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Experts gather in Dubai to discuss Indian budget

A panel of prominent businessmen discussed what the newly-elected Indian government’s first budget will mean for the UAE at an event in Dubai last week.

The TIMES NOW India Budget: Middle East Impact event — the third of its kind by the organisers — was attended by more than 250 prominent businessmen. Its panel was made up of renowned economist Swaminathan Aiyar; Paras Shahdadpuri, president, IBPC; S.C. Aggarwal, chairman and CEO of SMC; Ram Buxani, chairman of International Traders (Middle East) Ltd; Nitish Jain, president S P Jain Institute of Global Management; Rajeev Kakkar, CEO, CEEME of Fullerton Financial Holdings and CEO of Duniya Finance. The panel analysed the implications of the budget for Middle East and its impact on Indo-UAE trade. The Consul General of India in Dubai, Anurag Bhushan, told the event: “The Indian Budget should not really be looked [at as] a budget, but should be seen more like a Finance Bill. We now have a government in the majority led by a strong leader ... who has a great track record of implementation in Gujarat.”

Moderated by Paromita Chatterjee, consultant, ET NOW, the panel also debated if the budget could actually be implemented. Swaminathan Aiyar, who is also consulting editor of Economic Times, presented a detailed impact analysis and pointed out the missing pieces on how announced initiatives could be implemented by the government. He wondered how the land acquisition needed for the proposed bullet train would be carried out.

Aggarwal, from SMC Group, the principal sponsor of the event, said the stock market had clearly understood the positive sentiment around the new government and its ambitions. Sensex could reach 30,000 by the end of the calendar year, he said. Meanwhile, Jain said the announced budget had been sensible. “Instead of a hitting a lofty Yuvraj sixer, which could be risky, Finance Minister [Arun] Jaitley chose to take a safe two runs. I think this was the right thing to do. A budget is not a 20/20 cricket match. It is a sound workman-like budget keeping the long term in mind.”

— business@khaleejtimes.com