Pune (Voice News Service) : At a time when Union budget was presented by the Union Minister against the backdrop of global uncertainties, uneven growth and election year , Economists highlighted some of the positives and concerns while maintaining an optimistic outlook for India. Pune International Centre (PIC) along with Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics organised a panel discussion on Union Budget 2023-24 on Sunday at Kale Auditorium at Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics . Dr. Ajit Ranade, Vice Chancellor Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics and trustee, PIC chaired the panel discussion. The distinguished panel included Subhashis Gangopadhyay, Research Director, India Development Foundation, Delhi, Dr. Pradeep Apte from Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Dr. R. Kavita Rao, Director, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy and Prof. Partha Ray, Director National Institute of Bank Management, Pune. This was the eight edition of the union budget analysis program .
In his welcome address Dr. Ajit Ranade, Vice Chancellor Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics and trustee, PIC said that the budget this year was presented in the backdrop of the three things, one is the macro economic context like recession , Russia -Ukraine conflict creating lot of disruption and spike in inflationary impact, K shape recovery, uneven growth in India, and third is the fiscal situation with mounting debt . So the finance minister had to do a very tough balancing act.
Prof. Partha Ray, Director National Institute of Bank Management, Pune said that this was an interesting budget, almost the same like last year , they did not walk into the trap of election year budget . He added that some of the positives of the budget include increase in capital expenditure, new tax regime as default regime, income tax slabs, specific saving schemes, hike in maximum deposits in senior citizens scheme, focus on green economy, digital economy etc .Some areas of concern are that the informal sector was not touched in the budget, rise of inflation needs some more attention. In terms of fiscal arithmetic, there has been an impressive record in terms of deficit numbers. We need to look at where the added capital expenditure comes from. The reduction in central sector schemes needs to be seen .
Dr. R. Kavita Rao, Director, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy said she said the focus seems to be on capex going. But would capex result into employment needs to be seen and is expected to be more stimulus to the sector. PM Awas is likely to give some stimulus to employment. Concerns about where the allocations to MGNREGA would be enough still remain. Where I find the budget interesting is the focus on skill development programs which can close the gap of skill requirements. Focus on R&D in areas like 5G, AI, Pharma and couple of other sectors is the other element which was interesting.
Dr. Pradeep Apte from Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics while Union Government has a huge presence in agriculture. Millet program is welcome. But there are two reforms which are needed if any such kind of a program has to be successful. Firstly, the procurement mechanism of the Food Corporation has to be improved. Agriculture sector needs to be reformed and not limited as a state commodity, it is essentially interstate trade. It needs to be rethought and revised. Use of genetic engineering based crops; three major crops are still awaiting approval , which was proposed in 2009. So I am hopeful about technology like AI because this is a very active community.
Subhashis Gangopadhyay, Research Director, India Development Foundation, Delhi What we need now is restructuring of the economy and there is very little that the central government can do, much of the restructuring has to be done at the state level . We have to go down to the states with important topics like health and education.
