Budget reactions from top honchos

Following are the highlights of comments by industry leaders on the Union Budget 2015—16:

~ Hinduja Group Global Chairman S P Hinduja : The Budget highlights a clear roadmap for placing the country on a double digit growth trajectory in the medium term.

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Bharti Enterprises Vice Chairman and MD Rajan Bharti Mittal : I think the budget has led to ease of doing business in the country.

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Godrej Group Chairman, Adi Godrej: The announcement to reduce the corporate tax over the next four years to 25% is a very welcome one.

~ ITC Ltd Chairman Y C Deveshwar : The FM has taken comprehensive steps in the budget to address the core issues of fostering growth with equity, boosting investments and creating jobs over the medium to long term.

~ TCS CEO & MD N Chandrasekaran : The Finance Minister has delivered a bold, far sighted budget that will help raise the country’s profile as an investment destination.

~ Essar Oil MD & CEO LK Gupta : The finance minister has not addressed many of our genuine expectations. We wanted the government to remove basic custom duty on imported natural gas, currently at 5 per cent as it is an inverted duty.

~ Walmart India President & CEO Krish Iyer : “Looking holistically, the Budget presented by the Finance Minister Mr.

Jaitley is reformist and growth oriented.

~ Apollo Hospitals Chairman PC Reddy : Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has unveiled a stable budget that will improve the overall sentiment for the economy...From a healthcare perspective, we were expecting a higher allocation to this critical sector, but that has not happened.

~ Suzlon Group Chairman Tulsi Tanti : We welcome this budget as it is positive, growth oriented and puts forth realistic roadmap to attain sustainable economic growth.

~ Maruti Suzuki Chairman RC Bhargava : The auto sector will grow only if economy grows, if jobs are created. So if we look at the sentiments prevailing in the country today, I will rate this budget as positive.

~ Hero MotoCorp Jt. MD Sunil Kant Munjal : It is hard to find fault with what he (Jaitley) has done. There are many positive moves, some big ones and some small ones.

~ Bajaj Auto Chairman Rahul Bajaj : I am very happy about the stringent provision relating to 10 year jail term for blackmoney holders.

~ Dabur India CEO Sunil Duggal : The minister has presented an inclusive and balanced Budget that seeks to put Indian Economy on a faster growth trajectory.

~ GE South Asia President & CEO Banmali Agrawala: With a much higher share of revenue now being given to the states in this Budget, there is a need to ensure that the states spend the money judiciously and there is better coordination between various states and between the states and the center.

~ Siemens MD & CEO Sunil Mathur : With the Budget, the Government seems inclined to follow its bold path of building infrastructure and improve ease of doing business.

~ Tata Chemicals MD R Mukundan : The Finance Minister has set the direction for a balanced and inclusive growth emphasising on increasing agricultural productivity, farm income, increasing investment in infrastructure, manufacturing maintaining fiscal discipline as well as raising social spend.

~ Adani Group Chairman Gautam S Adani : This budget is focused on ease of doing business, Make in India, infrastructure, social sectors. Introduction of GST from 1 April 2016 will definitely rejuvenate the industry and make manufacturing more competitive.