While expressing confidence that India was poised to grow into a $5 trillion economy due to the impetus given in the Union Budget 2019-20 to infrastructure spending and alleviation of the social sector, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) - Andhra Pradesh chairman Galla Vijay Naidu said on Friday that he was disappointed as far as aspirations of the State were concerned, because the fiscal roadmap contained nothing that would solve its problems.
‘Onus on MPs’
He hoped that the 25 MPs from the State would fight to garner the expected financial support from the Central government.
Addressing the media at the ‘Union Budget 2019-20 Tele-viewing Session’ organised by the CII-A.P. here, Mr. Vijay Naidu said the budget did not make any mention of the funds required for the construction of the capital city, Amaravati, and some major projects and educational institutions that needed the Central government’s support, and that the scope for creation of large-scale employment appeared to be bleak.
Overall, the policy measures announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and the allocations given to various sectors were welcome as they would propel the Indian economy to a higher trajectory, he observed.
CII-AP vice-chairman and membership panel convener D. Ramakrishna said the substantial allocation for the development of roads and waterways would improve the ‘productivity of transport’, which was crucial for the economy to grow at a fast clip. The fillip given to promotion of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet-of-Things (IoT) etc. was timely as the country geared up for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
CII-AP public policy task-force chairman J.S.R.K. Prasad said the budget had rightly focused on augmenting the farm-to-market infrastructure, and it remained to be seen how the adoption of electric mobility pans out as at stake would be the legacy technologies on which the industry was still heavily dependent.
He stated that simplification of labour laws was an appreciable move and so was the ‘one-nation one-power grid’ initiative.
CII-AP MSME panel convenor Y.V. Krishna Mohan and healthcare panel co-convenor V. Nagalakshmi and CII Vijayawada zone chairman P. Ravi Kiran and CII-AP past chairman V.V.M. Krishna were among those who spoke.
