Industry reactions to Union Budget 2022-23 (Part-16)

Sachin Agrawal, Co-founder & COO, Bizongo said
“The Budget Speech has given a strong policy impetus to boost India’s exports and start-up culture. First, the recognition of the logistics infrastructure as one of the seven engines of economic transformation is an important and exciting development. The PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan is a bold and much needed move to achieve coordination, modernization, and adoption of sustainable practices in the Indian economy. There is a combined focus on enhancing the physical infrastructure of roads and transportation, as well as promoting digital technologies. Currently, the fragmented logistics infrastructure costs our economy an estimated 14% of GDP. The National Logistics Policy estimates to bring this cost down to 10% over the next few years. Integrating digital technologies into the logistics infrastructure has become an industry-wide priority to achieve faster and safer mobility of goods.
 Second, increasing collaboration among private and public stakeholders using the Unified Logistics Interface Platform. By inculcating the practice of data-exchange, groups ranging from Government to start-ups, and MSMEs will have better access to data. Removing information asymmetries is vital to ensuring a competitive and modernized industry. An important decision has been the extension of the ECLGS by another year, with an addition of a corpus of ₹50,000. To sustain the benefits of such schemes, it is important to explore methods of digitizing finance for MSMEs. This will help in coming up with resilient business models.
Third, customs have a vital role to play in the faster mobility of goods. A key component of boosting exports are customs reforms, which have been highlighted by the Finance Minister today. We believe, that the integration of customs reforms into the overall logistics plan will further accelerate economic transformation. By lowering the barriers to mobility, MSMEs will be able to avoid costs caused due to delays in the movement of goods, and ensure better capacity management. We are optimistic and hopeful about the future of the logistics and supply chain industry in India.
Finally, the decision to cap the surcharge on long-term capital gains from shares of unlisted companies is important for start-ups from an overall acceleration perspective. 2021 saw a record number of VC deals. This shows the growing faith of global investors in Indian start-ups. The surcharge cap of 15% will propel investments from venture capitalists and high-net-worth individuals and promote the use of ESOP by new-age companies for retaining and rewarding employees.”

Baba N. Kalyani, CMD Bharat Forge Ltd.
“I would like to congratulate the Hon’ble FM for a growth propelling budget with significant thrust on enhancing competitiveness, infrastructure development, holistic digital drive and promoting financial inclusion. The proposed New legislation for SEZs with states as partners coupled with heightened emphasis on the seven engines under PM Gati Shakti initiative should pave way for a New India that is recognized for its Speed, Productivity and Scale; thus, boosting the country’s overall investment attractiveness and export competitiveness.
Aligned with the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s AatmaNirbhar Bharat agenda, the Government’s commitment to promote self-reliance and indigenization by leveraging Indian Industry is once again reinforced with the 68% (enhanced) domestic allocation for defence capital procurement. Earmarking 25% of Defence R&D budget for Industry, Start-ups & Academia is a forward looking measure that will pave way for investments in frontier technologies and capability development. Industry in partnership with DRDO through SPV mode for development of critical weapon systems and military platforms is a path-breaking reform that will significantly transform the Indian defence eco-system and lead India to being a net-exporter of defence equipment/platforms.
I should particularly laud the thrust given to new-age technologies and wider adoption of digital platforms in Healthcare, Education, FinTech, Agriculture among others. Exclusive policy on Battery swapping, special mobility zones and incentivizing clean-technologies in public transport should lead to accelerated adoption of Electric Vehicles across the country. The increased outlay towards manufacturing of High Efficiency modules for Solar Power and strong emphasis on Circular Economy transition reinforces India’s commitment to Global Climate Action and Sustainable Technologies.”

Dinesh Kanabar, CEO, Dhruva Advisors 
“Big Infra spend seems to be the thrust of the Budget. This was the industry ask and seems to be what the Budget is all about!!
Amendments to IBC process to enhance resolution process efficiency including cross border resolutions will be very interesting.
A bill to amend SEZ to be tabled to make states as Partner on developing manufacturing and services hub. This will help the PLI Scheme becoming effective”
 
 
Mehul Bheda, Partner, Dhruva Advisors
“Concessional rate of 15% tax for dividends from foreign subsidiaries withdrawn.  Indian corporates with large profitable overseas operations will be negatively impacted, unless they onwards pass on those dividends to their own shareholders.”
 
 
Niraj Bagri, Partner, Dhruva Advisors
“The Budget is never short on the excitement. The devil lies in the details. Enabling provisions introduced in GST laws to limit the amount of input tax credit that can be used to pay output tax liability! This provision is similar to erstwhile service tax laws wherein 20% of the output tax liability was required to be paid in cash. This will be a huge setback to the value added system. It seems perhaps that the government are looking to augment the cash collection of GST to meet the increased expenditure demands.”

