Budget 2023: New tax regime not for the middle class, says Mumbai-based civic activist

On Wednesday Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made five announcements related to personal income tax while delivering her fifth consecutive Budget speech This aspect was untouched when she tabled the Budget last yearA civic activist told midday the new tax regime would erase the idea of savings from the minds of future generations The industrialists however believe it would lead to more investments and increase consumptionTax regimeThe government appears to lure taxpayers to opt for the new tax regime which has failed to gain popularity since being introduced in Budget 2020 said Nikhil Desai a citybased civic activist Sitharaman announced a raise in personal income tax rebate to Rs 7 lakh from existing Rs 5 lakh However deductions investments or expenditure like under PPF and HRA arenrsquot applicable in the new tax regimeldquoThis government is creating a new generation that will give up the habit of saving ultimately While the rich donrsquot care about this as they have more than enough the poor have no option ultimately itrsquos the middle class that will be affected the mostrdquo Desai addedAlso Read Budget 2023 FMrsquos Pathaan and PMrsquos Tiger deliver boxoffice budgetReal estateDr Niranjan Hiranandani MD at Hiranandani group and national vice chairman at NAREDCO said ldquoThe capital expenditure outlays in infrastructure up to Rs 10 lakh crore nearly 3337 of GDP will have a multiplier effect on real estate asset classes like residential commercial industrial and logistics sectors Incremental Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana allocation up to Rs 79000 crore will give impetus to affordable housing and benefit a wide segment of homebuyers Rebates in personal tax will permit additional disposable income in the hands of the discerning homebuyersrdquoAnil G Verma executive director and CEO at Godrej amp Boyce called it a ldquobalanced and inclusive budget that will provide further impetus to growthrdquoldquoThe renewed thrust on investment in infrastructure will drive the productivity of our economy and generate employment Our competitiveness in the global economy will also improve through the thrust on research in fields like 5G services AI and agriculture Together with the initiatives to reduce the compliance burden and decriminalise several regulatory provisions it will improve the ease of doing business in India and attract fresh investments Measures to improve rural incomes and reduce personal income tax rates will deliver more disposable income in the hands of people driving consumptionrdquo Verma addedGreen growthMadhav Pai interim CEO at WRI India and program executive director at Sustainable Cities and Transport said ldquoThe allocations for energy transition emphasis on battery storage and green credit announcement offers encouragement for the environmental sector We are yet to see the details of how some of this will pan out particularly the green credit programme but we are headed in a positive directionrdquoSubrahmanyam Pulipaka CEO at National Solar Energy Federation of India said ldquoWe believe the provisions in this budget will help accelerate our transition to green energy green mobility green fuels and increase green jobs in IndiardquoMr Abhijit Bhattacharya founder and CBO at OneGreen said ldquoTax exemptions such as the reduction of GST rates on electric vehicle components and waivers or subsidies to households using renewable energy systems will contribute greatly towards creating an environmentfriendly infrastructurerdquoFinTechSaurav Ghosh cofounder at Jiraaf said ldquoBudget 2023 carves out an excellent path for the future with a focus on the growth of MSME sector pushing infrastructure development and enabling personal consumption The finance minister has taken substantial steps to reduce credit costs for the sector which would promote growth boost profitability and create more jobsrdquoElectric VehiclesVarun Goenka CEO and cofounder at Chargeup said ldquoThe outlay of R35000 crore for priority capital investments towards energy transition and netzero goals will boost energy security in India One of the most impactful decisions is the customs duty exemption on import of capital goods and machinery required to produce lithiumion batteries for EVs in India This will reduce the initial capital investment manufacturers need and likely make batteries cheaperrdquoTushar Choudhary founder and CEO at Motovolt Mobility said ldquoThe scheme announced to scrap old vehicles and replace the old polluting vehicles will encourage more people to switch over from petroldiesel cars to EVsrdquo