Balasubramaniam, CEO, Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company

Budget expectations are building up among all of us. However, it is also going to be a toughbudget in terms of achieving a fine balance between growth and fiscal. Many challenges havebeen posed to the Government affecting the overall performance on economic activities due towhich the expectations in the market place is also low.
Some of the obvious changes expected this time could be the reversal of fiscal stimulus thatwas given during the 2009 budget in the form of excise reduction. However, this reversal ofexcise duty needs to also get aligned to the GST proposed tax regime. There are lots of cessattached to corporate tax, we believe, these may be reduced so as to reduce the corporatetax rate as well as to prepare the tax structure to GST proposed regime. Given the high foodinflation, there is a likelihood of food security tax and subsidy to be close to Rs 80,000 crores.
The other social welfare programme of the current Government such as NREGA will continueto be the focus as the programme has been a major success benefitting large pool of publicat the rural market. We believe this expenditure continued to be tagged at about Rs.40,000crores. In the recent past, there has been pressure on Oil prices thus posing threat for Oilsubsidy as well as fertilizer subsidy going up. The amount towards this could be in the range ofRs.26,000 and Rs.80000 crores towards fuel subsidy and fertiliser subsidy.
Non tax revenue for the current year has been one of the best ever in the history of India Incthrough sale of 3G License as well as select PSU disinvestment. We believe this will continueand there is likelihood of generating Rs.40,000 crore from PSU divestment though it is not atthe same order as this year.
However, Budget may attempt to increase non-tax revenue through changing tenderingprocess in sectors like Power, Road and other such infrastructure projects. Given the constraintto the Government in overstating the revenue target in the coming fiscal, we believe overallfiscal deficit would be maintained at around 4.80% translating to a total borrowing estimate ofroughly Rs.4,30,000 crores at gross level.
There has been a need to create a vibrant corporate bond market; however this needs a changein taxation structure for overseas investors. Given the current need to fund infrastructureprojects, we believe Government would favorably alter the TDS on interest payment to attractglobal flows into Indian Bond market. As it is FDI and FOREX flows are the key for the comingyear given the current account deficit. Therefore, in our view, the Budget will bring in focus asto how to get funds to fund the massive need of infrastructure sector either through openingbond market or through introduction of amnesty scheme. As stated in the recent monetarypolicy, Budget will bring focus in monitoring expenditure towards productive asset creationthus increasing the capital formation in the system in building capacities.

Samir Bimal, Country Head, ING Private Banking India

The Union Budget for 2011-12 would be prepared on the back of challenging macro economic environment such as high inflation, interest rates, high current account deficit, IIP coming down etc., besides State elections during May-June. The next financial year would also be the last year of the 11th Five Year Plan. The high fiscal deficit would restrict effective management of inflation by monetary policy. The supply side inflationary pressures may be addressed by committing more resources to capital expenditure. The food inflation is a serious concern and the Prime Minister said a lasting solution to tackling high food inflation lay in improving farm productivity. Hence more budgetary push for increasing productivity is expected viz. agriculture research, tax benefit on agricultural tools and other mechanization equipment etc. In view of the above, the finance minister is expected to present a more balanced budget with a priority to keep fiscal deficit under control while facilitating inclusive growth.

Minakshi Batra, Director India, IDA Ireland

“Over the last two years, the government has introduced a host of economy-boosting policies such asthe ‘Ten point economic stimulus package’ as well as RBI’s interest rate-cum-monetary policy to cushionthe impact of the global financial crisis. While these initiatives have helped the country accelerate itsgrowth levels, our aspirations of crossing the double digit growth threshold still remains unfulfilled.
At a macro level, controlling fiscal deficit is a direct function of controlling inflation, which can beachieved through reduction in import duties and integration with the global marketplace. The risinginflation is a reflection of the sorry state of affairs with regards to food related infrastructure andstorage in India. While road infrastructure has been given its due focus and attention, the governmentneeds to consider the potentially accruable benefits by infusing technological advancements in itsinfrastructural framework of the agriculture and food industry. Another closely linked issue here is thatof rising fuel prices. While petrol prices were deregulated in the pursuit of controlling fiscal deficit, thegovernment should now consider freeing up diesel prices as well.
In terms of budget expectations from specific sectors, I would like to highlight BFS and Pharmaceuticalsverticals which are unarguably amongst the growth drivers of the country. While the IT-ITeS industryhas more or less stabilized on the back of sufficient SOPs over a period of time, the pharmaceuticalsector in India currently grows at 11-12%, which is lagging as compared to the global growth levels by5-6%. The government's Vision 2015 statement had indicated an 18%+ CAGR for the pharmaceuticalsector, translating to doubling of revenues to $40 billion over the next five years. Towards this end, theGovernment should try to ensure that critical drugs are available at affordable prices which could bedone by rationalizing duties and encouraging competition. In the Banking sector, a concerted efforttowards boosting ‘mobile banking’ would accelerate the growth of this industry. As the penetration oftelecom services grow at a rapid rate, such a system will bring more individuals into the banking fold.’’

