Dr A C Muthiah, president, Ficci

The Union Budget has been a historic one in the sense that Finance Minister Jaswant Singh has taken a number of measures that would add to the fiscal consolidation. Reduction in the excise duty would create more demand in various sectors that have got the benefit.

Tax structure has been simplified for the salaried classes as well as for the others. Big employers like Jems and Jewellery, textiles, cement and steel have been given good thrust.

We are not in the business of rating the Budget. It is an excellent Budget which would be welcomed by large number of people cutting across the party lines.

It is a well conceived, constructed and growth oriented Budget.

I feel that the finance minister could have touched upon some areas in the field of agriculture. If he has given incentives of, say, Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) to farmers, it would have certainly helped small and medium farmers. Agriculture could have been given more thrust.

The finance minister has taken good care of the social sector. A number of steps have been taken to help the senior citizens. Their tax liabilities have been sorted out to a great extend.

Infrastructure too has been taken care off. To some extent the finance minister has addressed the issues related to the capital market. Excise, customs and income tax fields have been specially handled with care.

I would not rate the Budget a perfect 10, but I would certainly place this budget on top.

As told to Onkar Singh in New Delhi