25 February 2023 | B W BUSINESSWORLD | 93 boost private investment expenditure. It comes as a surprise that the effect of these growth stimuli is not reflected in GoI’s assumption of the underlying nominal growth of 10.5 per cent for 2023-24. The budget has not taken a call as to the decomposition of this nominal growth between its real growth and inflation components. Using information available from the RBI, the estimated Consumer Price Index (CPI) in the first half of 2023-24 stands at 5.2 per cent. As per RBI’s Professional Forecaster’s Survey, CPI and Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation are projected at 5.2 per cent and 4.8 per cent respectively for the full year of 2023-24. This may imply an implicit price deflator (IPD)-based inflation of close to 5 per cent. This level of IPD-based inflation in conjunction with the nominal growth of 10.5 per cent implies a real growth of 5.2 per cent in 2023-24. Thus, as compared to 2022-23, there is a significant fall both in nominal growth of 4.9 per cent points and in real growth, of 1.8 per cent points. Fiscal Consolidation According to the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act, broader economy. The central and state fiscal deficits considered together may be estimated at 9.4 per cent of GDP in 2023-24. Available financial savings of the household sector amount to about 8 per cent of GDP. Adding to this, the current account deficit of nearly 2.5 per cent of GDP, total investible resources to the tune of 10.5 per cent of GDP would be available. From this, if the government alone draws 9.4 per cent, the balance of only 1.1 per cent would be available for the private sector and the non-government public sector. With such pre-emptive claims by the government on the limited investible resources, an environment of interest rate reduction and stimulus to private investment would become considerably difficult. Unless private investment takes off, it may be difficult to boost growth by the government’s effective demand alone. The government’s final consumption expenditure and gross capital formation, is estimated at about 15 per cent in 2022-23. This is a very small component of total domestic demand in the system. Global Headwinds The government has recognised the potential detrimental impact of the ongoing global economic slowdown. The IMF, in its January 2023 projections, has indicated a global growth of only 2.9 per cent in 2023. This is likely to have an adverse impact on India’s net exports. However, an expected fall in global crude prices is likely to favour India. Largely owing to this fall, the budget has provided for a substantive reduction in major subsidies which are budgeted to fall from Rs 5.2 lakh crore in 2022-23 (revised estimate) to Rs 3.7 lakh crore in 2023-24, a fall of 28.2 per cent. Such a major fall in subsidies would not be sustainable if the fall in global crude prices turns out to be much less than expected. as amended in 2018, the GoI is mandated to take appropriate steps to limit its fiscal deficit to 3 per cent of GDP by March 31, 2021. If there is a deviation, the GoI is required to explicitly state the reasons for it. In the medium-term fiscal policy cum strategy statement, the GoI has attributed this deviation to external economic conditions. For this reason, the GoI has also not provided the medium-term GDP growth forecasts that it is required to do under this Act. Furthermore, the GoI has also not indicated the year by which it envisages reaching a fiscal deficit level of 3 per cent of GDP. Instead, it has indicated that a level of 4.5 per cent of GDP would be reached by 2025-26. This would call for a steeper adjustment of 0.7 per cent points each in the next two years as compared to the correction of only 0.5 per cent points in 2023-24. From the fiscal deficit level of 5.9 per cent of GDP in 2023-24 (BE), an average annual reduction of 0.5 per cent points each year would imply that another six years would be required to reach back to the FRBM-mandated level. There are serious implications of a high government fiscal deficit for the Photograph by AlexImx
94 | B W BUSINESSWORLD | 25 February 2023 UNION BUDGET 23-24 HE UNION BUDGET for FY24 was a special one coming as it did before the General Elections in 2024. The budget has been drafted keeping in mind the primary goal of attainment of the fiscal deficit ratio of 4.5 per cent by FY26. To this end, the starting point has been reduction in fiscal deficit ratio by 0.5 per cent to 5.9 per cent for the forthcoming year. This will mean a deficit of Rs 17.86 lakh crore, which is almost the same as that of last year (Rs 17.55 lakh crore). The net borrowing of the government at Rs 11.8 lakh crore will ensure that there is no undue pressure on liquidity in the system. This is important today as there is a tendency for liquidity in