While welcoming the Union Budget 2018-19, Anil Khaitan, President, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) said that the Government has provided a budget for all.
The focus on agriculture, rural economy, health, infrastructure and MSMEs is highly appreciable.We are pleased to know that India is now a US$ 2.5 trillion economy and we are firmly on path to achieve 8 per cent plus growth soon, he said.
The corporate tax rate has been reduced to 25 per cent for MSMEs which is highly appreciable as it was the need of the hour, Khaitan said.
Focus on ease of doing business to ease of living for the poor and middle class is encouraging, he said.
MSP for kharif crops at 1.5 times cost of produce along with cluster-model approach for agricultural production would increase farm productivity and enhance farmers’ incomes in the coming times, Khaitan said.
Doubling the allocation in food processing from Rs 715 crore to Rs 1400 crore would boost food processing; specialized agro processing and financial institutions, he said.
Cultivation of horticulture crops in clusters will boost production and marketing. Further, Agri-market Development Fund with a corpus of Rs 20 billion for developing agricultural markets would go a long way to help farmers, he added.
The extension of Kisan Credit Cards to fisheries, animal husbandry is appreciable, Khaitan said.