Being pro-rural is not anti-industry: Dheeraj Gupta MD, Jumboking

The third budget of the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was a very pragmatic one. A nation needs a strong foundation to build on- this budget is incisive and has surprisingly, dug deep into the country's problems in great detail.

It has given priority to the fiscal discipline and highlighted the growth pillars of the Indian economy in Agriculture, Rural, Social sector, Skills, Ease of Doing Business and Tax and Compliance reforms.

Unemployed youth, and disparity in income and opportunities, between rural and urban India, are twin ticking time bombs, and need to be addressed on priority. The budget has definitely shown the intent to do that.We have to skill rural India, offer 100% electricity and make India digitally literate. There were also welcome announcements like household gas for women who are inhaling 'chula smoke.

The higher education financing initiative should be able to deal with the capitation fee issue, which plagues the ambitions of the middle class students.



While Indian retail has been waiting for the GST announcements for a very long time, there was some good news in this budget for the development of the back-end infrastructure.

1 A common E-market platform under the Unified Agricultural Market Scheme to be developed in 585 regulated wholesale markets, should provide a level playing field for farmers. 2 The decision by the government to allow up to 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) through FIPB in marketing of food products produced and manufactured in India may actually bring in stronger procedures that focus on reducing wastage and encouraging industry to ‘make in India.’ 3 Im happy that infrastructure has got a major emphasis in Budget 2016, with a total outlay of Rs 2,18,00 crore being earmarked for roads and railways together in FY17. This is the backbone of any logistical operation.



I believe that industry looks forward to the creation of opportunity uniformly across the country. So, being pro-rural is not anti-industry. Initiatives like setting up ATMs in post offices are the obvious, but never been done. Thats a big thumbs up for financial inclusion. Right now, most business are aiming for the 30-40% of India pie, thats either urban or semi-urban. The need to develop rural markets, both in terms of growth as well as opportunity is a long term necessity.

(The article is authored by Dheeraj Gupta, MD Jumboking)
(Image credits: indiatimes)