Budget 2007-2008 – the Infosys perspective
Senior executives at Infosys share their assessment of the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on February 28, 2007.
A missed opportunity: Narayana Murthy
N.R. Narayana Murthy, Non-Executive Chairman and Chief Mentor, Infosys, said that the budget presented a great opportunity for bold structural transformational moves to change the course of the economy. He felt that the budget set out to meet many objectives, but is not transformational. According to him, "The budget has missed a great opportunity to transform the economy."
FM deserves credit for reduction in the fiscal deficit: Nandan Nilekani
Nandan M. Nilekani, CEO and Managing Director, Infosys, lauded the Finance Minister for management of the fiscal expenditure. Regarding the Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) that is proposed to be levied on exercising ESOPs, he said, "The industry will be hurt by these measures as it goes against the idea of employee ownership."
Budget not positive for IT: S. Gopalakrishnan
S. Gopalakrishnan, Joint Managing Director and COO, Infosys, stated that there were no positives for IT in the budget. He cited that changes to bring 10A and 10B companies under MAT was a retrograde step and the FBT levy on stock options would adversely affect the IT sector.
A golden opportunity missed: T.V. Mohandas Pai
T.V. Mohandas Pai, Director, Human Resources, Infosys, stated that the budget did not adequately address the challenge of educating people and training the workforce. According to him, the budget lacked vision and made compromises. He felt that the budget missed a golden opportunity to change the future.
To read the full text of the Union Budget 2007-08, visit the
official website
of the Ministry of Finance, Government of India.
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