Budget 2014-15 : A Strong Stimulator and Big Infra Builder

While acknowledging the fact that perform or perish is the message from the Indian electorates to the recently held Parliamentary elections, the new BJP-led NDA government at the Centre in its Budget proposals for the current fiscal, has attempted to roll out an ambitious infrastructure blueprint targeted to pull the economy out of its current recessionary slumber. While doing so, it not just practiced extreme fiscal prudence in fixing finances to build world class infrastructure, boosting manufacturing, pushing the pace of real estate and construction sectors but also extended tax and excise concessions to manufacturers, entrepreneurs, small and medium enterprises and working class, besides promising to build roofs on the heads of those belonging to the lowest strata of society. That apart, the increased pace of tax incentives for REITs and Infrastructure Investment Trusts will help attract long-term finance from foreign and domestic sources for real estate and big infrastructure projects. The support for the national highway program, tax incentives on home loans and development of smart cities, setting up 16 new port projects and simplification of investments, clarity on retrospective taxation and implementation of the Goods and Services Tax and Direct Taxes Code. All these initiatives are expected to have a multiplier impact on the pace of inclusive growth resulting in placing the country's economy back on the higher growth trajectory.