However, Seshasayee pointed out the negative aspect of the budget which talked of freezing of Modvat. "It is the spirit that bothers me. You do not promise to give credit andrenege with retrospective effect," he said.

He felt that opening of the insurance sector to domestic private sector was a first step in enhancing the liberal process. Later if found necessary the government may allow these domestic players to have foreign joint ventures and limit their participation to 49 per cent. These are to be worked out later.

CII vice-chairman of southern region L Ganesh while stating that budget focussed on rural economy without being flamboyant, it also talked of "swadeshi". Even so it dealt with issues raised by industry and this showed that the government had a mind of its own.

Another welcome feature was the recognition of the honest tax payer. Its emphasis on infrastructure areas especially housing and construction would give a kick-start to the economy.

According to Ganesh, the budget also revealed simplicity and sincerity of purpose and was based on reality, not on dreams.

The several concessions given to small scale sector were also welcomed by S Seetharamaiah,managing director of Susira Industries, as a "very friendly budget". Two big problems of SSIs, viz, credit delivery and inspector raj were addressed quite efficiently, he felt.

CII southern region chairman and Yuken India Ltd managing director C P Rangachar noted that the finance minister had done a good job in a difficult situation.

In general, the budget would give a boost to the economy even if it led to a slightly higher inflation. But this could be managed in the years ahead, he said.

Industry needed breathing space and needed to source capital to make it more competitive. Hopefully the budget would create more space and generate more employment. Steps to increase tax burden had been introduced by widening the tax net but this was necessary. A lot more needed to be done, especially giving policy a proper legal framework, and seeing that many of the well-intended provisions were fully implemented without any road blocks, the captains of the industry noted.