Anand Mahindra weighs in on Budget 2023: 'Gratified to see...'

Anand Mahindra regularly tweets to his 10.3 million strong Twitter family.

The task of the Union Budget is to preserve India’s status as the only major economy in good shape, industrialist Anand Mahindra said, as he weighed in on Budget 2023 that was presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in parliament on February 1.

Breaking down his thoughts into three key points, the Mahindra group chief spoke about the emphasis on capital expenditure in Budget 2023. Sitharaman said the government has increased capital expenditure for FY24 steeply by 33 per cent to Rs 10 lakh crore, which would be 3.3 percent of India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“…I was gratified to see the higher capex. That’s all about investing for higher growth,” Anand Mahindra tweeted.

He said this budget has lived up to India’s conservative tradition of financial discipline. "…the DNA of our finance ministry has embedded in it a strong sense of fiscal discipline and an aversion to profligacy & bankruptcy. (Unlike a rather fragile neighbour of ours) This budget lived up to that conservative tradition,” he tweeted, taking a dig at Pakistan that is going through a major economic crisis.

“In line with our conservatism, it was good to see us back on a trajectory towards a lower fiscal deficit.”

Second, the DNA of our finance ministry has embedded in it a strong sense of fiscal discipline & an aversion to profligacy & bankruptcy. (Unlike a rather fragile neighbour of ours) This budget lived up to that conservative tradition. (2/3)

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— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) February 2, 2023

Nirmala Sitharaman presented the last full budget of the Narendra Modi 2.0 government before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The government raised the personal income tax rebate limit, doled out sops on small savings and announced one of the biggest hikes in capital spending in the past decade as Sitharaman did a tight rope walk in the Budget between staying fiscally prudent and meeting public expectations in the year before general elections.

In line with our conservatism, it was good to see us back on a trajectory towards a lower fiscal deficit. It will be a stretch to achieve, but I believe the Govt. can speed up disinvestment in order to provide the necessary resources. (3/3)

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— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) February 2, 2023

The personal income tax rebate limit has been increased to Rs 7 lakh from the fiscal year starting April 1 under the new tax regime from the previous Rs 5 lakh. Tax slabs has been cut to five from seven earlier. Also, the maximum income tax rate has been reduced to about 39 per cent from 42.7 per cent after a reduction in the highest surcharge to 25 per cent from 37 per cent.