Hari Kiran, MD, Sujana Energy.

India should create an M&A favourable environment
FM should facilitate Outward / International M&A activities to help
Indian companies increase their global foot print.
The Indian Union Budget for 2011 should focus on creating an outward/International M&A focused environment. This will not only ensure increase of Indian companies foot print to access more resources, better manufacturing skills but also to diversify the overall debt portfolio. As case point being China’s huge move towards international acquisitions in the areas of Energy, Natural Resources, etc.
However, to protect local manufacturing industry import & anti-dumping duties may be continued if not majorly increased.

Dilip Modi, President, ASSOCHAM and Managing Director, Spice Communications

“The guiding principle has to be sustainable growth with fiscal consolidation and good governance. Budgetary allocations must increase to address infrastructure gaps both in physical and social infrastructure, especially in connectivity and broadband. Incentives for investments in mobile value added services will leverage investments in digital highways. Further, right incentive structure to increase private sector participation in infrastructure will help unleash the entrepreneurial potential of India’s growing pool of talent, and help the economy grow much faster. Government should retain the stimulus to make the infrastructure sector attractive for the private sector participation as well FDI. Flip should be provided to health, education, technology research, rural development and livelihood support programmes. Budget should deliver an enabling environment to facilitate financial inclusion by allowing multiple business models including microfinance, more banking correspondents, mobile banking and other capitalized institutions to reach unbanked sector in remote areas. It is equally important to reduce subsidies and direct more funds by way of capital expenditure rather than consumption expenditure. Budget should also pave the way for increased manufacturing competitiveness with focus on SMEs.”

Hitesh Obeori, MD & CEO, Info Edge

As a young company in the young internet sector which caters to the basic aspirations of young people in this country (Jobs, Education, Housing) we want the FM to 1) Give special status to the Internet sector which can be as transformative for the economy in the next ten years as the telecom sector was in the last ten. It can help create hundreds of thousands of new jobs while at the same time help transform and make more efficient virtually every sector of the economy – Business, Governance, Commerce, Communication, Education and Entertainment. The government should extend some fiscal benefits to companies which operate in this space.2) The youth want high quality education and jobs. On the other hand companies continue to face a talent crunch. The FM should increase the allocation for higher and technical education especially in areas like Engineering, Management and Vocational Courses.3) Lastly the more immediate need is to ensure that we keep the wheels of the economy moving. The high rate of inflation we see today is because of a combination of high oil prices and domestic supply side constraints. High interest rates will hurt investment which will result in even more supply side issues going forward. We need to provide easy financing to companies at reasonable interest rates to ensure that infrastructure projects keep moving.

Mr. B G Jain – Chairman & MD, Nakoda Ltd.

For Polyester Filament Yarns segment, like everybody else, Nakoda too expects that this year’s budget will be conducive to maintain annual growth of more than 9% in the years to come.
So far as Polyester industry is concerned it is also growing at a CAGR of more than 10% for the past two decades. To a large extent, this growth is on account of shortage of cotton due to ever increasing demand of various fibres. Because of increase in Polyester Filament, there is an increase in per capita consumption of various textile products and other end-users like technical textiles. We feel that in order to sustain industrial growth in Polyester segment to the existing level of 10%, the duty on polyester products should be brought at par with cotton i.e. 4%. It may be mentioned that Excise Duty of Polyester Yarn was increased to 10% in the last budget. We expect that duty @ 4% would not only boost investment in polyester sector, but will also contain pressure on ever rising demand of cotton fibre.
For renewable energy, we apprehend that there is a proposal to discontinue tax holiday given to income from renewable energy u/s 80 IA of Income Tax. The Wind Power production is still not very viable for Independent Power Producers (IPPs). Withdrawal of any incentives would be counter productive to further investment in this sector. On the contrary there is need for providing more incentives to this industry.
It is also desirable that the manufacturers of Wind Turbines get exemption of Excise Duty on their raw-materials. Since Wind Turbines are exempted from Excise Duty, they do not get any MODVAT advantage. Abolishing of Excise Duty on their raw-materials would help in reduction of Wind Turbine prices which will eventually make Wind Power Projects more viable.

