'It is a decent Budget directionally'
K B Chandrasekhar
I did go through the Budget briefly. Directionally, it is a decent Budget with emphasis on infrastructure and relaxing of overseas acquisition to 100 million. But the tax imposition timing is unacceptable.
NRI investing in India has been steadily on rise over the past few years and I think with easier repatriation rules being proposed, it should make that better for NRIs to open their purse strings.
We have to be cognizant of the political climate as well. I think given the economy, he could have been kind to middle class. But from an industry viewpoint, the removal of several administered prices is a big step forward.
I am not a believer of always looking to the government to make your industry grow. You grow because your products are needed by your customers. As long as the government stays away from you and does not bother you, the merrier.
We need to pressure politicians through public forums and get fiscally responsible. The hardware market is internally a big growth area, but we are already building a good business around designing ASICs etc., the big fillip we need in hardware in probably investing in specialized semiconductor foundries as a start and build other ancillaries around that.
On the issue of tax compliance, I am with everyone. Everytime we talk about expanding the net, but
somehow people know how to slip away from that. How many times have you seen the shopkeeper tell you that he can take cash without bill and save you tax and we merrily take that.
K B Chandrasekhar is CEO, jamcracker.
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