Budget surprised many people as it wasn’t populist, says Amit Chandra of Bain Capital

Budget 2023 has many takeaways on the government's vision, on several aspects like agriculture, farm credit, green push, healthcare and more uniformity in taxation across asset classes. All these, when digested by the investor community really creates the roadmap for future investment decisions.

In this episode of ‘Big Deal’, experts will throw light on how the Budget will really impact the investment scenario and the key themes that are picking up post the Budget.

Amit Chandra, Chairman & MD-India at Bain Capital mentioned that the budget surprised many people as it wasn't an election Budget. He said, “The budget had had a stimulus for taxpayers of all kinds, from the small taxpayer to the really large taxpayer. I think that will have an positive impact in months to come. But importantly, that stimulus came with a sense of fiscal responsibility and I think that's really valuable because everyone in the world is looking at India right now as an investment destination.”

Chandra highlighted the importance of continued investment in capital expenditures (capex), infrastructure and the green transition. He also commended the government for setting up a committee to look into facilitating private equity investments. He believes that taking up the measures proposed by the Damodaran Committee would be very positive.

Vineet Rai, Founder & Chairman of Aavishkaar Group called it a "very visionary" budget on many aspects. One of the highlights of the budget for Rai was the push towards green hydrogen. He believes this to be an important step towards a more sustainable future.

He also praised the number of announcements made in the areas of agriculture, logistics, and startups. He said, “The amount of announcements that we see between agriculture, micro small and medium enterprises, and the quantum I think the whole technological base that needs to be created, so that more agri techs can actually service and create efficiencies. The push towards logistics to make it much more efficient given that the kind of inefficiencies that we see in India, especially when we are going to be competing with the world. So, I think, overall the budget is wonderful, it actually is very visionary.”

Anshu Kapoor, Pres and Head-Investment Mgmt at Nuvama Asset management stated that a big pool of savings will be influenced by the direction of this Budget. Kapoor explained that the government is urging a number of people to move to the new tax regime, which could lead to a lot of change in investment behavior.

He mentioned that savings in insurance alone are about Rs 50 trillion, which is a significant amount that could be impacted by the Budget.

Kapoor also noted that the direction is clear, that the government is moving towards harmonization.