the system being compressed presently and the markets were closely watching this number with interest. The fact that the bond yields came down post budget announcement vindicates the fact that the fiscal arithmetic has gone down well with the market. How has this been achieved? On the revenue side the budget assumes GDP growth of 10.5 per cent which also gets reflected in growth of both direct and indirect taxes. Therefore, in a way, the budget has been conservative with revenue projections. This makes sense in these uncertain times. There can COLUMN T Balancing Numbers The budget has been drafted keeping in mind the primary goal of attainment of the fiscal deficit ratio of 4.5 per cent by FY26. To this end, the starting point has been reduction in fiscal deficit ratio by 0.5 per cent to 5.9 per cent for the forthcoming year. This will mean a deficit of Rs 17.86 lakh crore, which is almost the same as that of last year (Rs 17.55 lakh crore) By Madan Sabnavis, Chief Economist, Bank of Baroda
25 February 2023 | B W BUSINESSWORLD | 95 hence be a surprise if things work out better. While doing this, relief has been provided to the income tax payers with the new scheme being made more attractive. There has not been any change in the corporate tax structure though for new companies some incentives have been provided. Therefore, the numbers look realistic. On the indirect taxes front, the customs duties have been changed – either increased or decreased depending on the products. The interpretation: giving a push to the user industries (where duty is reduced) and offering some kind of protection (when raised). This need not be looked as a revenue garnering measure. The GST rates are anyway outside the purview of the budget. The government has not changed the excise duties on fuel which is significant as it means we continue paying the same price on petrol and diesel. On the non-tax revenue side, the interesting thing is that lower returns through dividend are expected from the banking sector and this is because the RBI will not be transferring large surpluses. There are expectations that the non-bank PSUs would also provide a healthy flow of dividend. This needs to be seen in the backdrop of corporate profitability remaining under pressure in FY23. With the economy slowing down from 7 per cent to say 6.5 per cent in FY24 (as per the Economic Survey) there would be moderation in profits growth too. The budget has been sanguine on the disinvestment front once again with a target of Rs 61,000 crore being placed which includes Rs 10,000 crore of asset monetisation proceeds. Here it needs to be seen if this amount can be garnered as it has been observed that progressively as the low hanging fruits are plucked the ability to push through disinvestment becomes tougher. The budget however once again places high hopes here. Rationalising Numbers The budget has worked dexterously on the expenditure side. As a growth stimulus the Capex part of the budget has been enhanced to Rs 10 lakh crore (Rs 8.7 lakh crore if transfers to states are excluded). How has this been made possible? The answer: the budget has reviewed all outlays and seeks to rationalise some of them. The subsidy bill, for example, has been lowered. The food subsidy bill has been lowered from Rs 2.25 lakh crore to Rs 1.75 lakh crore which releases around Rs 50,000 crore. For fertiliser subsidy the reduction is around Rs 90,000 crore. Therefore, this combined savings of Rs 1.40 lakh crore helps to finance the incremental Capex. The logic for these reductions is straightforward. Global commodity prices have eased of late. The higher fertiliser subsidy was necessitated by higher price of imports. In fact, in FY23, the government raised the outlay from a budgeted amount of Rs 1.05 lakh crore to Rs 2.25 lakh crore. With prices coming down, it is possible to rationalise this amount to Rs 1.75 lakh crore. In case of food subsidy, the bill rose from Rs 2.07 lakh crore to Rs 2.87 lakh crore last year due to the extension of the free food scheme. Now by rationalising the same and merging the free food scheme with the Public Distribution System (PDS), the outlay has been lowered. These two increases last year were of contingent nature which will hopefully not be repeated in FY24. Along with these two cuts, the NREGA outlay has been lowered based on similar rationale from Rs 89,400 crore to Rs 60,000 crore in FY24. Hence there have been savings invoked in another critical area. Hence it can be seen that considerable effort has gone in drawing up a feasible budget while keeping a keen eye on the fiscal deficit ratio. A further roll back in subsidy elements (granted due to the pandemic, Ukraine war) is also possible as we move ahead. Keeping the PM-Kisan allocation unchanged means the budget has steered clear of any kind of populism. Photograph by Eabff
