'Budget a starting point for technology-driven transformation'
By Rahul Raj Singh Director, Marketing and Sales, Catseye Systems and Solutions
"The Union Budget is a great starting point for our country's technology-driven transformation and we expect that this year, it should bring in more opportunities of low-interest loans for the MSME industries and a special allocation should be made towards semiconductors and silicon chip manufacturing. As for now, we rely a lot on international markets and because of that, the current supply of the chips in our country is really affected.
The focus should also be on increasing the subsidies on e-vehicles to reduce the dependencies on conventional fuels."
'Digital finances, infra need support'
By Zafar Imam, CEO, FinShell
"Technological and digital disruptions have impacted and led to the growth of all industries, with the financial sector is at the top of that list. With the growing smartphone users and internet penetration, FinTech has become an invaluable part of each user's life. The increasing users of digital financial platforms have brought in strong competition in the financial services industry. It goes without saying that with the access and usage of financial platforms online, the benefit has reached users irrespective of geographies, time and socio-economic boundaries. The consistent growth in the number of UPI users showcases and establishes the digital penetration in the payments business. There is also a significant growth in the investments and insurance sectors that has been led by this enhancing digital footprint.
At this time, with this growth, it is important for us as part of the larger industry to support and enable digital finances and its infrastructure to make each user's life easier and smoother."
Pandemic increases importance of internet, technology
By Mr Siddharth Kukatlapalli, Co-Founder and CBO, Syntizen
"India, together, has moved towards the ‘e’ world. Whether it is commerce, finance, agriculture, education and learning, corporate, or any other industry you pick, technology and the Internet have reached all households in the country, in some way or the other. With the pandemic hitting the economy, the Internet and technology infrastructure held the country and its people up and functioning. Keeping all this in mind, we must acknowledge that the ‘Digital Way’ is the way for the present and the future. As we move closer to the Budget announcements, we are eagerly waiting to know what is new and upcoming for this year for all digital businesses – big, medium and small. With the adequate infrastructure, right audience (which already exists in the country), and ample support, Digital Businesses can flourish and support the people and the economy in all ways possible.
While we talk about our expectations from the Budget, as the founder of a digital startup, we are always looking forward to the support that the government brings for us every year. Today, India stands third globally, after China and the USA, with the most number of unicorn startups. We are the future and we are making a better future. The startup ecosystem together has always been supported by the government and looks forward to the same in the year that is waiting ahead of us."
Need to incentivise offline SMEs for digitisation
By Dilli Babu Nandarapu Founder & CEO, ShopConnect
“It is critical to incentivise offline SMEs to adopt and strengthen digital solutions to ensure better business prospects and speedy recovery of the overall economy. Moreover, digital infrastructure support will be important especially for MSME retailers since the future is getting more and more digitised, personalised, and connected. If we equip them from business disruption, it will contribute more to the Indian economy.
In addition, accelerating ONDC rollout will facilitate e-commerce platform providers to offer more features and easier customer onboarding covering rural areas and non-metro cities as well.
Lastly, promoting sales process outsourcing (SPO) as it will provide more employment opportunities, which, at the same time, global brands can leverage to India’s advantage. I believe the focus should be more on strengthening infrastructure, end-to-end digitisation capabilities to support emerging startups in this space. There should also be some respite from mandatory compliance for the D2C Brands as it will help to establish and scale offline and online businesses.”
'Govt should continue necessary reforms to relax tax structures'
ByPriya Mahajan, Head of ASPAC Public Policy & Regulatory Counsel, Verizon Business Group
‘Over the last few years, the Government of India has made great strides to foster the growth and development of the Indian IT and telecommunication sector, strengthening the economic and digital transformation in the country. In particular, we are pleased to note India's huge rise in the World Bank's 'Ease of Doing Business' report.
As India sits on the cusp of a sustained period of economic recovery and growth, one of the keys to success lies in continuing to make the necessary reforms in the relaxing of tax structures that have played an integral role in developing the country’s economic prowess.
The recently announced telecom reforms by the Department of Telecommunications is a welcome start. To this point, we strongly believe that the continued promotion of legal certainty, predictability and global consistency will further foster Innovation and Investments, particularly in the vital areas of Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence and 5G.’
Pandemic has taught us importance of infra to foster growth
By Abhishek Goel, CEO & Co-Founder, CACTUS, a technology company accelerating scientific advancement
''The recent pandemic has anything but thought us the importance of science and research. As governments across the globe were scrambling in the race for vaccine development, they realised the importance of investing in creating the infrastructure to foster the growth of science, research, and imbibing a scientific temper. While the Indian Government is leading the way by initiatives like setting up the NRF, it would be good to see how it can incentivise the private sector, HNIs to fund R&D in universities, and research institutions to take India to the next level.''
