CII welcomes 'growth-oriented' Budget

New Delhi, Feb 1 (IANS) The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Tuesday welcomed the Union Budget 2022-23 presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, saying it has set the tone for India's aspiration to be the fastest growing major economy in the world this decade.

"The Finance Minister presented a very growth-oriented and transformative Budget, which will not only strengthen the economic recovery currently underway, but also lay the foundation for bolstering the medium to long-term growth potential of the economy," said CII Director General, Chandrajit Banerjee.

He highlighted that the Indian industry welcomes the government's commitment towards boosting investments, creating jobs, improving ease of doing business, maintaining tax stability and certainty in policy regime through the well-designed and prudent measures delineated in the Budget.

Banerjee stated that the massive 35.4 per cent rise in capital spending budgeted for 2022-23 is in line with CII's suggestion and lends credence to the government's vision of improving the economy's growth potential through a push to overall productivity of the economy and creation of jobs.

"We are confident that the growth projection made by the Economic Survey at 8-8.5 per cent in 2022-23 will be met," the CII DG averred.

Even as a boost was given to investments, Banerjee said the FM did a fine balancing act of maintaining fiscal discipline by containing the fiscal deficit at 6.9 per cent for the current fiscal and bringing it down along with a steady glide path of 6.4 per cent next year.

He said that CII is happy to note that the second pandemic Budget came out with some landmark announcements, which will go a long way in reviving growth by catalysing demand and investments.

The renewed focus on education and healthcare are big positives, which will spur a transformational shift in the quality of life of the large population, the CII DG added.