Mixed reactions were witnessed at a talk on the union Budget 2012-13 organised by The Hindu Business Line Club in association with PCS Securities Ltd at P B Siddhartha College of Arts and Science here on Tuesday. The Budget generated a huge interest among management students who came up with interesting questions on inflation and black money.
The Budget was insipid with no outstanding decisions, said Mr N. Parthasarathy, a senior bank official.
On income-tax proposals, Mr Parathasarathy said retrospective amendment would do harm to the business environment.
Mr K Ajay Kumar, Income-Tax Commissioner, felt the Budget reflected the aspirations of industry and the people. He also said that taxes were necessary to fund the growth plans of the country.
Mr P. Bala Subrahmanyam, Research Head of PCS Securities Ltd, expressed the view that money would flow into stock market if bank interest rates were lowered. He also advised students and investors to go for systematic and planned investments into stock markets for long-term gains.
He cited examples of how early investors in companies such as Wipro gained crores of rupees over a period of time.
Mr J.S.R.K. Prasad, Chief Executive Officer of Better Castings and former Chairman of CII's Vijayawada Chapter, said initiatives such as National Skill Development Fund with an allocation of Rs.1,000 crore would help the industry in tapping employable persons. It would also drive newer investment opportunities.
The College MBA Department HOD, Mr Rajesh C. Jampala, said people expected that allocations to education would be more than Rs 1 lakh crore. However, they were pegged at Rs 65,000 crore. Notwithstanding, the allocations, efforts should be made to increase the average schooling years to compete with economies such as China, he said.
The audience was also critical on many aspects, including cut in subsidies on fuel, and concessions for investments in stock markets. At a time when governments worldwide were trying to control stock market volatility, the Finance Minister offered concessions for investments in stock market. It is likely to fuel the speculations, they felt.
The event was moderated by Mr K.V. Kurmanath, Senior Assistant Editor of Business Line , Hyderabad. The Siddhartha Academy Secretary, Mr N. Venkateswarlu, The Hindu Regional General Manager, Mr K. Chandrasekharan, Regional Manager (Circulation), and others were present.