Boost to Aatmanirbhar Bharat needed in MSME sector
ByDr. Arun Singh, Global Chief Economist, Dun & Bradstreet
"Since the launch of MSME Samadhaan in Oct 2017, only 22 per cent of the applications have been either disposed or mutually settled. While 21 per cent of the applications have been rejected a whopping 57 per cent of the applications are either currently under consideration or yet to be viewed by the council. More than 90 per cent of the invoices uploaded on the Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS) get financed. Measures to operationalise the Fund of Funds scheme on a fast-track mode is expected. Measures to bring down the cost of raw materials, which have soared in the recent past due to increasing commodity prices, will allow MSMEs to remain competitive and contribute to the agenda of Aatmanirbhar Bharat."
Support to digital finance and infra key expectation
By Zafar Imam, CEO, FinShell
"Technological and digital disruption have impacted and led to the growth of all industries and the financial sector is at the top of that list. With the growing smartphone users and internet penetration, FinTech has become an invaluable part of each user's life. It goes without saying that with the access and usage of financial platforms online, the benefit has reached users irrespective of geographies, time and socio-economic boundaries. The consistent growth in the number of UPI users showcases and establishes the digital penetration in the payments business. There is also a significant growth in the investments and insurance sectors that has been led by this enhancing digital footprint. At this time, with this growth, it is important for us as part of the larger industry to support and enable digital finances and its infrastructure to make each user's life easier and smoother."
Lot riding on Budget to revive MSMEs after Covid-19 effect
ByNitin Sharma, CPTO & MD - SME Business, CredAble
"Given the staggering effect of Covid-19 on the economy, there’s a lot riding on Budget 2022 to revive the MSME sector from the severe slowdown caused by the 2nd and the 3rd waves of the pandemic. Increasing the collateral-free loan limit, simplifying taxation and steps towards quick digital adoption and automation in financial operations to strengthen the MSMEs’ local and global supply chains, should be the primary areas of focus.
In addition, the govt. should look at increasing the banks’ PSL lending quota to MSMEs which currently is under 10 per cent. The other key angle that needs to be looked at is the last mile coverage for lending. To cover the geographical depth, banks should lend to smaller NBFCs depending on their past performance. These NBFCs have better reach when it comes to small businesses and empowering them will ensure broadening the overall credit coverage of MSMEs.
The government should also help MSMEs procure cheaper raw materials and human resources through subsidised programmes. With the MSME sector being heavily strapped for capital, there has been an uptick in the overall demand for credit. The government needs to introduce specific schemes to infuse more liquidity into the system and further ease the disbursement of funds to MSMEs. Last year, we saw the Finance Minister double the budgetary allocation for MSMEs with INR 15,700 crores. Similarly, this year too — providing adequate financial support to MSMEs along with reforms around import substitutes will help in boosting domestic manufacturing.
An easy GST framework would be a huge relief for MSMEs. This sector has its hopes pinned on the budget this year, for GST rationalisation — especially with the prices of raw materials in the manufacturing industry. Lastly, to position India as a leader in the global marketplace, trade policies and digitization initiatives must be introduced to help MSMEs move beyond domestic borders."
The forthcoming budget is expected to be one that’s directed towards growth and revenue generation
ByRam Kewalramani, Co-founder & Managing Director, CredAble
"The upcoming budget is expected to provide a massive impetus to the economy. Economic revival should top the charts as the number one priority for the government. Calibrated spending and need-based capital expenditure should be a part of the agenda. Businesses, in general, believe that Budget 2022 will be crucial in defining the way forward for the economy.
It would be good to have the budget focused on credit growth and employment generation. In light of the impending third wave, fiscal policy should continue to be supportive of economic growth. The forthcoming budget is expected to be one that’s directed towards growth and revenue generation.
This year, the nation is expected to step out of a very high fiscal deficit, in this regard we are hopeful that compromises on capital expenditure will not be made. With ambitious plans to develop the infrastructure, a higher allocation of capital expenditure is expected in this sector. The government is also expected to bring about significant reforms in the disinvestment or asset monetisation programmes. Measures to stimulate spending and consumption are much-needed for the recovery of the economy. Raising the budgetary allocation for the healthcare sector is a must, to help the country withstand any future crisis. The government should also look into reducing the tax compliances burden on businesses and simplifying the tax laws. With strong plans of redistribution, we expect to see many support mechanisms and incentives provided to the poor and the low-wage workforce."
Will FM Sitharaman live up to India Inc's Budget 2022 expectations?
Corporates and industry lobby groups, which expect bigger capital expenditure as the government looks to create jobs, also seek tax breaks for industries such as automobiles, manufacturing and tourism, hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
Hello readers and welcome to sector-wise coverage of Union Budget 2022. With Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman set to present the Modi government's eighth Budget on February 1, track this blog to know what the IT and ITes sector is expecting this year. Stay tuned for live updates.
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