Budget Analysis Session

Corporate Relations Committee of IIFT organised a budget analysis session on 2^nd March 2010. The objective of the session was to analyse various aspects of the budget from different perspectives. The speakers who graced the occasion were

1. Mr. Mohit Satyanand, who is an entrepreneur & Investment Advisor and is also a columnist with Outlook India,

2. Mr. M G Ramachandran, who is an Associate Director, PWC -Tax & Regulatory Services,

3. Prof. Rajan Ratna, Centre for WTO Studies, IIFT.

Ms. Madhuri Ghosh, the co-ordinator of CRC, introduced the speakers to the audience of over hundred.

Mr. Ramachandran started the analysis with his presentation. He elaborated all the changes made in the tax laws – both direct and indirect.

Next speaker was Prof Ratna who pointed out the fact that the budget was not for Aam admi. He justified his opinion by saying that the goods on which the excise duties have been cut like set top boxes, LCD TVs, mobile accessories are not what an ordinary man use heavily in his daily life. He also stressed on the fact of monitoring the funds allocated to various schemes.

The final speaker was Mr. Satyanand who is also a graduate from Delhi School of economics. He stressed upon the economic and political impact of the budget. He opined that the finance minister has taken a very optimistic assumption that fiscal deficit can be controlled by 3G auctioning and disinvestment provisions. Mr. Satyanand also said that we need to restore world confidence in India which is quite low at this point in time. This can be interpreted from the fact that the 10 year bond yields are trading at 7.92 % whereas in an unstable economy like Greece, it is trading at 7 %. So, Government could have done something to make world realise that India is a safe haven for investments.

After the discussions, the floor was opened for questions. Doubts over hike in MAT, rationale behind extra deduction by investing in Infrastructure bonds, deregulation of oil prices etc. came up, which was solved in a very comprehensive manner by the distinguished panellists.

At last, the vote of thanks was given by Madhuri and bouquets were presented to the speakers by the IMF (student body) president Arakkal Vedhus and Ms. Ishaani Gandhar, the convenor of CRC.

The session was very useful in the sense that three different speakers from diversified backgrounds helped us to understand the budget from three separate angles.

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