"We need deepening of research across universities — limiting fellowship is contrary to that": Expert from Shiv Nadar University on Union Budget 2025

"Overall, a sensible budget focuses on multiple fronts to boost growth rather than one big idea. That also means, much will depend on the details and implementation," he says
Dr Partha Chatterjee opines
Dr Partha Chatterjee opines(Pic: EdexLive Desk + SNU)
Published on

This budget comes at the time when the growth rate in India has slowed down a notch and the uncertainty in the world is rising. This is quite a common-sense budget.

The reduced income tax burden due to the new tax slabs is likely to boost consumption, particularly in the urban area. The different initiatives and schemes announced in the agriculture sector are likely to reduce the risk of agricultural production and raise income in rural areas. That will boost consumption in the rural areas.

Similarly, a focus on labour-intensive sectors like tourism is likely to boost income and consumption.

There are a couple of announcements that are likely to benefit investment by Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and start-ups. Raising the bar for classification criteria for MSMEs is a welcome step. Announcing a fund of funds for startups will boost that sector.

While no details are yet available, a fund of funds for deep tech is also a good idea and can augur technological innovation in the country.

This complements the announcement of ten thousand fellowships for technological research. However, what is disappointing is that it is limited to only the Indian Institutes fo Technology (IITs) and Indian Institute of Science (IISc).

We need a deepening of research across several universities and institutes — limiting the fellowship to only a few institutes is contrary to that. The government’s commitment to reforms is reassuring, though the budget was short of details in this and omitted mention of certain crucial reforms like the labor market reforms.

Finally, keeping fiscal deficit. Overall, a sensible budget focuses on multiple fronts to boost growth rather than one big idea. That also means, much will depend on the details and implementation.

(Dr Partha Chatterjee, Dean of Academics and Professor of Economics, Shiv Nadar University, Delhi NCR, is the author of this piece. Views expressed are his own.)

Related Stories

No stories found.
X
logo
EdexLive
www.edexlive.com