The government should accord “infrastructure status” to the housing sector and appoint a regulator to act as a single window for overseeing and monitoring the affordable housing agenda.

Genuine loans and advances, which are repaid during the year, should be excluded from the scope of deemed dividend as they are not a subterfuge for payment of dividend.

To promote the growth of the telecom sector and to encourage the flow of investment in the sector, the existing tax benefits should also be extended to new players and to certain other segments, which are basic to the provision of telecom services.

Momentum indicators turned positive last week on daily charts and the Nifty is likely to test 4,450 this week. Investors can go long in gold with a stoploss of 14,600. Dollar-rupee pair can slide to 47.60 where it has some support from its 20 DMA.

Several representations made by the industry may ensure the removal of Commodities Transaction Tax (CTT) in this Budget but that really leaves the situation status-quo rather than a positive step forward.

Given the losses that the export sector has suffered, the budget must set up an agenda for relief for the sector, an agenda that goes above and beyond immediate sops.

The government must seize this opportunity and aggressively build the foundation for sustained and inclusive growth. Expenditures must be made in areas like education, infrastructure and health.

Considering the current global economic scenario it is right time to introduce tax incentives along with liberal foreign investment guidelines to boost spending and economy.

Today, with the indirect tax regime poised at possibly its biggest structural reform since Independence, viz: the move towards GST, the various concerns and challenges within the present service tax structure needs to be addressed prior to introduction of GST.

Even in the recessionary environment, the Indian IT BPO service industry is poised to grow upwards of 10 per cent. The industry needs favorable tax environment and stimulus to flourish further.