S.Sundaresan, President, All India Coir Mattress Manufacturers' Association

Presently the Rubberised Coir Industry is facing several hardships as compared to the same time last year. Firstly the price of basic raw material Latex rubber has shot up tremendously that many of the small scale units or under the pressure of closure. We appeal to Hon'ble Finance Minister to arrange for supply of Latex Rubber at a concessional rate with a quota system for the SSI units. We consume only three percent of the annual production which is around 9 Lakhs Tons. Further the Coir Board had initiated several years ago Eco-Mark Labelling scheme to encourage our Industry which is yet to take off. We appeal to Govt. of India for immediate commencing of this scheme. Further we also request for increased export incentives for coir based products which will help several thousands of families producing coir fibre and allied items. The coir industry which is agro-based and making eco-friendly traditiional products is almost on the verge of sinking. Hence immediate help from Govt. of India would be of immense benefit for the near survival of coir industry.

Mr. Gaurav Marya, President of Franchise India Holdings Ltd

What is in store for the Franchise Fraternity?Expansion through set up of franchised stores has become one of the preferred business models for retailers in recent times. The Indian regulations do not provide for any specific legislation regulating franchise arrangement in India. One of the prominent reason being the intricacy of the relationship between the parties and the applicability of various laws depending on the nature of such relationships. Thus, the foremost expectation from the Union Budget 2011-12 would be to grant long awaited legitimacy to the franchise business. The laws regulating franchising in India come within the ambit of Indian company law under the specific heads relating to contract, agency, distribution, leasing, assignment, securities, financial investments, intellectual and other legislations, which may become applicable in particular case. Another important aspect which needs clarity is the tax implications in the franchise business such as the applicability of local sales tax, service tax, property tax, and withholdings tax. Further, how the franchise arrangement is structured and the existence of treaties while dealing with other countries may have considerable influence on the structure adopted between the parties. Till date there has been a lot of ambiguity on the application of service tax in the franchise business despite of having a notification relating to the same. As stated in the notification dated 2003, service tax is payable on the gross amount charged by the franchisor from the franchisee in relation to franchise. The notification attracts numerous doubts on the scope of activities covered and the applicability of the provisions as stated there under. Considering the loopholes in the exact definition and attached ambiguities, the said notification has been an instrument of tax evasion. It is significant to highlight in detail the broader service tax implications in various industries. As an instance, under the Indian service tax law the educational institutes are exempted from the applicability of service tax. However, in franchise business relating to education, the individual service provider is not exempted from the Service Tax Registration and payment if he/she is a franchisee where the turnover of the franchisor is above the exemption limit. Thus it is consequential that all the franchisees will have to get registration with service tax department, collect the service tax from students and deposit the same to the Government even if their individual turnover does not reach the exemption threshold. Such provisions need a critical evaluation in the upcoming Budget 2011-12. Also, the government has received inputs from various sections of the society on opening up of the FDI(Foreign Direct Investment) and the industry is hopeful of at least a thought provocation, if not, a decision on this policy matter in the coming budget. Similarly, the dual taxation aspect in franchising also needs a profound view by the finance minister. Presently, the Indian franchisor is bearing the applicability of dual taxation of service tax and state taxes (VAT, CST) depending on the nature of services/ product sold. Franchise industry has been looking forward to several regulatory as well as policy reforms to facilitate its growth. It is quite evident that the present structure relating to franchise business is not beneficial for the vigorously growing franchise industry. While abolishing the impact of dual taxation, application of a uniform GST, will have its own implications, it is also the need of the hour to integrate the tax structures arising in a franchise business from a long term perspective.

