Budget 2012: People speak

‘My major concern is the rising inflation’

The Union Budget has failed to impress Ananthram Rao, a chartered accountant from Airoli. “As a consumer, my major concern is the rising inflation. And the finance minister has not provided a clear-cut road map to control it,” says the 44-year-old.

Though Rao’s is a double income household — his wife Anupama is a schoolteacher — he says the hike in service tax will mean greater expenditure and higher inflation.

“Everything from clothes to entertainment will become costlier and a huge portion of our income will be spent on the basics,” he adds.

Rao says that even the rise in I-T exemption limit from Rs1.80 lakh to Rs2 lakh will bring about marginal benefit. “Besides the 10% tax for Rs2 lakh to Rs5 lakh annual income, 20% for Rs5 lakh toRs10 lakh and 30% above Rs10 lakh would mean that services like barber shops and laundry would become expensive,” he says.

Rao says investors will lose confidence as they are clueless about what’s in store for them in the long run. “Your entire capital goes for a toss if policies change drastically due to too much shuffling of rates. This unpredictability is bad for the economy as it sends a bad signal to Indian investors abroad,” he says.

‘Service tax hike worrying’

Thanks to the rise in service tax and airfare in the Union Budget 2012, Dr Sanjay Borude, bariatric surgeon at Breach Candy and Jaslok hospitals, may have to slightly tighten his household budget. Besides these, there will not be a huge impact on expenditure, he says.

“We eat out may be once a week. But, now if it burns a hole in our pocket after the hike in the service tax, we may have to curtail that too,” says the Worli resident, who has a 21-year-old son and 19-year-old daughter. “I hope the rise in airfare will not be much,” says Dr Borude, who often has to travel for work.

But, his wife Sandhya is not worried. “Hotels, airfare and cosmetics getting expensive are not a cause of concern as they are luxuries for us. I would get worried if the prices of essential commodities had increased.” The Borudes say inflation or no inflation, they will manage to run their house.