Special 
FM Sitharaman had presented Budget 2022 in Parliament on Feb 1. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had presented the Budget 2022 in Parliament on February 1. Budget 2022 had proposed a 35.4 per cent hike in capital expenditure outlay to Rs 7.5 lakh crore, betting on public capital expenditure to pump the investment cycle and spur India’s economic recovery from the pandemic. A week after Budget 2022, Business Today brings the who's who of the economy together. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, former CEA Dr Arvind Subramanian will speak in the state of the Indian economy at the BT Budget Roundtable 2022.
Also read: Govt to issue postal stamp in honour of Lata Mangeshkar: Ashwini Vaishnaw
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“LIC IPO is all planned, it is in the execution stage. That also will be completed soon,” said FM Nirmala Sitharaman at BT Budget Roundtable 2022.
“It is not just the Govt that is going to be able to provide jobs. It is also recognised that we need to have skills that are adequately imparted to the youth so that they are able to find jobs out there or also give them enough resources with out having to chip in a security so that they can employ themselves,” said FM Nirmala Sitharaman at BT Budget Roundtable 2022.
"It is a very big challenge to convey what you are doing for jobs. The spectrum to create jobs is across the board. We need to do a lot more,” added Sitharaman.
“We've given a parallel and more attractive framework of income tax rates through the new regime,” said FM Nirmala Sitharaman at BT Budget Roundtable 2022. She confirmed that a simpler #DirectTaxCode (DTC) can be expected soon.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has clarified that the government will tax cryptocurrency and digital assets first before introducing a law on the same. “There is no chicken-and-egg situation. I'll tax first,” said Sitharaman at BT Budget Roundtable 2022.
“The bond market was acting a bit jittery even before the Budget. They are more jittery about the decisions of the Fed and other Central Banks,” said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at BT Budget Roundtable 2022.
“PLI was given to 14 sectors and the response was good. The corporate tax reduction of Oct 2019 has been extended. Private industry is coming with extra investments,” said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at BT Budget Roundtable 2022.
"Some critical policy prescriptions were made last year. We are reinforcing that this year," said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at BT Budget Roundtable 2022.
"We are reinforcing the formula which we adopted last year, which is public investment in infrastructure building, and that is capital expenditure. It is very well established and data proves that for every rupee you spend in capital expenditure, the multiplier is around 2.95 while if you go through the revenue route and give some money in people's hands it's 0.9," she added.
“The ground reality is very tough for #MSMEs. Many people have lost their lives or livelihoods. If the sector is shut, they have no income. How long can you subsidise? We have to find a balance between the immediate and the long term,” said Puneet Chhatwal, MD and CEO, IHCL at BT Budget Roundtable 2022.
“No one is complaining about capital, not just the new-age companies but even the well run legacy companies, they have all been able to raise a significant amount of capital very well,” said Ritesh Agarwal, CEO, OYO, at BT Budget Roundtable 2022.
"Health allocation in Budget has to be higher. Private health providers proved their mettle in the last wave. If the barriers between govt and private healthcare are broken, much better and lower-cost health services will be seen," said Dr Naresh Trehan of Medanta at BT Budget Roundtable 2022.
“The portal of mental health was sorely needed. So many people are in distress. They don't even know where their next meal is coming from,” he added.
"Giving the hospitality sector infrastructure status doesn't cost anything, but it would've seen more investment with that status. I think when India is at 75, this can be included," said Puneet Chhatwal, MD and CEO, IHCL at BT Budget Roundtable 2022.
"In India, hospitality contributes 7% to the GDP. If you include the informal employees, like your shikara guy on Dal Lake or your temple guy in Benares, it is 12%. Not granting it infra status is an opportunity missed," he added.
“Our intent is clear. Govt needs to be present only in a few strategic sectors with a few companies. In all other non-strategic sectors, we will dive,” said Chairperson of Parliamentary Standing Committee of Finance Jayant Sinha at BT Budget Roundtable 2022.
"Most governments across the globe gave direct income support to their people. Indian govt has given credit lines, " said Manish Tewari.
"21.1 Mn households demanded work through MGNREGA in November 2021, which went up to 24.7 Mn in December 2021," he added.
"Unfortunately, the government has been extremely evasive about telling Parliament as to what has been the expenditure on this current stand-off with China from April 2020 onwards," said Manish Tewari at BT Budget Roundtable 2022.
"We have spent Rs 3.4 lakh cr on the food security act, over Rs 1 lakh cr on NREGA and Rs 1.4 lakh cr on fertilizer subsidy," said Jayant Sinha, Chairperson of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance at BT Budget Roundtable 2022.
"If there is a need for NREGA, we will increase spending. We will provide support wherever needed," he added.
"When UPA was in power, the Indian economy grew at an average rate of 7.8-8% YoY for 10 long years," said Congress MP Manish Tewari at BT Budget Roundtable 2022. He added that during Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her last Budget speech acknowledged that 270 million people were lifted out of poverty during UPA years. "Now, 4.6 Cr people have been pushed back to poverty," conveyed Tewari.
"India's real GDP growth rate could be as low as 1.2-1.3%," he added.
“This Budget and the previous ones have supported the vulnerable population. We are now moving towards higher job creation,” said Chairperson of Parliamentary Standing Committee of Finance Jayant Sinha at BT Budget Roundtable 2022.
"The 'Great Indian IPO' (LIC) is slated for March and the DRHP will be filed with SEBI this week," confirmed DIPAM Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey at BT Budget Roundtable 2022. "It will be a big moment for the Indian stock markets," he explained.
Pandey noted that LIC IPO will have an embedded value upwards of Rs 5 lakh crore. "Once the DRHP is filed, the price will be discovered. There is a tremendous amount of interest from the general public in the IPO," he added.
“Air India's debt was mostly government-guaranteed, which is like a sovereign debt. So, if Air India failed to pay, the government had to pay. The debt, which is unsustainable, had to be taken out, “ said Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Secretary, DIPAM, at BT Budget Roundtable 2022.
"Our idea was to tax digital assets at the highest marginal rate of tax, that is 30%, which is prevalent in the country today. There are no second thoughts on that,” said Revenue Secretary Tarun Bajaj at BT Budget Roundtable 2022.
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