The US industry leaders have hailed the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman yesterday. They say it will improve the ease of doing business in India and attract more foreign direct investment.

President of US-India Strategic and Partnership Forum, USISPF, Mukesh Aghi said despite a slowdown in growth, the global outlook for investment in India remains strong and therefore the budget was a great opportunity to convert the global sentiment into action. Mr Aghi complimented the Finance Minister for taking measures to boost investment in the infrastructure sector, including digital.

Welcoming the budget, the US-India Business Council (USIBC) said that abolition of the dividend distribution tax (DDT) removes a major disincentive to foreign companies seeking to set up operations in India. It said the announcement on formulating a scheme to encourage electronics manufacture and adapt it for making medical devices is a welcome move.

It added the decision would result in increased manufacturing in India leading to higher adoption rate for medical electronic equipment due to increased exports and cost-effective production. President of USA India Chamber of Commerce Karun Rishi, termed the budget as an all-inclusive, growth-oriented and transformative. He said it underlined the Indian government's intent towards building a strong foundation for achieving the goal of making India a 5 trillion dollar economy by 2025.