Telangana trade, industry bodies hail Budget

Industry leaders from CII and FTCCI watching the Union Budget 2025-26 in Hyderabad on Saturday.
| Photo Credit: RAMAKRISHNA G

Trade and industry bodies and heads of some of the well-known companies in Telangana welcomed Union Budget 2025-26 as progressive, one poised to strengthen the ease of doing business and for its focus on driving investment.

CII Telangana Chairman Sai D. Prasad, who hailed the Budget as progressive, said it will accelerate India’s economic growth and strengthen labour intensive economy.

A reduction in the tax burden on the middle class will increase consumption. He also termed the Budget as agriculture and MSMEs friendly and many of the interventions proposed in it will give a fillip to the entrepreneurial ecosystem. CII Telangana gave a 7/10 rating for the Budget, Mr. Prasad said.

“We recommended raising the individual income tax limit to ₹9 lakh. But the Finance Minister surprised everyone by raising it to ₹12 lakh,” Federation of Telangana Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FTCCI) President Suresh Singh said.

Chairman of FTCCI Committee on Direct Taxes Sudhir V.S said the new Income Tax Bill, which Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Budget speech said would be introduced shortly, is long pending and need of the hour. He expected the Bill to simplify many things for taxpayers and tax administrators as well as increase ease of compliance.

Pharma industry leader and Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Chairman Satish Reddy said the Budget seeks to improve the resilience of healthcare infrastructure through cancer day centres, medical education, custom duty exemptions for life-saving drugs and measures to encouragement to medical tourism. The continued focus on the investment in private sector-driven research, development and innovation announced last year is welcome.

Telangana State Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Trade president Prakash Ammanabolu welcomed the Budget for its focus on poor, women, youth and farmers as well as inclusive development. The members were looking forward to further rationalisation of GST slabs and reduction in the rates, loans at lower rate of interest and enhanced credit facility under schemes such as Mudra. “We also request subsidised health insurance under Ayushman Bharat for traders and support in ESI ad PF contribution for small traders,” he said.

CEO and co-founder of Marut Drones Prem Kumar Vislawath said certain strategic policy shifts proposed in the Budget will open up new opportunities for farmers to adopt mechanisation and drone technology, especially in agriculture-driven States.

While welcoming various Budget proposals, Aparna Constructions Director Rakesh Reddy said several key expectations of the real estate sector remain unaddressed. “Granting industry status to real estate, streamlining approval processes and enhancing liquidity support for developers were essential priorities which would have gone a long way in accelerating real estate growth,” he said.