Industry reactions to Union Budget 2022-23 (Part-1)

Jaideep Mukherji, CEO at Smart Power India

"Budget 2022 has clearly laid a major focus on the green energy transition, reducing carbon footprint, and inclusive economic growth. As we move towards a greener economy, the role of Distributed Renewable Energy as a catalyst in the empowerment of MSMEs, job creation, and reforms in agriculture will be crucial. New initiatives to encourage productive use of clean energy in rural areas driven by DRE can be of great value to the rural as well as the national economy."

Mohit Malhotra, MD and CEO, Godrej Properties Ltd.
“The Finance Minister’s budget proposal 2022-23 has been optimistic to enhance the nation’s growth and revive the overall economy. The ambitious commitment to allocate Rs 48,000 crore towards ‘Housing for All’ has reinforced the Government’s determination to boost affordable housing in the country. Moreover, the budget has laid the foundation of stronger urban development with sheer measures to revamp the housing challenge in the urban areas. Additionally, this will push for larger vertical development modules that utilize green energy generated by solar panels to reduce the overall carbon footprint. Electric mobility is the future, and the urban development program will encourage developers to move towards more functional amenities, keeping in mind the electric mobility needs of the new-age home buyers."  

Tanu Jain, Director, Reboot Game Studios 
 “Having a strong foundation in place, the Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, and Comics (AVGC) sector is perfectly poised to grow exponentially over the coming decade. We are delighted that the Government of India has set up an AVGC task force to provide strategic direction to the sector. This was long overdue. In recent times we have seen a drastic spike in gaming, at both domestic and global level.  Global giants are looking at India from an investment point of view that holds great potential in the near future. At this stage this initiative by the government will not only boost the confidence of Game Development Indian companies but will also strengthen the ecosystem as a whole."

Sonali Khan- Managing Trustee- Sesame Workshop India 

"I think it’s a great step to extend “One class One tv”  to 200 channels. It will reduce the inequity in access to education for children without the internet and digital infrastructure while also making the content available to them in their local language. A National tele mental health program to support the mental wellbeing of families and revamp of 2 lakh Aanganwadi centers also holds strong relevance considering the impact the closure of schools and the pandemic has had on the lives of people. It will be good to link this back to the operationalization of NEP 2020’s compulsory education for children starting 3 years of age as part of the budget, who have been severely impacted by the pandemic in the most crucial way."

Tara Singh Vachani - Managing Trustee - Max India Foundation 2.0

"Extremely pleased to hear about the increased budget allocation in the education sector from Rs. 88,002 crores to Rs. 1.04 lakh crores. It’s a much-awaited and welcome move.
Initiatives like the ‘One class, one TV channel’ program of PM eVIDYA to expand from currently 12 to 200 TV channels will be a path-breaking step in bridging the digital divide and the learning loss that the pandemic has caused. On the other hand, providing supplementary education in regional languages for classes 1 to 12 will be fruitful in ensuring inclusive learning for the children of the country"

Baldeep Singh Pahwa, General Manager & Country Head, Constellar India
"Looking at the emphasis given to the fintech industry in today’s union budget, it seems that the government considers fintech sector as the bloodline of Indian economy. Government’s move to empower post offices with core banking segment will benefit the growth of rural economy, farmers and senior citizens across the country. While digital transfers of funds have grown rapidly in urban India, it is now time for the rural India to grow at 3x speed , which necessitated access to net banking, mobile banking, and other ATM services between post office accounts and bank accounts was needed. 75 Digital Banking units set up by scheduled commercial banks in 75 districts across the country will strengthen the digital ecosystem in those areas that lack financial inclusion. With a boost to start-up and fintech ecosystem, we will see huge investments in the said economy.
The budget has reiterated the importance of the need to accelerate on the growth path. Policy initiatives have been good and we look forward to progress on the implementation front in a time bound manner."

Dheeraj Hinduja, Executive Chairman, Ashok Leyland Limited. Also attached Chairman’s image.
“The Finance Minister has presented a growth-oriented and pro-development Budget for 2022-23 by focusing on sustainable planning & development, energy transition for a cleaner tomorrow and inclusive growth through a tech-enabled economy.  Also, investment led growth strategy and the sizeable capital investment for sustained and speedy economic revival are reflected in the sharp increase in capital expenditure for FY23.   The special focus on education, digital and clean mobility is laudable.
The Battery Swapping policy and special EV mobility zones will help in the smooth transition to electric vehicles. The budget has laid the roadmap for long-term development over the next 25 years and areas like artificial intelligence, drones, semiconductors, space economy, genomics, green energy, and clean mobility systems will collectively lead the future growth of the economy. This budget echoes our sentiment and commitment to indigenous mobility solutions for a cleaner tomorrow.”

Sudarshan Jain, Secretary General, Secretary General, Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA)
“This is India's first post vaccination budget and the policy consistency is maintained. The planned increase in capital expenditure is likely to boost economic growth and employment. There is a thrust on macro areas like digital, VC-ecosystem, ease of doing business and supportive measures for R&D and industry-academia collaboration with Pharma included in the Sunrise sectors. The extension time limit for the commencement of business to claim benefits of concessional tax regime for manufacturing companies has been extended by a year to 31 March 2024. This will support the investment in pharma manufacturing. Details are being examined and the implementation will be key going forward.”