kolkata no prebudget calculations or curiosity the city it seems is bored of the guessing game on the eve of the union budget on wednesday shoppers were out in usual numbers buying television sets refrigerators music systems home appliances and even cars were doing business as usual televisions are doing well music systems are selling moderately no one expects prices to swing and frankly many dont bother said aloke nopany owner of harmony house one of the largest white and brown goods store in the city nopany says there is no prebudget anticipations this year even last year the people were waiting for prices to crash in some segments the prices did decline in the budget but this time around weve had steady sales with no indications of anything other than the usual industrywide slowdown he said agrees a salesman at capital electronics the appliances market is dull but has nothing to do with the budget refrigerators airconditioners washing machine and microwaves are moving at a slow pace he said abhijit dey and wife manjula who were out to purchase a 29inch colour television were not too keen on union finance minister yashwant sinha number crunching in the lok sabha the next day dey is an executive in a city firm ive reimbursed some of my expenses and my wife was keen to spend it before i did dey said adding with a chuckle it matters little what sinha proposes the wife is there to dispose not many expect even big screen televisions and megasize refrigerators to cost less next month even if excise duty on imported components are slashed by the finance minister companies have been surviving on narrow margins any cut in excise duty will come as a relief an electrolux india official said in auto showrooms business at this time of the year is very different from previous years theres no rush to make the last minute purchase before an excise duty hike nor is there a slowdown like the previous year when people expecting a big duty cut bijay bothra the ford dealer in the city said he does not expect prices to come down after the budget for those customers who appear weary though he has unveiled a neverbefore offer we are offering a safeguard whereby we will make good the losses incurred by a customer if ford reduces prices following the budget bothra said while february sales are up 40 per cent against january he says it is a natural correction after a slump its got nothing to do with the budget he said emphatically siddharth automobiles deepak loyalka agreed sales of passenger cars and multiutility vehicles are continuing in full swing last year people waited for excise duty to go down this year though despite some feelers of a slight reduction in excise duty no one is willing to wait he said theres no rush for even motorcycles and scooters which are expected to become dearer after the budget with everyone availing of