The Union Budget 2022-23 reflected the development and investment orientation. The emphasis is on infrastructure, technology, skill development, and health. On one hand, there is no specific announcement for the tourism, radio, advertising, and entertainment industry. Whereas, on other hand, the whole industry is welcoming the latest move on the e-Passport initiative and the digital currency introduction. Let’s take a look at the post-budget reaction of various market leaders and honchos.
David Li, CEO, Huawei India: “The 2022 Budget is one that has its eye set firmly on the future, with a technology-driven sustainable development at the core of its vision. The budget provides for digital enablement for all sectors from digital education, digital university, telehealth, and digital banking, among others. It also looks at boosting the economy with provisions for the start-up ecosystem, infra, clean energy. The focus on skilling, digital learning, and clean mobility will create opportunities for Indian youth and will also go a great way in addressing the skill gap in various industries. It is such inclusive policies that will boost the outcome of the budget.”
Sumit Ghosh, Co-founder & CEO, Chingari App: “Today can be considered as a historic day for the Indian Digital journey. The much-awaited welcome by the Indian government to the use of Digital Currency and Crypto transactions will soon lead India to be one of the top economies of the world. Investing in and utilizing advanced technologies like blockchain is what helps the nation grow at par with the other countries globally. With $GARI Social Tokens listing on 19 global exchanges and Chingari transforming the Web3 universe for its creators, we are proud to be a part of the digital and crypto revolution.
Currently, the information and awareness about Crypto/ Digital Currency is very limited in India, which is also a major challenge that needs to be resolved. Chingari powered by $GARI will be stepping up and taking an initiative towards spreading more awareness amongst the internet users in India.”
Ronojoy Dutta, Whole Time Director and Chief Executive Officer, IndiGo, “Budget 2023 appear to be growth-oriented by an increase in the capital outlay of INR 7.5 Lacs crores, fiscal deficit capped at 6.4% and efforts are being made to reduce compliance burdens and improve ease of doing business. We expect the budget would enable India to achieve a growth estimate of 9.2%. We welcome the new incentives of issuing of E-passport and the introduction of digital currency.
The government’s relentless focus on national transportation infrastructure development with the PM Gatti Shakti plan will strengthen the much-needed multimodal connectivity and facilitate the seamless movement of cargo while reducing logistics costs. Having said that we were expecting tax concession to the Aviation industry in the form of a cut in ATF excise duty and allocation of concessional finance to airlines to help us come out of the pandemic.
Kunal Bahl, Co-founder & CEO, Snapdeal: “This is the Digital Revolution Budget. We welcome the government’s emphasis on creating new digital touchpoints to empower multiple aspects of our society and supercharge the startup ecosystem. New initiatives across currency, banking, education, skilling, health, passports, and logistics will enable a large part of the country to benefit from India’s growing digital revolution. The government’s focus on augmenting India’s road, rail, and telecom infrastructure will help further accelerate growth opportunities across Bharat.”
Praveen Kumar, Founder, and CEO of Belfrics Group: “The taxation on profit generation from crypto investments is a welcome move as it legitimizes the assets and its operations. We should be expecting follow-up guidelines very soon on regulating the crypto assets operations from RBI and SEBI. The TDS on the transfer of assets is quite premature as there will be a lot of confusion due to the complexity of the nature of various crypto assets.”
Rajesh Goenka, Director, Sales & Marketing, RP tech India: “This is a very progressive budget focused on giving a boost to the infrastructural development and attracting global investments in form of FDIs. The government has been consistent in giving emphasis on the overall growth and development of industries rather than offering sector-specific incentives. The budget will create employment opportunities across the industry verticals and accelerate GDP growth. We hail the government for its strategic decisions and futuristic approach for self-reliant India”.
Madhavan Menon, Managing Director, Thomas Cook (India) Limited: “From a Travel & Tourism perspective, however, the Union Budget has been disappointing. The Budget made no reference to the industry’s recommendations to aid revival, including rationalization of taxes (a complete GST holiday, exemption of TCS on outbound tours, reduction in indirect taxes), removal of SIES benefit capping of Rs 5 cr.
For a sector that is a key contributor to the Country’s GDP and brings invaluable foreign exchange earnings, with a force multiplier impact on employment and skill development, a stimulus would have created significant value in supporting the country’s road to recovery and growth.
The limited relief in acknowledgment of the severe impact to the hospitality sector, was the extension of the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) to March 2023, with an expansion by Rs. 50,000 crores to a total of Rs. 5 lakh crore.
Prasad Shejale, Founder and CEO, Logicserve Digital: “The FM has announced a very progressive budget with an intention to widen India’s horizons and outlook in the next five years, leveraging emerging technologies. The Government has addressed some urgent priorities underpinning the digital sector, including the launch of digital currency, API-based skill credentials, digital learning channels, digitization of manual processes, etc.
On the digital connectivity front, the 5G spectrum auctions will finally make the dream of a tech-savvy India a reality, further boosting the country’s digital infrastructure. Additionally, the launch of a design-led manufacturing scheme for the 5G ecosystem as part of the PLI scheme will ensure affordable broadband and mobile communication even in far-flung areas. The availability of high-speed internet connectivity in urban as well as rural areas will encourage marketers to experiment with blockchain, AR, VR.
On the skilling front, initiatives like establishing a digital university will provide an opportunity for youth to learn new skills from the comfort of their homes. The creation of a new task force to build domestic capacity in the Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, and Comic (AVGC) sector is commendable.”
