April 21, 2011
School of Business, Bengaluru
 

MBA-MS students at the Bengaluru campus conducted an in-depth analysis of India’s macroeconomic policies post Union Budget 2011.
 

“Our efforts focused on distinguishing between real facts versus the hype and the buzz surrounding the Union Budget,” the students explained.
 

Their budget analysis document encapsulated the gist of Union Budget 2011, concentrating on its financial underpinnings, while examining all main sectors of the Indian economy.
 

Their booklet contained an epilogue that elaborated on the future growth prospects, economic inclusiveness and imminent inflation.
 

“We tried to present thoughtful analyses on several topics,” pointed out student Vijay Nagarajan, the document’s chief editor.
 

His efforts paid off, when he and classmate, Kripa Ramesh, won the first prize at an interactive discussion among B-School students in Bengaluru on the topic.
 

The event titled Pratibimb was organized by Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) on March 11, 2011. This year’s discussion theme of the annual event was Budget 2011: Impact on Future of Indian Economy.
 

Six teams of B-School students participated. Each team of two students made a ten minute presentation, then took questions from the audience.
 

The winning ASB team focussed on aspects relating to agriculture, tax reforms and financial inclusion, thus addressing the macroeconomic ramifications of Union Budget 2011.
 

Discussions with their professors and Amrita classmates had helped crystallize their views on these topics.
 

Vijay first highlighted the importance of investment demand, using Keynesian Economics to make the point that high inflation coupled with weak investment demand might make the target growth rate of 9%, difficult to achieve.
 

Kripa outlined measures taken by the government to attain inclusive growth, emphasizing how GST (goods and service tax) and DTC (direct tax code) could aid with this goal.
 

Finally Vijay came back to explain how recent economic indicators and figures were proof that inclusive growth in India was indeed being achieved.
 

Inclusive growth has long been an issue due to rising concerns that benefits of economic growth were not being equitably shared among different sections of society.
 

“The presentation elicited challenging questions from the audience,” shared the winning duo. “There were some really tough questions from the esteemed judges, which we were able to answer to their satisfaction.”
 

Raj Subrahmaniam, an alumnus of IIM-Ahmedabad and co-founder of Cash Tech, a leading firm for cash management solutions for banks was joined by Amarpal Singh Chadha, Associate Director, Global Tax Advisory Services at Ernst and Young Consulting, Bengaluru, for judging the participating teams.