This year’s budget is outstanding in every way. The Finance Minister has tried to satisfy everyone, from common man to corporates. The cut in excise duty on small cars and two-wheelers is a welcome move for the industry and the common man. The tax cut given to all drugs will benefit the pharma companies. The tax holiday of five years for setting up hospitals anywhere in India would certainly improve the healthcare system. The other remarkable feature of the budget th is time is the Rs 50 crore allocation for tiger protection. The good news for corporates is that there is no increase in corporate tax and the disappointment is that there is no further cut. Some of the questions thrown up by the budget are: Is the Government in a position to give away Rs 60,000 crore for farmers; the Government should have imposed a tax on large farmers as they are making good profits; why is there no tax deduction for corporates given the whopping increase of 40 per cent last year in corporate tax collection; the increase in short-term capital gain tax is a bit high for small investors like me.

Arun Thomas, Kottayam