Lauding the budget, Devendra Parekh, President, Vidarbha Economic Development Council (VED), appreciated the inclusive budget, touching all income groups, sections of society, and businesses through this comprehensive budget. He said that this budget takes pride in being an Indian and covers, as it does, all aspects of Indian society within its framework. The country is experiencing growth in the quality of life of the citizens, and there is a marked efficiency in the delivery by the government. A 7 lakh limit for no taxation is a welcome step, and minimum leakages in GST and IT due to digitalization have also made a big difference to revenues.
More specifically, the contribution of 11 lakh crores (3.4% of the GDP) in infrastructure will lead to the creation of employment opportunities and be a big filip to industrial activity. The emphasis on the creation of railway economic corridors would mean a drastic reduction in logistics costs and greatly enhanced efficiency in logistics, enabling a desired level of competition with China. In the railway arena itself, 40,000 bogies being converted to the Vande Bharat type of bogies would create economic opportunities and offer greater travel comfort for travelers.
Rating tourism centers, that is, tourism destinations, is a very desirable step in the right direction. Infrastructure improvement in such centers will foster a competitive spirit in the people of other similar destinations, leading to the improvement of the tourism infrastructure of their own cities and centers.
However, according to Parekh, a few points that could have been covered are that an income tax on agriculture should have been introduced. There are a lot of farmers with high incomes from the agriculture sector who should be brought into the tax regime. Also, in the railway sector, new trains should have been introduced on the popular passenger routes on a pan-India basis.