RELIGARE : BUDGET COMMENT FROM HEALTH INSURANCE PERSPECTIVE

BY: MR. ANUJ GULATI, MD & CEO, RELIGARE HEALTH INSURANCE

“The government’s sustained focus on commissioning impactful public healthcare solutions is very encouraging. Specifically, the Rs.1,00,000 family health cover (with Rs.30,000 top-up for Sr. Citizens) under the health protection scheme and roll-out of the National Dialysis Service Program, are testament of the objective to primarily serve the most financially vulnerable segments of the population along with chronically ill; thereby facilitating their access to quality healthcare.”

In his capacity as MD & CEO, Anuj is responsible for setting up this business and working towards making Religare as one the dominant players in the Indian Health Insurance industry. In his last role at ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited, Anuj was the Director for Services and Business Development. Previously, he has been an entrepreneur and started his career as a financial analyst with Procter & Gamble India Ltd.

Deepak Joshi, President and Chief Business Officer, Religare Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd 

This budget is well balanced as its focused on ease of doing business, Make in India, infrastructure and social sectors. The budget has laid out a clear roadmap to give impetus to Pradhan Mantri Avas Yojna(PMAY)-Mission Housing for all by 2022 by announcing tax sops for both individuals and developers for affordable housing sectors. Additional tax rebate of Rs 50000 to first time home buyers, 100% deduction of profit allowed to developers for construction of affordable housing and exemption of service tax for construction of housing units upto 60 sqmt is definitely going to contribute on demand and supply side of affordable housing.

 MR. SRIRAM IYER, CEO, RELIGARE PRIVATE WEALTH:

The biggest highlight is the commitment to hold the Fiscal deficit numbers and the consequent impact of this on the Fixed Income markets evidenced by the sharp rally in G-secs. The other theme that the Budget focuses on is providing relief to the lower/lower-middle income class and Rural/Agri sector and thus providing more disposable income to that segment. All in all, while there were no big-bang announcements, this is a good balancing act.

From an HNI perspective, the biggest impact has been on the introduction of a 10% tax on Dividend income above 10 lacs – though this will not really cause any impact on clients outlook towards Investing in Equities which is driven by capital growth considerations rather than dividend payments.

Taxation proposals are largely targeted at providing relief to the low-middle income class while taxing the HNIs through an enhanced surcharge on the 1 cr. +  bracket.

Mr. Sriram Iyer , CEO, Religare Private Wealth

Mr. Sriram Iyer has over 20 years of experience in the Financial Services Industry spread across NBFC’s and Banks. He has managed large teams across various functions and carries an in-depth understanding of the Financial Services Industry across Wealth Management, Loans and Banking product. Prior to joining Religare he was associated with ABN AMRO Bank (now RBS). He is an MBA Finance and is also a Structural Engineer.

MR. JAYANT MANGLIK, PRESIDENT, RETAIL DISTRIBUTION, RELIGARE SECURITIES LTD

This is a fiscally responsible budget which has tried to cover all constituents through its nine pillar strategy. It is focused on developing agriculture, rural markets and the middle class which are important for our growth over the next several years. While there are several positives but the budget is also significant for what it did not propose i.e. increase of service tax and increase in holding period for long term capital gains. One disappointment perhaps is that only Rs 25,000 Cr is provided for bank recapitalization which is woefully inadequate. But the budget is clearly high on purpose and trying for growth while being fiscally disciplined.

Now we can look forward to a decrease in interest rates as a signal from the government to drive growth.

Mr. Jayant Manglik, President, Retail Distribution, Religare Securities Ltd.

Mr. Jayant Manglik has 18 years of experience in the financial services sector. He is currently President – Retail Distribution for Religare Broking and oversees trading of all products for the retail branches and Business Partners including equity, commodity, currency and distribution of financial products. He is a frequent writer on capital markets and an acknowledged expert on commodities. Under his leadership, the Commodities business of Religare has grown manifold. He is also a Member of the National Committee on Commodities of Confederation of Indian Industries (CII). Religare Commodities Ltd also received the Bloomberg-UTV award for Best Commodity Broker two years in a row i.e. 2011 and 2012.

Budget 2016 was a mixed-bag for the real estate industry” reckons, Mr. Chintan Sheth

“The budget 2016 was supposed to be a very crucial affair for the realty market. There were huge expectations from the Finance Minister Mr Arun Jaitley but the result was a mixed-bag if the real estate industry was considered” reckons Mr Chintan Sheth, Director, Sheth Corp.

The first positive from the budget was the exemption of DDT (Dividend Distribution Tax) from REITs. The DDT which is currently 15% was a major obstruction for the investment in REITs. Now we can expect a major chunk of investments flowing in the sector.

The other good thing in the budget was that the Service tax has been exempted for housing construction of houses less than 60 square metre i.e 645 square feet approx. This will help buyers who already had additional burden on them with various taxes. Also the First home buyers will get an additional deduction of interest of 50,000 provided value of house does not exceed Rs 50 lakh. The Finance Ministry has proposed 100% deduction to undertakings for construction of affordable housing. These initiatives will boost the affordable housing segment and will help in Government’s mission of “Housing for All”.

The Finance Ministry would pursue the implementation of GST before the Parliament. Introduction of GST will help in curbing multiple taxes which is a positive sign for the industry and result in buyers coming forward to buy property.

Though there were few good announcements to be mentioned, but the major ones were overlooked, added Mr Sheth.

The single window clearance has not been taken into consideration. There is not a proper roadmap for the real estate bill which was the most awaited and discussed topic last year. The bill will boost the entire industry and will definitely prove to be a game changer for the market. The impact of this bill will be profitable to both consumers as well as builders as it will bring transparency in the industry and confidence amongst buyers.

Mr. Jasmeet Singh Chhabra, Managing Partner, Cerestra Advisors Limited on Budget 2016-17:

Commenting on the overall budget, Mr. Chhabra said, “Nine (9) pillars of growth as stated by the finance minister, Mr. Arun Jaitley, are a paradigm shift in the way we look at structural strengthening of the economy. This would go a long way to bring a well-rounded sustainable economic well-being to the nation”.

Specifically on the education sector, he said “Having stated Education & Skills as a growth pillar, certain concessions around service tax waiver in line with the rest of education sector for education infrastructure providers would have been helpful as well”

Also, he welcomes the Finance Minister’s move to removes DDT (Dividend Distribution Tax) hurdle to make Real Estate Investment Trusts a reality, “Waiver for DDT for income distribution through REIT/INVITs lays the road for creating effective and robust REIT market in India. A great positive for the capital starved real estate sector”