The Interim Budget does not have any major announcements that affect the industry, except for some measures such as extension of interest subsidy (on pre- and postshipment credit) to boost exports in sectors such as textiles, leather and gems & jewellery. A slew of measures were announced as part of the stimulus packages in early December 2008 and January 2009. While some of these measures are positive for the respective sectors, the excise duty reduction (by 4%) across sectors has been mostly passed on to consumers. In the following sections, we assess the impact of all these measures, including announcements in the Interim Budget , if any Automobiles The net impact of various policy changes is marginally positive across auto segments. However, lower economic growth prospects, weak consumer sentiment, high interest rates and stringent disbursement norms will continue to impact automobile demand. Due to the 4% reduction in excise duty announced in December 2008, and lower fue...
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