Post Budget Reactions From Some Of The Top Corporate Honchos In India

The first budget speech by Arun Jaitley seems to have gone down well with the masses. There was something for everyone, but were hoping for few extra subsidies and tax relaxation. While some disagree, some do believe that the new government will try to take the country to newer heights. Here is what the top heads of the corporate world in India have to say about the Indian Budget 2014.

Puneet Chaddha, CEO, HSBC Global Asset Management, India.
"This is a budget that focuses on Speed, Scale and Skill. Speed - the push is for quick and time bound decisions, Scale - there is a lot of emphasis on improvement and more importantly expansion of infrastructure across a wider geography and Skill - the effort is to improve the capability of individuals at the rural/small scale level to make them self-sustained."

Praveen Rajpal, CEO, Rockstand
“The Union Budget 2014 is an optimistic move by the government for the entire IT and telecom industry. We welcome the recent developments and applaud the government’s decision to support start-ups especially in the Technology and software space. The government’s decision to support start-ups through incubation centres will propel young entrepreneurs to initiate private ventures and reinvest in the nation’s economy. The government decision to allocate separate funds to support various e-governance projects and to uplift the education system across the country is a great move.”

Mr. Madhavan Menon, Managing Director, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd.
“We truly applaud the Government’s delivery of its pro-tourism strategic vision via the Budget 2014 announcement of eVisas at 9 key airports- at once bringing Destination India into the spotlight, as also creating an immediate window of opportunity for the upcoming inbound season. The multiplier impact will empower allied businesses connect, both directly and indirectly with the tourism industry and we look forward to swift and effective implementation. “

Pramod Saxena, Founder, Chairman & Managing Director, Oxigen
"The budget sets out a clear direction for growth with minimum scope for speculation and changes. The financial inclusion agenda gets a boost with the proposal for setting up of differenciated banks /payment banks. Acceptance of aadhaar and low cost cash out infrastructure, will make the payment bank a reality and we will look to government"s acceptance of this as an essential infrastructure to support investment in this sector. Further emphasis on automation /ITES in the budget, will open up opportunities in the mobile application and mobile wallet usage."

Ravi Swaminathan – Managing Director, AMD India & VP (Sales & Marketing) AMD South Asia.
“We welcome the announcement for the IT sector, the budget looks very pragmatic and realistic. The government has pledged to support the growth of domestic information technology capabilities in both hardware and software, focused on enabling the timely delivery of citizen services and creating new jobs opportunities, especially in rural areas."