreign players to explore setting up stores in India,"Nitesh Mehta, Partner/Transaction Tax, Tax & Regulatory Services said.

. "Start-ups to witness tax planning, investment opportunities and regulatory discussions via TV channels set-up specifically for this sector. This will bolster new entrepreneurs to understand the tax & regulatory framework in India along with possible fundraising opportunities -Sohrab Bararia, Associate Partner/ Indirect Taxsaid.

. "Standardisation of laws subsequent to the streamlining into 4 labour codes, is expected to reduce litigation and disputes, "Jiger Saiya, Partner/ Tax & Regulatory Services said.

. "Increasing FDI limits in sectors like aviation & insurance is a huge positive since these sectors are highly capital intensive and a constant request by India Inc.,"Rajesh Thakkar, Partner/ Transaction Tax, Tax & Regulatory Services said.

. "By allowing FII's and FPI's to invest in debt papers of NBFC's will create and give a boost to the much-needed liquidity to the NBFC's. This may eventually help ease out the liquidity crisis in the Real estate sector among other business”, saidSuresh Castellino, Executive National Director, Capital Markets & Investment Services at Colliers International India said.

. "The Government’s commitment to Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) such as Delhi-Meerut, as well as suburban and metro connectivity across the country will provide an impetus to transit-oriented developments (ToDs) across the country. These ToDs are emerging as prominent hubs for commercial, retail, coworking and entertainment-oriented developments, which also become a source of PPP revenue for the Government to fund such large infrastructure projects”, sharesAashish Agarwal, Senior Director, Valuation & Advisory Services at Colliers International India said.

. "The proposed announcement of the increase in minimum shareholding threshold from 25% to 35% is a move to increase public participation in listed entities thereby fortifying the fundamentals of Governance. One would need to evaluate once the fine print is available ( as the FM mentioned that SEBI will be issuing the requisite circulars) as there would be some clarifications expected including on grandfathering of existing situations, the movement to the desired threshold," Anil Talreja, Partner, Deloitte India said.

. "The Modi government in its 2.0 avatar promises to move from one nation one tax, one nation one card, to one nation and one grid. The Modi government in its 2ndterm has embarked upon a journey with a mantra to reform, perform and transform, "Gunjan Prabhakaran, Partner/ Indirect Tax, BDO India, said.

. "Measures announced by the FM for water management would go a long way in an area that requires an urgent fix. The mission of Har Ghar Jal by 2024 is laudatory," Pranay Bhatia, Partner, BDO India said.

. "Apart from the sustained thrust on infrastructure, the reforms announced for sectors such as insurance and capital markets will immensely boost investments and the financial sector in India,"Suraj Malik, Partner/ Transaction Tax, BDO India said.

. "The proposal to let FIIs and FPIs invest in debt securities issued by NBFC would provide a much-needed boost of capital to a sector now starving of capital; an important prop to several sectors, particularly, real estate and automobile which are reeling for lack of finance to purchasers/buyers,"Milind Kothari, Managing Partner, BDO India, Partner & Head, Tax & Regulatory Services said.

. "Hopefully, this will give some relief to those FPIs who were otherwise skeptical in sharing some of their KYC details and were, therefore, shying away from the Indian securities markets. Devil will, however, be in the details of such relaxed norms,"Yogesh Chande, Partner, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co said.

. "Historically speaking, India has been a promoter-driven market and increasing the threshold will ensure wider ownership through institutional investors, more market depth, better price discovery and hopefully will enhance the corporate governance standards.

This will potentially also be a concern of several listed companies with promoter shareholding at around 75% e.g. MNCs. Promoters of such companies may want to explore options to delist such companies, unless they are fine with increasing the public shareholding by another 10%. At 65% promoter shareholding, it will also be an additional hurdle to be crossed by a promoter, if a promoter was to attempt delisting i.e. reaching 90% through the book building route from 65%, then from 75%.

The number of "OFS through stock exchange mechanism" will perhaps increase to dilute the promoter shareholding from 75% to 65%, as it is one of the fastest and cheapest ways to dilute promoters shareholding, as compared to other modes available to increase the public shareholding"Yogesh Chande, Partner, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co said.

Union Budget 2019: Here's how India Inc reacted to Nirmala Sitharaman's budget

On focusing all-round development of the Indian economy

On simplifying labour laws

On budget's five year vision

On capitalization of Banks and measures to revive NBFCs

On presenting growth oriented budget

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