Quote of Mr Aditya V Agarwal, Director, Emami Group on Union Budget 2019.

 “It has been a good budget. The nation expected a balanced budget marrying both the social and economic priorities of the country and the budget FY19-20 has delivered to its expectations. Infrastructure, education and rural economy are the major beneficiaries from this budget, signaling more employment and spending power generating strong demand across business sectors including FMCG.

The budget also augers well for the cement industry with focus on infrastructure. Levy of custom duty of 10% on imported newsprint, uncoated and lightly coated paper will boost the domestic  industry and create a level playing field.

Though very marginal, the levy of 7.5% duty on import of palm oil by-products will provide some respite to the domestic refining industry. However, the issue of reinstating the differential in duty between crude and refined oil import  to 10% from the current 5 % has not been addressed in the budget. Further, the Government needs to review all the existing free trade agreements (FTAs) for Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal in the edible oil sector.

The budget has also provided some boost to the real estate industry.”