Director of Goa Institute of Management (GIM), Dr. Ajit Parulekar–
“There might not be anything specific for B-school education in India but one highlight for me was the talk of the National Data Governance framework. Through this framework, it will allow us to get access to a lot of non-personal, anonymous data. Research-intensive institutions will benefit greatly from this because one of the biggest hurdles one needs to overcome during the conducting of research is the lack of data. Other than that, we at GIM, ensure that we contribute substantially towards a green planet so it is heartening to see that the outlay for energy transformation is sizeable and the Government’s support towards battery storage.
Also specific to our healthcare management program, it is no secret that sickle cell anemia has been a challenge in the country. In the past the government has done a lot of work toward combatting tuberculosis in the country and now, they have announced a mission to eliminate sickle cell anemia. They plan on doing a screening of more than 7 crore patients.
After a long time, there have been revisions in the tax regime. Under the new regime, there is a sizable up for the taxpayers. There continues to be a focus on infrastructure. This year we have the highest-ever budget for railways and the government is also looking at ramping up air infrastructure.
The only disappointment is that even though there is an increase in the budget for healthcare and education. It is marginal. We’ve been talking about increasing the healthcare budget to 4% for a long time and it’s still at 2.1%. The education budget was 2.8% and it was 2.9%. It’s very low for a country that aims to grow fast. We are underspending on healthcare and education by a very large margin.”
Amit Saluja, Centre Head of NASSCOM CoE, Gandhinagar
India has taken rapid strides towards digitalization in recent times and the budget has sought to add pace to the trend. The skill development scheme to cover new-age courses such as coding, AI, robotics, IoT, 3D printing, etc. for Industry 4.0 has been expanded. Setting up 5G labs and three Centre of Excellence for AI, will give a boost to research and innovation in realizing the vision of Make AI in India and Make AI work for India. Public Digital Infrastructure will take open innovation to next level and accelerate tech adoption. All these initiatives will help in making Indian enterprises, especially MSMEs, more competitive. Startups and entrepreneurship are other areas that have received increased attention from the FM. On the whole, it is a very forward looking budget that will promote inclusive growth of industries.
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Rajiv Bhatia, Country Head and President , Analytix Solutions
The Finance Minister has delivered a finely balanced budget. There are multiple announcements that will allow the country to benefit from the demographic dividend. There is a clear focus on education, skilling, digitalisation, research, and innovation. The Centres of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence in top educational institutes will help in developing an effective AI ecosystem. The setting up of 100 labs to develop applications using 5G services will help realise new opportunities. The budget also supports the startup ecosystem which will encourage more youngsters to turn entrepreneurs. The boost to the digital payments ecosystem also augurs well for the economy.
Mihir Parikh, CEO, MP Financial Services
The budget is truly a people’s budget with benefits for everyone. It reflects the government’s vision to spur the country’s march as a leading global economy by the year 2047. The budget gives an impetus to infrastructure development, technology, rural economy, as well as financial services. It also gives an impetus to the digital payment ecosystem. The budget has enhanced the maximum deposit limit for senior citizen savings scheme from Rs. 15 lakh to Rs. 30 lakh. The change in the personal income tax slabs and revising the tax exemption limit to Rs. 3 lakh under the new tax regime, and increasing the income limit for rebate from Rs. 5 lakh to Rs. 7 lakh, will leave more money in the hands of people. This will give a push to consumption and spur the economy. Increased allocation in infrastructure spending as well as in railways will have a multiplier effect on job creation as well connectivity.
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Mihir Joshi, CEO, GVFL
The budget supports innovation and entrepreneurship, the key growth drivers of the economy. Extending the tax holiday policy by a year and the benefit of carrying forward losses on change of shareholding of startups to 10 years of incorporation from the current seven years is welcome. The focus on bringing more youth into entrepreneurship will spur the economy. Setting up three Centres of Excellence in AI and 100 labs for developing applications using 5G services will enhance the innovation capacity, fuel deep-tech startups, and help find scalable solutions for many problems.
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Kamal Bansal, MD, GVFL
The Finance Minister has achieved a financial balance between increasing capital expenditure and reducing the fiscal deficit from 6.4% to 5.9%. The budget will make the economy more resilient. It also lays out the vision for the next 25 years and focuses on giving ample opportunities to the youth. The National Data Governance Policy will unleash innovation and research by startups and academia. The Agriculture Accelerator Fund will encourage agri startups by young entrepreneurs in rural areas and help in modernising agriculture. The extension of the date of incorporation for income tax benefits to startups by a year will give a boost to the startup ecosystem.
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Bharat Patel, Chairman and Director at Yudiz Solutions Ltd
The FM has presented a budget that will give impetus to growth and development. Setting up three Centres of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence in top educational institutions will galvanise an effective AI ecosystem and nurture quality human resources. The setting of 100 labs for developing applications using 5G services will help realise new opportunities, business models, and employment potential. The expansion of the digital ecosystem for skilling with a Skill India Digital platform will enable demand-based formal skilling and facilitate access to entrepreneurship schemes. The boost to the startup ecosystem will spur entrepreneurship and contribute to economic development.
Sanjeev Singh CEO & MD – CMS IT Services- The infra and capex push of the budget combined with a focus on creating a tech and knowledge-driven ecosystem will accelerate India’s journey to becoming a $ 5 trillion economy. This will also generate tremendous opportunities for the tech industry in multiple advanced domains like 5G, AI, digital, agri-tech & fintech.