96 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 25 February 2023 Photographs by Suresh Gola INTERVIEW
25 February 2023 | B W BUSINESSWORLD | 97 “INDIA’S REFORM AGENDA WILL ENSURE ITS PLACE IN GLOBAL VALUE CHAINS” While India has seen success in the Ease of Doing Business in the last decade but on the ground, it is often said that it is not felt. What are your plans to take it forward? India has been making a lot of strides in Ease of Doing Business since 2014, when the reform agenda was set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. At that time, it was completely unheard of that India in the next four to five years of the ‘Doing Business Report’ would have scored anywhere and be one of the highest performing nations in the world. We were in the top bracket, all those five years in terms of improving our performance, and that jump of 79 positions we see today is because of the concerted efforts that the government put towards the reform agenda. Since then, lot of things have happened in the reform ecosystem. The Government of India (GoI) and the DPIIT, understood that merely business reforms, as mandated by the World Bank were not enough. So, we created something unique, the Business Reform Action Plan that was rolled out from 2015 onwards. We are in our sixth edition now and the Business Reform Action Plan looks at simple reforms that are required for both big and large businesses, and small steps that the state governments and central ministries could take to improve the business ecosystems. Though substantial work has been done so far, a lot still needs to be done. During our interactions with various stakeholders, industry associations, we often hear about the requirement to reduce the cost of doing business. And I think our next agenda of the reform ecosystem is directed towards that and we believe that is the right step now. DPIIT has recently started driving the reducing compliance burden exercise. Why is it important to talk about cost of regulation at this stage? The cost of regulation is something that has been studied by many of the developing nations. While we have improved our ranking in various global indices, we have also realised that to get into the race of being a developed nation, we need to do what is being done everywhere, and that is measuring the cost of doing business or the cost of regulation. Every regulation has a cost and it is very important for the government to take something that is down the path of optimal regulation. We need not over regulate, but we need not under regulate, we need to maintain and understand that there is a cost benefit required for every regulation. If it is important to ensure that the socio-economic factors need to be looked into and that regulation is important, we go ahead with that. I n a conversation with BW Businessworld, Manmeet Nanda, Joint Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce & Industry, talks about the various initiatives of DPIIT to reduce the cost of regulation, their impact on supply chains and how these initiatives are addressing challenges on the ground By Arjun Yadav
98 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 25 February 2023 INTERVIEW And if it is not, we try to reduce the cost in other processes by some kind of social or economic reengineering of the processes and that’s where compliance reduction plays a very important role. Can you illustrate an example of how this model has been successful elsewhere? Yes, it has been adopted and about 100 countries are doing it. Most of the developed nations have adopted it. It is interesting to know and study for the same business entities across different state governments. We need to study them, we need to understand whether similar businesses can function with a lesser number of regulations, lesser number of NOCs, if we can move towards deemed approvals with longer time period between renewals, we are bringing out something which is optimal. That is how Malaysia brought down a lot of costs. So, if Malaysia can do it, why not India? How does cost of regulation help remove real ground level challenges? Let us take the example of medical or pharmaceutical devices. It is behest with several requirements that are presented to them by different ministries or regulators. Very interestingly while we were talking to the pharma industry, we understood that the adoption in these countries and we have been using this time to actually look into international regulations. A very interesting study that we came across was in Malaysia. They tried to study what are various compliances that are required for opening petrol pumps across different cities in Malaysia. They discovered that the number of compliances required were different, the cost of opening a similar kind of petrol pump was different. We have different regulations “The cost of regulation is something that has been studied by many of the developing nations. While we have improved our ranking in various global indices, we have also realised that to get into the race of being a developed nation, we need to do what is being done everywhere, and that is measuring the cost of doing business or the cost of regulation”