Kunal Varma Co-Founder and CEO Freo
“This year's budget is quite interesting given the times that we are living in and the challenges that we face, like inflation and growth. We can see a clear mention of, and push towards digitization across sectors.
An overall focus on digitization of infrastructure, particularly in banking and transactions, is very exciting to observe. All our post offices (which have a tremendous physical network) are to come on to the core banking system. This will create massive distribution in the banking ecosystem. What we didn't see happen through the Payments Bank license in its original avatar, might happen now with this new push.
Although this is a totally new concept and details are yet to be discovered, the setting up of 75 digital banking units through SCB's is an interesting one to look forward to. This makes one thing very clear - the government acknowledges that Fintech is critical and the future of banking is digital.
It was heartening to see that the exchequer saw the biggest month ever in terms of the largest GST collections since GST was actually launched. This certainly helps us in the right direction towards our growth target of over 9%, and also tells us that the number of taxpayers is increasing, which is good for the country. With a move to digital, we can expect to see more growth in revenue from taxes.
Overall, it's visible that this budget is quite positive. While a few details remain to be understood and implementation is yet to be seen, I think we're moving fast in the right direction, through a combination of Fintech, strong digital push in healthcare and education sectors, leading to innovation, deeper access, and higher revenue for the government.”
 
Kashyap Mahavadi, Founder/CEO, Dinero
“Finance Minister’s excellent proposal to set up 75 digital banks in 75 districts by scheduled commercial banks is truly the best gift to the country on the occasion of Azadi ka Amritmahotsav. The proposal not only reflects the digital-first approach of the Government but will also truly shape new-age banking in India. The proposal also will boost financial inclusivity to help rural India transition into formal economy. After JAM, UPI to now a leap forward to digital banking, India is standing as an example globally on Banking revolution. It is also important for the government to build necessary safeguards, redressal mechanisms, and community awareness programs to curb fraudulent activities by digital bank operators given the low digital literacy levels of people in such areasDigital Virtual Assets have been finally provided legitimacy by allowing them under a tax regime. All virtual/digital assets will now be taxed at 30%. This is a sigh of relief for the crypto industry – and a booster for innovation. Coupled with a proposal for digital rupee to be issued by RBI (CBDC), India is now bringing out a revolution in financial systems. This is the beginning of a new India”
 
Dr. Alok Khullar, CEO, Gleneagles Global Health City, Chennai
“The impetus given to the healthcare structure in the last 2 years has benefitted the sector. In today’s budget, the focus on infrastructural development is bound to spur growth and enable accessibility for more people. It is imperative that healthcare infrastructure grows alongside the overall infrastructural development of the country. There is still a need for focused skill development for various healthcare needs which the budget failed to address. The impetus given to manufacturing sector can facilitate setting up manufacturing units for healthcare devices and equipment in India, thus, reducing the end cost. While the pandemic has unfolded many aspects of healthcare, a lot of mental health problems across all age groups were also witnessed. We welcome the budget’s focus to implement a ‘National Tele Mental Health Programme’ to address the mental health problems and provide counselling & care services. This will create more awareness and also open more avenues in the overall health & wellbeing of an individual. Additionally, the budget aims to roll out a National Digital Health Ecosystem which comes in as a blessing for the public where digital registries of health providers and health facilities, unique health identity, consent framework, and universal access to health facilities will be made available.”
 
Dr. C.J. Vetrievel - Founder Chairman & Managing Director, Be Well Hospitals, Chennai
“The finance minister highlighted the need to have accessible healthcare across rural parts of the country. With our aim to also provide infrastructure and health services in sub-urban and peri-urban regions, we believe that accessible healthcare is the need of the hour. We thank the finance minister and the Central Government for recognizing the efforts taken by the healthcare sector in tackling the pandemic as well as accelerating the nation-wide vaccination drive. We have been seeing the importance given to Mental Health since the beginning of the pandemic and now that has also taken a significant position in the Union Budget 2022 – 2023. The need to pay attention to one’s mental health has been well addressed in the budget where allocation of funds to set up a ‘National Tele Mental Health Programme’ is proposed. This move will create more awareness among the public and the need to prioritize mental health & overall wellbeing. The overall impetus towards primary healthcare and public healthcare is a welcomed initiative. This is a visionary budget with long term unprecedented infra spending. This provides impetus to all sectors due to the ripple effect. The allocation of funds for healthcare, being a core infra sector, could have however been better.”