Sanketh Arouje, Leader – Economic Analysis Group, Dun & Bradstreet India

IT/ITES Sector 1. Continuation of the tax benefits provisions under STPI schemeIn the last union budget, the government had extended tax benefits for units in STPI by another year till March 2011. Units set up in these parks are eligible for a 10-year tax holiday if they are notified before March 2012 and become oper­ational before March 2014. Even as the DTC is expected to be introduced from April 01, 2012, it would anyway do away with the tax holiday; thus the benefit could be extended by one year. Large IT companies would be able to alleviate the tax burden arising from the expiry of tax holiday by moving into SEZs. However, SMBs, which form the bulk of the companies registered with STPI, will be severely affected, as they are still struggling in the post recession period and do not have the financial resources to face this challenge. 2. Bring STPI incentives at par with SEZ The STPIs incentives are expected to be brought at par with SEZs. The industry expects that the disparity of treatment between the STPI and the SEZ units to be removed. The government should allow the STP units to transfer under the SEZ scheme. If under the new DTC the tax holiday is not made available for the STP units, the only way in which STP units can avail of tax holiday under the DTC, would be, to shift to SEZ. 3. Increase spending on e-governance projects The industry hopes that the government will increase its focus on e-governance projects. Recently, the government has made several investments in areas such as the computerisation of its various departments and investing in programmes such as NeGP and the UID project. It is expected that the government will continue to invest in these kinds of projects which will help the domestic market grow in a sustainable manner.

Mr. Hanuman Tripathi, Founder, Infrasoft Technologies Limited

1. There is an ongoing controversy of taxation on packaged software solution in India regarding a component of VAT which is applicable for license sale and a component of Service Tax that is applicable on implementation & support services of packaged software. There is also confusion with regards to government wanting to apply excise duty on domestically produced software and custom duty on imported software. We also keep getting enquiries from local Octroi authorities, besides getting demands from Octroi department stating that software is a ‘GOOD’ and it has to be charged with Octroi. All this is harassment of the IT industry which has contributed significantly to the country’s growth & fame in the last 10 years. This must be sorted as an important tax regime very quickly. A standardized GST on all these items will resolve all the problems. The Central Government should give clear directives to Excise Department and State Government on not creating their own interpretation of what is software and what are finished goods. 2. Space in STP/SEZs should be made available at discounted rates, to mid size/mid cap companies who already don't have a software factory in a STP/SEZ. This will create large delivery capacity at lower real estate costs. Rapidly rising real estate costs in all large Indian cities threatens to become a deterrent in India's software industry competitive advantage soon. 3. Government should give some kind of export incentives for mid-sized and small companies. 4. Government should also incentivize people working in Financial Inclusion space as they are going to contribute to the vertical growth in a very big way in areas of removal of poverty and illiteracy from the face of the country and help in creating a transparent census. Disclaimer: The views expressed here are solely of the author and not that of the company. Both, the author and the company cannot be held responsible for the accuracy of the information

Captain Uday Palsule - Managing Director - Spear Logistics Pvt.Ltd.

"Two major areas of change expected from budget will be soft (legislative) and the hard (infrastructure) changes. Infrastructure changes have long term gestation period and derive confidence from the soft changes. They are underway and will happen. Soft changes are critical and have the ability to transform logistics networks and reduce overall costs for the country up to about 3-4%! First, conferring “ industry status” to Logistics industry will provide great focus and leverage for actioning large number of reforms which have been hanging fire. Industry will have strong representation for clarity on Service Tax, implementation for Carriers Act, Reforms in Carrier liability in Insurance. These changes will reduce undefined risk, attract investment in the industry, cut paperwork and make the industry more efficient. Implementing GST is a pathbreaking change which will transform the way business is carried out in India. It will integrate the logistics networks, enforce larger, smarter warehouses and most of all lower inventories. This will invite organized players into contract logistics and make the industry more sophisticated."

Samson Arthur, GM - Quinn India

With Indian and Global economies moving away from turbulent times and returning to normalcy, certain measures in Union Budget 2011-12 will aid speed-up the growth process. And I hope Finance Minister Sri Pranab Mukherjee will present a budget that will augment growth and prosperity in every aspect in India.
While, Finance Minister Sri Pranab Mukherjee has certainly presented a very good Budget last year, best suiting the need of the times then; similar progressive measures are expected from him this time around too.
I recollect a famous quotation of Mahatma Gandhi who said, “Democracy is the art and science of mobilizing the entire physical, economic and spiritual resources of various sections of the people in the service of the common good of all.” And I sincerely would like to see this budget uniting our capabilities to build a better tomorrow.
Personally, I would like to see an increased focus on infrastructure development – an aspect which can propel India to a new level of auto-accelerated growth. With this we could certainly expect the GDP to exceed the highs from previous years.

