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Mr Prateek Pant, Chief Business Officer, White Oak Capital Asset Management

The Union Budget has something for every sector. Likewise, the government announced the creation of a thematic fund for sunrise sectors. The supportive policy actions will help provide funding for these important sectors of tomorrow. Market borrowing through green bonds for mobilizing resources for green Infrastructure is also a welcome step.

The decision on dense charging infra and swappable batteries will help drive growth in data centers and energy storage systems. The PLI scheme for design-led manufacturing will help build a strong ecosystem for 5G networks.

On the other hand, higher allocations towards social infra under the flagship government schemes will spur consumption. The budget was most pragmatic with an ECLGS for contact intensive sectors like hospitality which were badly affected due to the pandemic.

The growth of import is at record high level which has nullified the benefits of growth in exports. India must cut gold import through modified Gold monetization scheme. The import of primary energy (Oil, Gas and coal) must be reduced by boosting domestic production and energy saving. It is needless to say that; the trade deficit directly reduces GDP.

Higher allocation in the budget for capex and infra spending is indeed praiseworthy. However, alone government investment can’t support the growth target of 8-8.5%,as fixed in the budget. Therefore, India must undertake series of regulatory reforms for boosting private investment.

High inflation (wholesale) could be a game spoiler. Monetary policy can’t resolve this problem. This is due to increase in the cost of basic inputs, mainly the energy, minerals and logistics. For which, suitable policy intervention is needed.

Few policy announcements have been done and I am sure that; in coming days, India shall make more announcements in resolving these impediments.  So that, the growth target of 8.0-8.5% in F/Y-2022-23 is achieved and the job crisis is resolved.

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