25 February 2023 | B W BUSINESSWORLD | 99 for any industry to come into place you need clearances for the building, NOCs and pollution clearances, fire clearances etc. Now in the pharma industry, they were forced to also install sprinklers. And, if sprinklers are turned on it will create humidity in the entire factory and will spoil the products that are being made. But, there has to be a fire sprinkling system because that is a requirement of the NOC. Then they had to maintain that entire fire equipment system because every year the NOC has to be renewed. So, they maintain a fire system, which they don’t use, but because of the products that the industry deals with, they also have to install other fire handling systems which are CO2 based and which do not spoil their products, but because that is not an acceptable part of the NOC regulation, they need to maintain two systems and annually get that inspection done, leading to excessive costs. This is just one example and we need to interact more with our stakeholders to understand what behests that industry and mould those requirements. The moment we start doing that, the cost will come down. As the world moves towards the adoption of sustainable supply chains, how will cost of regulation impact the supply chain resilience in India? It has a major role because eventuenough for them to come in. We have made changes in the corporate law; the Companies Act has been amended. We are in the process of making amendments in the LLPs. Our FDI regime has over the years continuously become more and more encouraging and we have opened a lot more sectors in recent years. It is all because we know that we have the skill set. We have the population with the skill set, the youth population, and we do have the reform ecosystem in place, which will make us a very important player in the global value supply chains. What will be its contribution towards Atmanirbhar and Viksit Bharat vision of the government? The vision of ‘Viksit Bharat’ 2047, is to see India as a very important player in the global value supply chain and everything else including ‘Atmanirbharta’, which is basically working towards ‘Vocal for Local’ and manufacturing locally but globally. This completely sums up the entire essence of the GoI and the work that the Department does for this. I think these small changes and steps that we are taking towards either cost of regulation, measuring the cost of doing business, reducing regulatory compliance burden, rationalising, simplifying, digitising things, creating the national single window are all contributing towards fulfilling the ‘Atmanirbharta’ and ‘Viksit Bharat’ vision of the government. ally for us to be a leader, we are rolling out so many PLIs to attract the global best into our country. So, we need to make sure that our manufacturing ecosystem is as inviting because we need them to come here, set up base here and then we will be the exporters and command global supply chains. For that, we must not only ensure that these schemes are in place, but we also need to ensure that they come in a smooth and easy manner. That is why we have rolled out the National Single Window System (NSWS) where it is a onestop solution where they do come for investments into the country. Investors will get the information about all required clearances pertaining to central ministries and states through NSWS. We are trying to create an entire environment, which is attractive “The vision of ‘Viksit Bharat’ 2047, is to see India as a very important player in the global value supply chain and everything else including ‘Atmanirbharta’, which is basically working towards ‘Vocal for Local’ and manufacturing locally but globally”
100 | B W BUSINESSWORLD | 25 February 2023 ANKING in India has unanticipatedly gone online at an accelerated pace in the last few years. While the ease of access provided by the banking apps and online portals today has sorted out a lot of inconveniences that came with needing to visit a branch for services, the scenario is still isn’t at a point where you hear a customer say that they used a banking app and everything was easy. And yet, that’s not the case with Uber in taxi hailing, Amazon in ecommerce, or Zomato in food delivery. The advent of UPI has meant that real-time transactions are as easy as the services delivered by above mentioned nonbanking entities, if not better. Besides the apparent demand for ease of access to financial services has encouraged the new-age fintechs to come up with ways to deliver financial services and the banks are still working on catching up. “Money isn’t an uninteresting topic. You can actually sit and plan with your spouse and family about money and spend hours doing that. But when it comes to using a mobile banking app and engaging with the banking application, it’s not always engaging or interesting,” says Charu Mathur, Head – Digital Banking & Strategy (Existing Business) at IndusInd Bank. Mathur says that it’s a rare thing to hear that a banking app B Tech: Unlocking Incremental Value For Banks A strong hybrid cloud strategy is pivotal for banks in the era of open banking
