Processing .....please wait.. 
The article has been forwarded.... 
NRIs in Britain welcome Chidambaram's budget
Monday, 12 July 2004, 19:30 IST
LONDON: Prominent industrialists and economists of Indian origin in Britain have welcomed India's general budget presented by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, saying it addressed the needs of the country's poor.
Flush with growing recognition of non-resident Indians (NRIs) in India and the increasing presence of Indian companies in Britain, they, however, expressed concerns over high subsidies and increased defence spending.
"It is a balanced budget," said Sir G.K. Noon, head of a prominent food company, the Noon Food Products.
"The setting up of the investment commission is a good sign," he said about the proposal to establish an independent panel that will seek to boost both domestic and foreign investment.
"It will help make India more attractive for investors. I am also very happy that there will be focus on tourism and the infrastructure is being looked at," he added.
Noted economist Lord Meghnad Desai of the London School of Economics felt the finance minister was gambling that India's gross domestic product, which expanded by 8.2 percent last fiscal, would continue to grow at higher rates.
"Many of his (Chidambaram's) concessions are for rural interest and they imply not collecting taxes rather than spending money. There seems to be nothing dramatic in this budget," Desai told the media.
"One has to assume that Chidambaram needs a little more time before he comes up with an effective fiscal policy. It is a pity that he has not expanded the tax base nor cut subsidies," he said.
"These tasks will remain for the future for him to tackle."
Britain's Business Ambassador Swraj Paul, who is also chairman of the Caparo group, said the budget was "positive and "growth-oriented," but added it did not address the fact that agriculture sector today was a high-tech business.
"I would have liked to see more focus on health because it is the health which is going to reduce costs and improve productivity. Secondly we must make literacy a fundamental right," said Paul, who also co-chairs the Indo-UK Round Table.
"We also need to improve the quality of education because that is the way progress is going to come."
Karan Bilimoria, co-chairman of the Indo-British Partnership, said the budget seemed to be consistent with the Manmohan Singh government's priorities.
"I am delighted that the emphasis on continued reform and a high growth economy is going to persist with a target growth rate of 7-8 percent per year for a sustained period," he said.
Source: IANS
Source: IANS