Budget 2024 has laudable goals but misses a few tricks

livemint.com:

Ajit Ranade: An overdue pivot to human capital and employment There was also a reference in the budget speech to the need to simplify rules for FDI and ODI, and to promote the Indian rupee as a currency for overseas investment. While the FDI and ODI policy has been liberalised over the years, including through notification and regulations announced in August 2022, some aspects remain grey, such as whether portfolio investments are indeed permitted or not under ODI. Also, some substantive aspects (and indeed, procedural aspects) are difficult to deal with at the ground level, and one hopes that these will be addressed expeditiously.

One of the priorities of the government is building urban infrastructure, and within that, nudging state governments to reduce stamp duty. However, urban housing needs to be viewed in the context of stratospheric prices in most cities, including tier-2 ones, because of which owning a home remains a dream for a large part of the population. A more integrated approach is needed, one that raises the interest deduction limit from ₹2,00,000 to a much higher level, increases incentives for affordable housing, and more.

In any case, stamp duty and registration could be cut substantially to reduce the burden to some extent. More broadly, the budget speech mentioned the government’s intention to conduct a comprehensive review of the Income Tax Act, 1961. One hopes that such a review will also address substantive elements, such as the need to do away with outlier legislation, which is a serious deterrent to ease of doing business.