25 February 2023 | B W BUSINESSWORLD | 101 MASTER STROKES was easy and engaging for a customer. But that doesn’t deter her and the team at IndusInd Bank from pursuing the human-centred thought process, learning from the feedback and building products for customers with empathy. “This is something that I really inculcate in my team and push them for,” she says. Unlocking Value By Leveraging Tech Enabling the movement of money or transfer of funds on their banking apps is only part of the puzzle to drive engagement for banks. They are now looking to understand their customer’s unique situations and preferences to provide tailor-made banking products and services. This involves understanding the customer’s unique circumstances and preferences and then configuring products and services accordingly. And that’s where IBM’s tech expertise comes in. While the banks work on creating customer personas to understand them better, IBM helps enable it by bringing into the picture artificial intelligence (AI). “We help banks leverage AI and automation to create the kind of experience for the users where they feel that banks really understand them and their needs,” says Geeta Gurnani, IBM TechnolGeeta Gurnani, IBM Technology CTO & Technical Sales Leader, India/South Asia and Charu Mathur, Head – Digital Banking & Strategy (Existing Business) at IndusInd Bank
102 | B W BUSINESSWORLD | 25 February 2023 ogy CTO & Technical Sales Leader, India/ South Asia. A McKinsey report estimates that AI technologies can possibly unlock $1 trillion of incremental value for banks, annually. It says that AI technologies can help boost revenues through increased personalisation of services to customers (and employees); lower costs through efficiencies generated by higher automation, reduced errors rates, and better resource utilisation; and uncover new and previously unrealised opportunities based on an improved ability to process and generate insights from vast troves of data, across more than 25 use cases. An Open Ecosystem Fluidity and customer-centric services are the flavour of the season in banking which is being enabled by banks, fintechs and other financial institutions. Gone are the days when banks delivered services without any third-party associations. Today, banking is open as data is shared across networks instead of focusing on centralisation. This way customers are able to share their financial data with other financial institutions. Bank Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) allow the assessment of customer transactions and accounts to determine financial service options by tapping into data available across financial institutions. But what does this do? Open banking could enable the data to identify financial services and products that are better suited for a customer. These could range from providing them with options on savings accounts that earn higher interest rates, to even helping lenders assess a customer’s financial situation to offer profitable loan terms. IBM’s API platform helps banks connect within departments and even the ecosystem as they pursue cross-selling and up-selling of their services. “Increasingly, we see that banking is not happening on a banking mobile app. It’s actually happening on some other app,” says Mathur. She gives the instance of a customer buying a television and ends up converting the purchase into an EMI. This means that banking has happened on a platform, which is not really a bank platform. Nonetheless, the customer created a loan with a bank. “The world of embedded finance and ecosystem is an exciting thing which is now unfolding and the use cases are going MASTER STROKES to accelerate,” the IndusInd Bank Head of Digital Banking & Strategy (Existing Business) adds. Challenge Of Heterogenous Environment While innovation stays on the expressway in open banking which allows customers to avail a whole gamut of products and services, it also opens up the attack surface to cyber adversaries. Banks can no longer hide their applications behind perimeter firewalls as every fintech, reg-tech or any other partner brings its own all-important technology and infrastructure. “Today, banks need to build a very resilient and secure infrastructure. With