Hyderabad: The 108-year-old one of the most vibrant regional commerce, trade and industry bodies in India, the Federation of Telangana Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FTCCI) hailed the budget.

Interacting with the media Suresh Kumar Singhal, president of FTCCI expressed happiness in so many words as the budget is industry-friendly, common people friendly, salaried friendly, patient-friendly and a progressive budget. I am happy because we recommended raising the individual income tax limit to 9 lakh. But, the Minister surprised everybody by raising it to 12 lakh, Singhal shared.

One of the budget highlights was the minister’s proposal to significantly reform the country’s customs structure aimed at simplifying the tariff system and supporting domestic manufacturing. The proposal included the removal of seven tariff rates, leaving only eight remaining, including a zero rate. This is the most welcoming change, and it is a good signal to the industry for growth, he said. This will also boost the domestic manufacturing sector.

The Union Budget focused on critical minerals. It announced the National Critical Minerals Mission. The mission aims to make India self-reliant in critical minerals such as Lithium, Cobalt and several others are essential for the country’s economic growth and transition to a net-zero emission. This move also boosts the manufacturing of lithium and EV batteries, Singhal added.

FTCCI has been advocating for a fillip to the MSMEs. Rightfully Finance Minister gave a lot of sops to the MSME sector Singhal said. MSMEs are the backbone of India. Nirmala Sitharaman has appropriately emphasized on education and skill development by allocating of Rs 1.48 lakh crore to education, employment, and skill development; 10,000 fellowships for technological research in IITs with enhanced financial support, research and development expenditure in the private sector, Ravi Kumar shared Srinivas Garimella, Chairman of Industry Committee of FTCCI said the budget addressed the problems raised out of last year’s budget as well as the problem unanswered or left over last year.

The budget presented today has made efforts to improve cold chain infrastructure in India through schemes and initiatives. The inflation in Food and retail rose last year.