'This is a mixed Budget of sorts'

Harish Bijoor

I think this is a mixed Budget of sorts. It's not very good to the markets, looks like.

Abolishing subsidy on LPG totally would have been a really bold Budget. Let's remember that Budgets are prepared and presented by a popularly elected government. Such a move would have had 270 million plus households in arms.

We must remember that 78 per cent of this country lives in its villages.If one is to achieve equity on the tax collection front, putting agricultural income under the ambit of the tax regime is a must. Since this has not happened, many a sector will need to manage with less.

Coffee prices can't go any higher. In the retail market, prices will remain the same. in Cafes, prices will keep going up in tune with consumption trends moving from the mundane to the gourmet.

As far as the future of telecom industry in India is concerned, I believe this is pretty much of a sunrise area. There is bound to be quite a bit of a shakeout in this industry. This is bound to happen across the value-chain in telecom. Mergers and acquisitions will be the norm and the ones who will survive at the end of it all.

The agricultural sector which has shown such a handsome growth in the last fiscal is the one sector that is really under the microscope as of now. This Budget and the next few will need to keep the morale, prices, realisations and the entire future of the sector molly-coddled.There is too much of an output of grain in wheat and rice. Prices are low. Cash commodities such as coffee and tea are down as well. Plantation and agricultural labour is at the receiving end.

There is a clear case for moving our agriculture into those sectors that see us importing more. There is a clear case for a Big Scale Value Analysis exercise to be done on Indian agricultural output. We need a national agricultural policy for sure. Something that specifies what to grow, how much to grow and with what future value realisation in mind to grow.

I saw something about free sale quota of sugar being enhanced to 90 per cent.That must be sweet news. Fertilizer subsidies have been a big strain on the Indian economy. This has to be eased off gradually to rectify equity.

About the proposal for laying optic fibre cables along the railway tracks, from what I heard last, it is all in place. This is possibly the biggest of them along the railway lines. It would be a new revenue stream for the Railways then.

The climate for NRIs is as good as it has been. There sure is a scramble to get the money back into our shores. More so in sunrise businesses that seem attractive propositions.

Lot of excitement in the telecom services space from April 1. There is bound to be an expansion in lines of all varieties. There has been robust growth in the cellular industry. Basic services will see all the action post April. Focus will eventually happen, but not yet. Atleast not int he near-term future, I guess. Everyone will want to do everthing for the moment.

Harish Bijoor is COO, Zip Telecom.

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