so much digitisation and so many services being offered in the open ecosystem, security is a prime concern. So, we also help banks secure their infrastructure,” explains Gurnani. With data at the centre to deliver such promise via open banking, heterogenous environments also bring forth compliance-related challenges. To address this, IBM helps banks in India meet various compliance parameters with regard to data and technology. “It’s important to keep the environment very secure and protected so that customers feel the same level of trust with the bank on a partner or ecosystem app, as they do when they avail a product from one of our branches or bank’s own app,” says Mathur. But adapting to heterogenous environments can be challenging. While the banks have a lot of choices to pick from, the mix-and-match to deliver the best services for the customers can prove to be difficult. And IBM bridges the gap by helping them build the right hybrid cloud plan. “We are helping banks deeply around hybrid cloud strategy. This helps them manage heterogeneous environments, which could be either private cloud, public cloud, or on-premise infrastructure. It helps them run the whole show,” explains Gurnani. A strong hybrid cloud strategy is pivotal for banks in the era of open banking. It provides them the flexibility and scalability needed to keep up with the ever-changing demands of their customers. In addition, it is quintessentially helping them comply with specific regulatory requirements, while still maintaining control over their data and applications. Master Strokes is a series produced by BW Businessworld and Presented by IBM India. This series will recognize and present the efforts and accomplishments of technology leaders across sectors on how they use and continue to leverage technology to bring about business transformation creating a positive impact on their organisation. While innovation stays on the expressway in open banking which allows customers to avail a whole gamut of products and services, it also opens up the attack surface to cyber adversaries
For Nomination & Partnership Opportunities: Priyanshi Khandelwal | [email protected] | +91 84508 44111 Talees Rizvi | [email protected] | +91 93106 34007 NOMINATE NOW #RFGT23 Last date to nominate: FEBRUARY 20, 2023 EMINENT JURY 2ND EDITION PRESENTS APRIL 2023
104 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 25 February 2023 A The author is the reknowned astrologer Bejan Daruwalla’s son and carries forward his legacy By Astro Friend Chirag Bejan Daruwala and make connections that will aid in the growth of your company SCORPIO: Positive – Ganesha says you can expect to see positive changes in your finances and business ventures. Finance: New investment and business venture opportunities may arise. Business: Your dedication and hard work will lead to new opportunities for growth and expansion. SAGITTARIUS: Positive – Ganesha says this month brings new opportunities for career growth and expansion. Finance: You might get a bonus or unexpected income, and your investments should do well. Business: Your business ventures are likely to be successful. CAPRICORN: Positive –Ganesha says this is an excellent time to network and make new connections. Finance: Unexpected expenses may arise. However, your financial situation will improve. Business:This is an excellent time to pitch new projects. AQUARIUS: Positive – Ganesha says this is an excellent month for expanding your professional and personal network. Finance: Keep a close watch on your budget and make wise investments. Business: This month your business is poised for success. Do not be afraid to take calculated risks. PISCES:Positive – Ganesha says this month brings new opportunities for career growth and expansion. Trust your instincts and take calculated risks. Finance:Money may be tight this month, but do not let that deter you. Business: You are likely to get recognition and new business opportunities. What the Stars Foretell for You unexpected windfalls or bonuses, but watch your investments. Business:You have a lot of business opportunities this month. LIBRA: Positive – Ganesha says your social life is bound to be frantic this month. You will make new connections. Finance:You will be able to make wise investments and profit from them. Business: You will be able to close deals RIES: Positive –Ganesha says this month brings new opportunities for professional growth and success. Finance – There is a possibility of unexpected income. Business:Your networking abilities may lead to new partnerships. TAURUS: Positive: Ganesha says feel confident and optimistic. Finance: You may make an unexpected financial gain. A good time to invest in long-term projects. Business: You will be able to make important connections. GEMINI: Positive – This month brings new networking and collaboration