Painting a pretty picture

COMMENT: Ashwin Dani, vice chairman & MD, Asian Paints

Continued emphasis on the infrastructure sector augurs well for higher economic growth.

From a macro perspective, one must say that it's a job well done. The Finance Minister has managed to strike a good balance between sustaining economic growth and ensuring social justice.

The continued emphasis on the infrastructure sector augurs well for higher economic growth. Increase of FDI limits in the sector will also benefit related industries including paints.

The paint industry also stands to gain from the reduction in custom duty as nearly 30 per cent of raw materials are imported by the sector.

The reduction in excise duty on small cars to 16 per cent is likely to boost domestic demand and increase affordability to customers.

This move will also fuel the automobile coatings industry and other related industries like steel, tyres, paints, plastics, glass and so on. We continue to remain optimistic on the growth of the paint industry.

The Indian paint industry has historically grown by 1.5 to 2 times of India's GDP. Hence the finance minister's vision of achieving 10 per cent economic growth, augurs well for the paint sector.

There was nothing surprisingly different in this Budget. This trend should continue into the future as it's a sign that the economy is rapidly moving from developing to developed. That's the way it should be.