MUMBAI: Turner International's MD Anshuman Misra has expressed disappointment with the budget as reagrds the entertainment sector.

He said," The government has not paid any heed to the requests of the broadcasting industry on service tax issue and raised it is a worrisome factor. Especially for a nascent industry like ours in India. We were hoping that the issue of five per cent tax would be addressed, but not this way. There is also the initial feeling that there is nothing in the budget in the form of duty rationalisation on components for set-top boxes. With conditonal access system regime about to be put in force, it was hoped that keeping in mind the financial burden on the consumers, the government would look into the issue and reduce the duties."

Misra said that the budget was a letdown in light of the fact that one section of the government had said that the media and entertainment industry would be given a major fillip. On a more positive note, Misra noted that the finance minister touched upon several important factors like health and infrastrucuture and all these bode well for the country in the long run. "It is a forward-looking budget in a way, if we are not narrow enough to think only about our particular industry," Misra said.