Vikram Sehgal, chairman, Chandigarh Committee, felt the Budget was not growth-oriented.

``The small and medium industry was expecting at least 2 per cent reduction in CST, but increase in the service tax would further burden the SMEs. Sudha Sharma, former Director General, Income Tax, North Zone, said the Budget was reform-oriented. She said Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) was a vague tax.

According to the CII, it was a continuation of the growth-oriented measures announced by the FM in his previous two budgets. The FM had performed a fine balancing act by not introducing new taxes or increasing tax burden but at the same time has increased budgetary allocation to social and rural sectors.

"This year's Budget continues with the reform agenda and would help sustain the growth momentum in the Northern Region," stated Ajay Shriram, chairman, CII, Northern Region. The agrarian economies of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh would benefit from the food-processing sector being treated as a priority sector for bank credit, he said.

Shriram lauded the special grant of Rs 100 crore for Punjab Agriculture University (PAU) as a Centre of Excellence for its commendable work in agricultural research.

The existing hubs -- Ludhiana for textiles, Haryana for automobiles and Rajasthan for petroleum, would greatly benefit from the new Budget proposals. The Technology Upgradation Fund (TUF) scheme for the textile sector has been increased from Rs 435 crore to Rs 535 crore, which would give necessary impetus to the industry in the North.

R M Khanna, Managing Director of Stanley Engineering Pvt Ltd, and a member of CII, lauded the government's decision to develop 1,000 kms of access-controlled expressway, with four in the North: Delhi-Chandigarh, Delhi-Jaipur, Delhi-Meerut, and Delhi-Agra, and this will especially help the industry in the region. Pratap Aggarwal appreciated the increased budget support for education which will help the ICT industry in the country.

S S Johal, ex vice-chancellor of PAU, welcomed the Rs 100 crore grant to the institute, which he said would boost research work there.

From a macro-economic perspective the Budget appears very positive, said Prasad Menon, Managing Director of Tata Chemicals.

"Targeting 10 per cent growth and voicing a hope to put in place GST by 2010 are very positive moves."

The few corporate chiefs who chose the BCCI venue for Budget viewing said that the Finance Bill 2006-07 sustained the growth momentum.

Barring a few minor benefits that accrued to sectors by way of minor tinkering with tariffs, the overall thrust of the Finance Bill tends towards broader economic growth.

There were minor changes for the corporate sector - like the changes in fringe benefit tax and widening of service tax net.

Sectors such as textiles, power, infrastructure, tourism, steel, automobiles, and gem and jewellery have got minor gains from the Budget.

The Budget was likened to a vision document of the Government. "Just as the corporate sector works on a long-term plan, the Budget is aiming to do the same," Menon said.

Among the negatives cited were: increase in minimum alternate tax (MAT) to 10 per cent from 7.5 per cent of book profits and increase in service tax rate from 10 per cent to 12 per cent.

Corporate reactions that poured in were largely appreciative of the direction of the Budget.

"It provides the necessary traction to taking India's GDP growth to an 8-10 per cent clip per annum," said Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman of the Aditya Birla group.

He added that it was a "compassionate Budget" as it fosters human dimension of development with a clear focus on the rural sector.

The Confederation of Indian Industry, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Chambers of Commerce and Industry and others welcomed the decision to curtail fiscal deficit to less than 4 per cent and cut in excise duties on a wide range of items. The clear signal sent out by Mr. Chidambaram on introduction of Goods and Services Tax by 2010 would help in integrating the economy and making the country a single market.

FII limits

They also welcomed the move for upward revision of FII investment limits in corporate debt and Government securities. While the railway budget had ignored the State, it was heartening that the Finance Minister made a mention of Hyderabad metro rail project in his budget speech.

They, however, expressed concern that the Government could not take a decision on lowering the central sales tax to 2 per cent and abolition of the Fringe Benefit Tax. The absence of a clear road map for growth of the small and medium enterprises sector was another area of concern.

Inflation problem

A section of the CII described the budget as a `balanced one' presented in view of the elections to five States. The CII representatives said that though the budget had promises for massive infrastructure development, the Finance Minister did not spell out the ways through which the projects would be funded. Mr. Chidambaram also did not specify the Government's plans to keep inflation in check and address the problem of unemployment.

The FICCI opined that the Finance Minister could have pursued the policy of reforms in public sector undertakings and disinvestments. In the context of the coalition Government at the Centre, the budget might have been silent on disinvestments.