Budget 2018 Reactions: Very Good For MSMES, Says Shreekant Somany
In an exclusive interview with BW Businessworld, Shreekant Somany, Chairman and Managing Director of Somany Ceramics Limited, shares his views on the Budget introduced on February 1st. Edited excerpts:
There will be a BW Report Card – On a scale of 1 to 10, how do you rate the budget?
That is a difficult question. The budget relates more to the rural economy which is a very good step. Of course health and well being of the people (have been considered). I do hope that along the way this will help the country. If the rural economy becomes better it is always a better thing. One of the things that perhaps Corporate India needs to see is on the manufacturing front. On the corporate side, I would rate it very little but on the rural side I will rate it 6 or 7.
Is the employment issue adequately addressed in the Union Budget?
I think one thing that is very good is that MSMEs have been considered as the engines for growth and employment. I think this is a very good sector to look at. There are a lot of changes which are taking place which the budget has not spoken about. We need to ease the burden on MSMEs and incentivize them for growth.
Do you think it is a populist budget?
Partly, Yes.
Is the rural distress / agriculture crisis adequately addressed in the Budget?
I think the present think the government has done is 1.5 times of the MSMEs what they are aiming at. And they wanted to double the farmer’s income. There are various schemes on agriculture and irrigation and also on the Renewable energy side.
