New Delhi : Union Budget -2012 continues to be debated at various forums among the Indian Diaspora in the West Asia region. The Indian Business and Professional Council in Dubai organized one such panel discussion in Dubai on Thursday. The experts agreed that it was a balanced budget and not a populist one. Initiating the discussion, The Consul General Of India in Dubai, Sanjay Verma outlined the strong fundamentals of Indian economy. The Chief Economist at the Axis Bank, Swagata Bhattacharya told it will give a boost to investment. He said the real estate, commodities and equities are the ones to be watched out in times to come. Chairman of Dubai based SMC Comex S.C. Agrawal welcomed the focus on infrastructure sector ,shift to the Public-Private Partnership mode and opening up in terms of External Commercial borrowings, ECB.

The President of Indian Business and Professional Council, Bharat Bhutani expressed concern over the subsidy burden and the rising fiscal deficit. Dr. Venkatesh from the Amity Group said the retail investor friendly atmosphere has been tried through the Rajiv Gandhi Equity Scheme. India Club Chairman, Ram Buxani expressed concern over the slump in the manufacturing sector and the inflationary pressures.

Leading Indian NRI and educationist, Mohan Valrani welcomed the deferment of implementation of Direct tax code by another year. At the same time, he called for scrapping of DTC provision which allows only 59 days of stay in India for exemption from income tax liability. The existing law says NRIs can stay in India up to 180 days without incurring any income tax on their global income.