Narayana Murthy has ‘mixed feelings’

BANGALORE: Infosys Technologies Limited chairman and chief executive officer N. R. Narayana Murthy, reacting to the budget proposals said: "We have mixed feelings about the budget. The reduction in the customs duties on computer hardware is timely and welcome. This should enhance the penetration of PCs in India. Similarly, steps that are announced for easing venture capital financing and enhancing the FII limits are welcome. We are confident that this would help attract global capital, create a right environment for entrepreneurship and enhanced employment opportunities."

"There are, however, some areas that have not been addressed by the Finance Minister in this budget. We expected that custom bonding, which reduces the velocity of business, would be removed. Our request for enhancing the upper limit of US$ 100 million for acquisition of companies overseas through stock-swap, has not yet been addressed. We also expected that employee stock options would be taxed only at the time of sale of the shares by the employees. We are very confident that continued interaction between the industry and the finance ministry would help in resolving these issues."