With multitude of announcements in the farming and social sectors, the government was perhaps more constrained to make allocation to the infrastructure sector.
With election nearing, BJP needed a quick fix-a maximum impact but low effort move that would appease the three target groups somewhat. And it did.
FMCG companies will need to focus much more on their lower unit packs. Rural consumers as well as lower income groups in urban areas are equally aspirational.
However, Shaw thinks that the patients have been let down because they could have been given some sops as others got Goods and Services Tax exemption on NCD drugs and diagnostics.
Though the industry has hailed the announcement, it is not sure if every state will have a department that will give clearances to film makers or whether it will be a single national body.
In the last four budgets, AI did not find any mention. The government itself has not made noise about artificial intelligence being a focus area in the past four years.
Though the interim finance minister Piyush Goyal mentioned 'start-ups' in his speech quite a few times, there was no major announcement for the ecosystem.
At the end of its five year tenure, the BJP-led NDA government has pressed the 'populism' button, to remove any negativity the small and marginal farmers or the middle class have had from the government.
After Goyal's announcement, the floor of the house witnessed a cheer and celebration for around two minutes. It started with joyful roars and tapping on the desk. Prime Minister Modi also joined the chorus.
The issue of rising unemployment and job losses has become a major embarrassment for the government. In the run up to the elections in 2014, PM Modi had promised his govt would create 2 crore jobs every year.
The question is, how much of these promises will be left to the next government to fulfill and how much of these will actually reach the beneficiaries in the next three to four months.
The allocations under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana has been increased to Rs 19,000 crore as against Rs 15,500 crore in 2018-19 for rural roads which should create more jobs.
What did Piyush Goyal, the Minister of Finance, say on jobs during his Budget speech?
For the consumers, the government has tried to boost sales of second homes by trying to relax norms for genuine self-occupiers, who already have a house. For self-occupied second homes, where family is living, consumers do not have to pay tax on notional rental income.
Sectorally, auto, banking, agriculture, and FMCG stocks rallied as budget measures are expected to provide a boost to sectors in domestic consumption like automobiles, consumer staples and durables, real estate, building materials, home improvement and retail-focussed banking and financials.





