To boost domestic investment, Sitharaman's Budget focuses on foreign firms

The enthusiastic response of foreign business chambers in sharp contrast to their domestic counterparts suggests that on balance, Budget 2020-21 sought to encourage videshi companies more than desi ones to explore the Indian market.

A fiscally-strapped finance ministry was not expected to hand out any major sectoral sops. It has offered, instead, room for larger sector-agnostic investments, in spite of the protectionist character of its import tariffs. It turns out that many of these measures will benefit investors from abroad rather than domestic industrialists who were looking for the existing capacity to be utilised.

The one that moved the needle in this