Voices

Rahul Bajaj
CMD, Bajaj Auto

The 5 per cent reduction on peak custom duties on non-agricultural sectors is welcome and so are the concessions to some sectors such as personal computers. All this will help the growth and development of various sectors. But one can't help thinking that most of the changes have been made with the forthcoming elections in mind.

Jerry Rao
Chairman, Mphasis BFL

Sops already exist for our IT-enabled services exports business. But this round of import duty cuts will give the domestic IT industry a big push.

UK Bose
CEO, Air Sahara

It is a very positive move for the tourism sector. Domestic airfares will be down nearly 15 per cent. And we will pass on the benefits as soon as the duty cuts become applicable.

Ashwini Kakkar
CEO & MD, Thomas Cook India

The various positive incentives for the civil aviation sector augur well for the travel and tourism industry. These steps will lead to a surge in domestic air travel. It also shows that the travel and tourism industry is being recognised as a vital contributor to the nation's economy.

YK Modi
President, Ficci

The tourism sector will benefit immensely. Most of the announcements were on the expected lines and it shows that the government is finally listening to industry and markets.

Jerry Rao
Chairman, Mphasis BFL

The government must be complimented for advancing the announcement and providing relief to consumers and industry. It should go a long way in enhancing the feel-good factor.

Ajay Chaudhury
Chairman & CEO, HCL Infosystems

With cheaper cellphones, the voice business will get a big boost. Internet penetration will go up with the personal computer (PC) becoming 8-10 per cent cheaper.

Vinnie Mehta
Executive Director, MAIT

This reduction is something we have been asking for the last five years. You can now expect computer prices to go down by 8-10 per cent.

Anil Singhvi
Executive Director, Gujarat Ambuja

The announcements by the finance minister demonstrate the confidence the government has in the economy. Today's announcement, specially that of abolition of special additional customs duty of 4 per cent, is welcome.

Raj Saraf
CMD, Zenith Computers

The reduction of excise duty will be a fillip for genuine manufacturing. There will be a price drop of 10 per cent for branded PCs and this will hurt the grey market. We foresee the price of PCs dropping to as low as Rs 15,000 by the 15th of January.

Harsh Goenka
Chairman, RPG group

Right on time and contributing to the feel-good environment. This mini-budget will surely make India shine at the WTO negotiations. There is something for almost everyone in this budget.

Venugopal Dhoot
Chairman, Videocon group

The mini-budget will multiply the feel-good factor in the economy. The tariff reduction is a move to bring it down to the Asean level. With the excise duty reduction on computers from 16 per cent to 8 per cent, Videocon would reduce the prices of computers by 10 per cent.

BVR Subbu
President, Hyundai Motor

The reduction in peak custom duties will benefit auto assemblers more than auto manufacturers. Manufactuers, who have a high per level of idigenisation like Maruti, Tata Motors and Hyundai will see a very marginal impact of the reduction.