Vibha Padalkar, Chief Financial Officer, HDFC Life

No radical changes are expected in the Finance Budget 2011, as the Direct Tax Code is on its way in2012.
Life Insurance industry is expecting separate limit of Rs.50,000/-for the life insurance premium, apartfrom the deduction u/s 80C of Rs.1 lac and Rs.20,000/- for Infrastructure bonds. Availability of separatetax exemption for life Insurance premium will boost the Life insurance industry, as the tax payerswill look at it as a tax savings device. This will ensure better insurance penetration in the country.Currently, the total tax savings such as PPF, Life insurance premiums, PF contributions, National SavingsCertificates etc are covered under Rs.1 lakh limit u/s 80C of the Income tax Act.

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Krishna Ramachandran, Chief Financial Officer, ACIS - A company of Allianz

In the past, Budget has always been a time where people and corporates looked forward to reduction in tax slabs or for some new breaks. Now that the tax structure has stabilised and become structured, it is important for the budget to look at structural reforms and stability in the government spending as well as the social and environmental infrastructure of the country. My recommendations or wish list for the budgets are as under:
Government reforms: a) Corporatize Railways, Indian Posts, Ports, Airports authority and Highways authority, thereby moving out the financial and administrative responsibility from the government. This will also enhance investment in infrastructure by providing these companies access to domestic and international debt and equity markets. b) Reduce the manpower at the clerical level as per the earlier Pay Commission reports. c) Enhance the digitisation in the government tax departments to plug revenue leakage and enhance tax flows. d) Speeden up e-governance to improve transparency and speed. Points c and can be funded by way of a special technology cess on tax collections, replacing what was originally an oil cess. Cess money is retained by the Central Government
Build social and environmental infrastructure: a) Set up a national monitoring watchdog for social and environmental infrastructure, which in addition to being a watchdog will also monitor and report on the implementation of the conditions laid out by the environment ministry for clearances of large projects. b) Provide fiscal disincentives to corporates who damage the existing social and environmental resources. c) Provide enhanced benefits to those corprates who are investing in social infrastructure. d) Set up a national program to channelize CSR funds of small corporates and individuals into a structured program, like rural schooling, healthcare or sanitation. e) Set up targets or conditions for social development or CSR for approvals of large projects including FIPB projects.
Additional taxes: Of course there is still some potential for additional taxes which can be used to fund our social and environmental infrastructure or rather prevent environmental damage. These include, a) Tax agricultural income a certain limit, say Rs 500,000 per annum. Additional taxes can be used for environmental protection. b) Excise duty on beedis to be enhanced for both handmade and machine made. Additional funds to be used solely for healthcare. c) Education cess on mining and petroleum extraction solely to fund rural schooling. d) Registration fees and License fees on private courier and transport companies, to find the deficit of the government postal services in rural areas.

Arup Roy - Principal Research Analyst, Gartner

Critical success factor in the overall growth and development of Indian ICT industry would depend a lot on government's focus and investments thereof in the development and upliftment of 1) Infrastructure - hassle free infrastructure to enable smooth business operation, hence would expect investments in development of world-class infrastructure such as roads, power, public transportation within cities, domestic and international air connectivity, a robust telecommunications infrastructure, and quality real estate. Insufficient infrastructure is a major bottleneck in the growth of India's IT industry, investments in the infrastructure and education will give a big boost to the offshore IT industry in the long run 2) Education - expect investments in revamping the educational sector so that in the longer time frame India is able to produce creative, lateral-thinking graduates rather than just task-oriented "doers" 3) On-Time implementation of projects - All plans and project geared towards development, growth, upliftment vastly lose its meaning if it is not implemented on time. The entire government and bureaucratic machinery has to radically change its ways and means of execution so that "on-time" implementation is achieved. Of course it is the most difficult challenge but it could be achieved if driven from top down with tight checks and balances. If all these points are addressed well then it automatically would result in the growth of FDIs and India centric business. In terms of taxes and other sops (STPI and the debate thereof), I think the Indian IT industry has developed its own momentum now and can sustain on its own. In order to boost entrepreneurship, small scale providers perhaps they should look at Tierization of companies and those falling in the lowest tier should be the ones to enjoy those tax and other benefits. As an example – in order to let small providers participate in the e-governance projects in India, a certainly percentage of work (say 25%) should be reserved for bidding only by the small providers. These are perhaps the best times for India in terms of economic growth and the government should make every effort to use this momentum to create further opportunities of growth.

