Mangaluru: Panel Discussion on Union Budget 2017 at SJEC

Mangaluru: A panel discussion on Union Budget 2017 was held at St Joseph Engineering College – Vamanjoor, Mangaluru on 14th February, 2017 under the banner of PRUDENS 2017. The event was jointly organized by the Department of Business Administration and Press & Media Committee of SJEC. 

A first of its kind initiative, the panel discussion was chaired by Dr T. Mallikarjunappa, Professor of Finance at Mangalore University. Shri Allen Pereira, Former CMD – Bank of Maharashtra, Shri Norbert M. Shenoy, Financial Consultant, Shri Henry C.F. Britto, President – Kanara Small Industries Association, and Shri Sumith Rao, Chief Executive of Olympus Refrigeration Inc., participated as panelists.

An audience numbering 400 and comprising of students, faculty, and invitees were provided an overview of the Union Budget 2017 by Dr T. Mallikarjunappa. He called upon the student community to actively participate in the budget preparation by providing suggestions to the finance ministry through the online portal at least 3 months prior to budget presentation. Shri Allen Pereira in his opening statement provided an overview of world economy in view of the rising protectionism and de-globalization, symbolized by recent US policies and BREXIT. Drawing from the economic survey, Mr Pereira also provided an overview of Indian economy and termed the Budget 2017 as cautious, restrained and balanced.

Mr Norbert Shenoy in his opening statement spoke of the Non-Performing Assets. He pointed out the presence of 6.75 Lakh Crores worth of NPAs which amounted to 4 to 5 percent of GDP and ~9 % of total lending by banks. Terming the overall Union Budget as good, he stated that the budget however failed in addressing the NPAs. Mr Henry C. F. Britto, himself an industrialist, offered a practical response to the budget from the viewpoint of Small and Medium Enterprises. He spoke about the disparity in treatment meted out to SMEs in relation to big corporations. Mr Sumith Rao, also an industrialist, concurred with Mr Britto on the problems faced by SMEs and pointed out that in the budget 2017, the initiative to start 600 skill development centers was the only positive.

The opening statements were then followed by discussions based on the queries raised by the audience and the session chair. Rev. Fr Joseph Lobo, Director – SJEC, Rev. Fr Rohith D’Costa, Assistant Director – SJEC, Dr Joseph Gonsalvis, Principal – SJEC, Dr Rio D’Souza, Vice Principal – SJEC, Dr Vincent Crasta, Dean – Student Welfare and Alumni Affairs, were the other dignitaries present in the event. Dr Prakash Pinto – Dean of Business Administration was the Organizing Chair of the event.