Becton, Dickinson & Co says Union Budget exudes optimism

"The 9-pillar agenda was fairly strategic and is reflective of the Government’s intent of a long term programmatic approach. Inclusion of health insurance for elderly indicates the progressive nature of the budget. It will be good to see larger ambit of population benefiting from such steps that will ultimately bring down costs of healthcare in the country," Khanna said.

"The budget looks fairly positive for the healthcare sector. An impetus to higher public healthcare spending would have made it more favorable. It is encouraging to see the reduction in import duty on certain dialysis equipment but the budget could have been broad based by extending import duty exemption on devices across a broader spectrum," said he.

"This calls for greater representation of the medical devices sector and benefits extended to diseases with high burden in India such as hepatitis, cervical cancer, diabetes, tuberculosis and cardiac problems," he advised.

Jaitley on Monday presented the Union Budget 2016 focusing on rural development and farm and social sector along with infrastructure with analysts terming it a pro-poor, pro-agriculture move that throws a challenge to the government to implement in reality.

Major focus of the budget is on agriculture and farmers’ welfare, with a massive mission to provide LPG connection to poor households, a new health protection scheme, increased outlay for infrastructure,  Rs. 2.87 Lakh crore Grant in Aid to Gram Panchayats and Municipalities and setting up of 1500 Multi Skill Training Institutes and incentives for jobs creation.