Budget & You: Top fund managers react to this budget

With this year's budget setting the stage for a calibrated mix of fiscal prudence and growth-oriented measures, we wanted to know what this translates for investors. Will the budget's focus on infrastructure and MSMEs sustain earnings momentum? Can the government's revenue projections hold up amid global uncertainties? And what does this mean for debt and equity markets? To break it all down, we spoke to some of the leaders of the mutual fund industry: Sandeep Tandon, CIO of quant Mutual Fund, Mahendra Kumar Jajoo, CIO - Fixed Income at Mirae Asset Investment Managers and Ajay Khandelwal, Executive Group Vice President at Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund. Sandeep, given your fund's data-driven investment strategy, how do you interpret the fiscal deficit targets and revenue assumptions in this budget? Do you see risks or opportunities in the government projections for the equity market? I think it's a good combination of very coordinated efforts between fiscal and monetary responses. So, let's understand what was needed. Over the last six months, the Indian economy was de-growing, and consumption was the biggest challenge. Though the rural economy has been showing some early signs of coming back after maybe four years of Covid, the urban area was slowing down, part