Industry reactions on Union Budget (Part-9)

Kunal Chandra - Co-Founder of Astro Motors
" We are pleased to see the Government's continuing efforts to stay committed to green energy initiatives, making it one of the key points in this budget. The reduction of duties on lithium-ion cells from 21 percent to 13 percent will further boost the domestic manufacturing in India and make it cheaper for Indian consumers to own electric vehicles. The Monterey support in these growth sectors will definitely increase the adoption of electric vehicles at a faster pace and help us on our journey to achieve carbon neutrality"

Raja Debnath, Co-founder and CEO of Veefin 
“The General Budget 2023-24 is clearly a concerted effort to push the Indian economy upwards from its current position of being the 5th largest in the world. And highlighting the role of the financial sector among the seven priorities in achieving this vision shows the government's resolve in making financial access and inclusion pivotal to our economic growth.
There is a clear commitment towards the needs and priorities of India over the next 5 years with a robust capital investment outlay of Rs.10 lakh crore towards green mobility, financial inclusion, technology innovation, agriculture, education and skill development, public and digital infrastructure.
Aptly termed the backbone of our economy - MSMEs stand to gain from the Rs.9000 crore infusion into the revamped credit guarantee scheme. The new scheme will bring financial relief to MSMEs by incentivising banks to go more aggressive on unsecured and priority sector lending and also provide credit to MSMEs at a lower cost. The current market size for Supply Chain Financing, a major beneficiary of which is the MSME sector, is estimated to be around Rs. 150,000cr. The new scheme effective April 1 2023 is likely to boost public and private sector banks to pursue SCF with vigour and increase access to formal credit channels in the MSME sector, which still averages around 8 per cent.
Additionally, the introduction of Digilocker for MSMEs will support them by easing the process of digital application of credit and digitizing the saving of documents. Some other key measures that will boost the confidence of the financial ecosystem and its players include the setting up of the National Financial Information Registry and the public consultation on regulation making and subsidiary directions.
Not just MSME credit, there is a strong commitment also towards Agri credit target of Rs.20 lakh crore, green credit and infrastructure investment - which creates tremendous opportunities for banks and financial institutions to innovate credit products and solutions through technology and scale financial access to support the socio-economic aspirations of the country.
The budget resonates with the aspirations of the citizens and the new India which is more visionary in its goals both domestically as well as globally.”

Gaurav Dahake, Founder & CEO, Bitbns
“The General Budget has been encouraging for the startup community in terms of the government's vision for the country over the next couple of years. A slew of programs like Startup India, Digital India in the past have championed the startup ecosystem and helped it become the third largest in the world. With this budget, the government has yet again reinforced its commitment towards the startup community through measures like budgetary support for public digital infrastructure to enhance digital payments, extension of Digilocker services for the fintech sector, setting up of a New Financial Repository, Income Tax benefits and extensions and a consultative approach to optimum regulation in the financial sector for making regulations are together going to boost the startup community.
Another initiative to fuel India's startup ecosystem is the initiative 'Make AI in India' and 'Make AI work for India'. This clearly indicates that the country is committed to being a crucible to spur tech innovation by setting up three Centres of Excellences across the country and bringing the best of talent, industry and academia together. Efforts to build 30 skill India international centers for skill development and bring in new age courses on Coding, Robotics, Soft Skills among others are equally worth appreciating as it powers the youth of the country to be ready for jobs of the future and makes our future tech talent the best in class across the globe.
Moreover, the programs being initiated to increase sustainability and reduce carbon footprints will largely prove beneficial for a green economy in the future.”

Vishnu Prasath Devarajan, Founder, Supercluster Pi 
“India is the third largest startup ecosystem in the world and the front-runner in bringing some of the most accessible and affordable technology solutions like UPI to the world. Further, building on India's technology prowess, the Government of India has yet again taken an audacious resolve to 'Make AI in India' and 'Make AI for India' by committing to create 3 Centres of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence in top educational institutions in the country. This is a seminal step in bringing academia and industry together to develop and hone India's tech talent and gear it ahead of its time to build for a rapidly changing world. The budget has also accommodated a long term vision of upskilling the next generation of young talent by aligning school education with the jobs of tomorrow.
The announcement of PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana 4.0 is a step in this direction to skill lakhs of youth within the next 3 years in new age courses like coding, AI, robotics, soft skills as well as the setting up of 30 skill India international centers across different states. This will definitely level up Indian tech talent. Other key initiatives like setting up of Agritech Accelerator to develop technology companies and support techpreneurs reinforce India's commitment to building its startup ecosystem. The budget has also made considerable room for startups to carry forward losses from seven to 10 years, providing relief for the startup ecosystem that is still emerging from funding winter.”

Founder & CEO – Abhishek Banerjee, Lotusdew Wealth and Investment Advisors Pvt Ltd
“Today's Union budget by India's honourable finance minister is an inclusive and futuristic budget. With vision for Amrit Kaal which will focus on strong and stable macro-environment, financial sector has been included in the Saptarshi-7 priorities. Reforms in financial sector will lead to financial inclusion at scale, improve allied services and participation in financial markets. Disposable income will also rise as the income limit for rebate of income tax has been increased from Rs 5 Lac to Rs 7 Lac in the new regime reflecting a positive multiplier impact on discretionary spending. The tax exemption will directly benefit consumer discretionary sector and the confluence of focus on railways and tourism, we might see sectors like textiles, QSR, packaged foods, hotels etc benefiting directly. This is also expected to increase participation in the capital market investment products. It is a welcome move that financial sector regulators are requested to carry out a comprehensive review of existing regulations to streamline operations which will help all the players in the eco-system at large.”