India Inc on Friday applauded finance minister (FM), P Chidambaram?s fourth Budget terming it as ?fantastic job?.

Reacting to the Budget, Sunil Mittal, president, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), said, ?Budget is on the expected lines and the industry has not been penalised although we are disappointed that the corporate tax has not been changed.?

Mittal said that the Budget is on the expected lines and there is optimism yet caution. He said that as expected, the FM has come with a massive allocation for the social sector and that too without any burden on any other sector.

Even while Mittal hailed the move to waive off the farmers? loan to the tune of Rs 60,000 crore, he hoped that the move may not send wrong signals for the succeeding governments. ?Money that has been borrowed has to be repaid,? he said.

In its pre-Budget memorandum, the industry body had emphasized on inclusiveness, enhancing competitiveness and development of human resources for inclusive and sustainable high rates of GDP growth.

In response to this, the finance minister has increased the allocation for the education sector by 20% to Rs 34,400 crore, earmarked Rs 10,200 crore to increase resource base of Nabard, Sidbi and NHB, another Rs 20,000 crore for Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme, Rs 644 crore for National Agriculture Insurance Scheme, to name a few.

On the taxes front, the finance minister, in line with CII?s proposals, has reduced the Cenvat from 16% to 14%. However, Chidambaram failed to deliver on the export front as well as the corporate tax. While no income tax benefits have been announced for exporters that have wafer-thin margins and have been badly hit after the rupee appreciated by 9.8%, there has been no change in the corporate tax, which has brought about some disappointment to the industry. ?With tax reliefs at personal levels, the industry is disappointed that no change has been announced for corporate tax,? Mittal said. However, with no further reduction in custom duty as proposed by CII, the industry is optimistic that there would be level-playing field with other ASEAN countries.

Quite on the lines of CII, another industry chamber, Ficci has also termed the Budget a balanced statement that fulfills the political compulsions of the government without compromising the growth of the economy. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, president, Ficci, said, ?I am convinced that the Budget will continue to spur growth as stated by the Prime Minister?s statement on our 80th Annual General Meeting?.

Ficci?s recommendation that the income tax exemption limit be enhanced from Rs 1.1 lakh to Rs 1.5 lakh has been heeded by the government. The Industry?s request on cascading effect of the dividend distribution tax has also been partially addressed by the finance minister. ?In a year when the government has collected 40% more revenue, corporate sector has faired extremely well and rupee has appreciated substantially, keeping in mind the global compression, the finance minister has done a tightrope walk between keeping the growth momentum going and delivering a political statement to please the people,? said Amit Mitra, secretary-general, Ficci.

Ficci lauded the FM?s initiative to promote hospitals and healthcare sector in tier II and tier III cities. The Chamber felt that the unchanged peak rate of customs duty on non-agricultural products would help Indian industry in the face of the appreciating rupee. The chamber also welcomed the decision to lower excise duties on a wide range of products and the across-the-board reduction in Cenvat rate from 16% to 14% as this will provide a boost to the manufacturing sector.

Ficci termed the FM?s announcement of setting up a non-profit corporation for promoting skill development with an outlay of Rs 15, 000 crore a fresh and timely idea. The removal of banking cash transaction tax as well as further modification of the fringe benefit tax were termed as welcome steps.

The third premier industry body Assocham while welcoming the Budget said that by and large it was good, consumer and expense-oriented.

??The Budget came very much to our expectations, We welcome it particularly for the loan waiver announced for the farmers,?? Assocham president Venugopal N Dhoot said.

According to the JK Mittal, co-chairman, Assocham Indirect taxes Committee the industry body had asked for reduction of excise duty and was very happy that the finance minister accepted the proposal.

Assocham in its pre-Budget memorandum had recommended for the enhancement of the limit for the small service providers and the finance minister announced the enhancement of limit from present Rs 8 lakh to Rs 10 lakh, giving benefit to 65,000 service tax assesses. It had also recommended change in the duty rate of various other commodities, including small cars, pharmaceutical items and water purifier equipment on which the finance minister has obliged. The Chamber complimented the finance minister and said that he has provided aid to small and marginal farmers who were reeling under acute debt burden and struggling hard for survival. It cautioned that waiving off loans is not the ultimate solution and suggested for creating a mechanism to monitor various laudable schemes announced to ensure that their deliveries reach the targeted groups.