In general, it is a lacklustre budget. The budget has anyway given some leeway for Dividend Distribution Tax at one level when the companies have many upstream companies/holdings and were taxable at every level.
The elimination of import duty on Nickel ore/concentrate from 2.5% and 7.5% to zero % is welcome. But the increase of service tax from 10 to 12% will only stoke inflation.
There is no word about currency management and also about the relaxation of forex controls.
The Budget contradicts on ECB availability in Power sector, while the Policy is regressive on investment in general.
--Prateek Gupta, Managing Director, Ushdev International Ltd