opportunities. Finance:You may see a cash infusion, but focus on saving. Business: You may be promoted or given new responsibilities at work. CANCER:Positive – Ganesha says you will have a strong sense of intuition and creativity this month. Finance: You will have a steady stream of income, but focus on saving and investing for the future. Business:You will have opportunities for growth and expansion. LEO: Positive – Ganesha says you will be able to accomplish anything you set your mind to and overcome obstacles. Finance: You might get some extra money or a pay raise at work. Business: You will be able to close significant deals and gain new clients. VIRGO: Positive – Ganesha says your hard work and dedication will eventually pay off. Finance: This month could bring some WHAT DOES FEBRUARY 2023 HAVE IN STORE FOR YOU? CARRYING FORWARD THE LATE BEJAN DARUWALA’S LEGACY, THE AUTHOR GUIDES YOU SO YOU MAY MAKE THE MOST OF WHAT LIFE HAS TO OFFER COLUMN Astrologer: Chirag Bejan Daruwala
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106 | B W BUSINESSWORLD | 25 February 2023 When we see Budget 23-24 in the context of budgets over the last eight years, you see a pattern. The first is about direction. The undertone is one of growth and making necessary investments to boost growth and being fiscally prudent at the same time. This gives us the confidence that India is on a firm growth path and achieving a $7-trillion economy by 2030 is more assured than before. Second, what strikes you is consistency. Inclusion, agriculture, rural, housing, reforms, divestments, infrastructure. Only when we stay committed to a theme over an extended period, we make an impact. Like in cricket, the coach always says “follow through” with the shot is important as the shot itself. Capex Continuity For instance, capital expenditure of the Union government has increased handsomely every single year since 2014 and has not been compromised to meet an electoral year, for instance. Capital expenditure is any expenditure to buy a non-current asset, i.e. any asset that has more than one-year life. Capital expenditure has increased four times from Rs 2.5 lakh crore in 2016 to Rs 10 lakh crore in FY2024, and hopefully will be Rs 25 lakh crore in 2029. This will be used to build roads, bridges, ports, railways. Investment in railways was Rs 2.4 lakh crore, a whopping nine times that of investment in railways in 2014! Improved infrastructure reduces our cost of transportation, increases competitiveness of our products in international markets and reduces pollution. We can then have a fundamentally competitive economy and compete in global markets at global terms. My driver at Delhi told me that the travel time to Haridwar has reduced from 5 hours to 3.5 hours, to Chandigarh from 6 hours to 4.5 hours and to Agra from 4 hours to 3 hours. Think of the reduced annuity fuel burn on millions of vehicles and improvement in green economy by these initiatives. The total length of our national highways, for instance, has massively increased from 91,287 km in FY14 to 1,44,634 km in FY23. Remember these are our national assets and will continue to power GDP growth into eternity. “Jal, Jameen, Jangal, Jaanwar” Third, this time we saw more emphasis on “green” economy. Green fuel, green energy, green farming, green mobility, green buildings, and green equipment, and such green growth efforts was a highlight of the Budget. This will also create green job opportunities. I heard the PM emphasise the green economy. In a post-Budget interaction, I heard Mr Gadkari put it emphatically in words that are still ringing in my ear -- “Jal, Jameen, Jangal, Jaanwar” being a focus for the government. We do live with nature and this focus is endearing. There is also consistency in corporate income tax rates, at 25 per cent since 2020. Personal income tax rates are low, and someone earning say Rs 15 lakh a year will only pay 10 per cent as income tax. I would like to point out that such investments do reach the last man through the contractor, vendor, employee of the contractor and so on, but with a capital asset to grow the economy in the future. Finally, I can say from experience that when we meet foreign investors from the US, UK, Singapore, HK, etc. they talk about India with a lot of respect, and we talk about India with a lot of pride. That sums it up. V. Vaidyanathan, MD & CEO, IDFC First Bank on Budget 23-24 and how it mirrors the previous budgets in terms of direction, consistency and the overall growth objective LAST WORD V. VAIDYANATHAN Budget 23-24 and the 9-year Trendline Only when we stay committed to a theme over an extended period, we make an impact. Like in cricket, the coach always says “ follow through” with the shot is important as the shot itself Photograph by Umesh Goswami
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