K.Venkataraman, Chennai

Dr.Indiresan has made a beautiful analysis of the causes for the murder of Mr.Sonawane an IAS officer who was holding a post of Additional Collector in Maharashtra. However, none of the three suggestions, viz., higher pay for the politicians, abolishing of family owned parties and the state meeting the expenses of serious electoral candidates are workable and practicable. Greed in the human being can not be satiated by any amount of increase in remuneration, particularly for the politicians. The oil mafia and consequent death of a government servant has not been taking place for the first time. Earlier Mr.Manjunath an officer of the Indian oil corporation was brutally killed in Uttar Pradesh. Successive Governments are responsible for such lop sided policies of creating differential pricing in petroleum products to meet the fuel requirement of the poor. The said policy doesn’t benefit the poor, but only enables rampant adulteration and smuggling of the scarce resource to neighboring countries causing heavy leakages in the system. Although serious and honest introspection is the need of the hour by the policy makers, an ostrich like attitude prevails leading to supply and demand imbalances. Such problems and consequent mafia arise not just in oil alone, but in mining, quarrying of sand for construction purposes, supply of rice and food articles in near throw away prices through PDS and also earlier constraints created in the import of gold ornaments. One may appreciate the fact that liberalization of the import of gold ornaments by the Indian tourists visiting abroad during the early part of this millennium has greatly eased the problem of smuggling of such precious metal.
Therefore, system corrections taking into consideration national interest & population at large are the need of the hour. We wish the ensuing budget takes into consideration such chronic problems afflicting our society.

K K Mital, PMS Head, Globe Capital

The Union Budget 2011-12 is round the corner, and this budget is a real testing time for the finance minister. It is coming at a
critical time when a lot of macro level challenges like escalating food inflation, rising crude prices, high current account deficit,governance issues and difficult task of sustaining the growth momentum are making the headlines.
A comfortable and unstoppable Indian growth story has suddenly come under the threat of moderation due to factors such asescalating inflation, tight liquidity, rising interest rates, southward facing investments in industrial as well as infrastructuresectors and top of them the governance and corruption issues which have impaired the investors’ sentiments to a large extent.Given the current political landscape and with elections due in some States, carrying forward the fiscal reforms along withmaintaining the growth momentum would be a tough call.

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Sanketh Arouje, Leader – Economic Analysis Group, Dun & Bradstreet India

1. Continuation of the tax benefits provisions under STPI schemeIn the last union budget, the government had extended tax benefits for units in STPI by another year till March 2011. Units set up in these parks are eligible for a 10-year tax holiday if they are notified before March 2012 and become oper­ational before March 2014. Even as the DTC is expected to be introduced from April 01, 2012, it would anyway do away with the tax holiday; thus the benefit could be extended by one year. Large IT companies would be able to alleviate the tax burden arising from the expiry of tax holiday by moving into SEZs. However, SMBs, which form the bulk of the companies registered with STPI, will be severely affected, as they are still struggling in the post recession period and do not have the financial resources to face this challenge. 2. Bring STPI incentives at par with SEZ The STPIs incentives are expected to be brought at par with SEZs. The industry expects that the disparity of treatment between the STPI and the SEZ units to be removed. The government should allow the STP units to transfer under the SEZ scheme. If under the new DTC the tax holiday is not made available for the STP units, the only way in which STP units can avail of tax holiday under the DTC, would be, to shift to SEZ. 3. Increase spending on e-governance projects The industry hopes that the government will increase its focus on e-governance projects. Recently, the government has made several investments in areas such as the computerisation of its various departments and investing in programmes such as NeGP and the UID project. It is expected that the government will continue to invest in these kinds of projects which will help the domestic market grow in a sustainable manner.

O. N. Jayakumar, Tutocorin Alkali Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd.,

Combating and Controlling Corruption, Black Money and Inflation
This year's budget should mainly focus on unearthing unaccounted money and put them for productive purposes. In order to have a good control over parallel economy, it is suggested that a 2% tax on agricultural income over and above Rs. 10 lakhs per assessee may be levied to plug the loophole in the economy.
A surcharge may be levied at 10 paise per unit on electricity consumption wherever exemption in payment is given so that misuse and leakage of power is easily traced.
Non-corporate assessees maybe asked to furnish their assets and liabilities (exceeding one lakh rupees) every year in their returns as a piece of information . An efficient banking transaction tax on huge cash transactions can be introduced linking it to unique identification number.
The government can introduce subsidy to the low nitrogenous fertilizers like Ammonium Chloride which is hitherto not covered under the subsidy scheme so that they are made available cheap to the farmers.
Exemption maybe given from MAT to sick companies who are just recovering and also reducing the MAT rate for the other companies in order to mitigate the hardship of spiraling interest rates. Lot of amendments have to made under the Income-Tax Act and other statues to take care of IFRS implementation effective April 2011.