AI-led Analytics to play crucial role in Government’s vision of India@100

India’s Hon. Union Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman’s futuristic growth friendly Union Budget rightly envisioned the roadmap for India entering Amrit Kaal, the 25 year long leadup to India@100. Analytics is the key to successful implementation of the multi-modal PM GatiShakti master plan with its seven-engine focus for economic transformation and inclusive development for India@100. FM highlighted that Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a sunrise opportunity while advocating promoting digital economy & fintech, technology enabled development; and we, at Course5 Intelligence, reiterate the importance of AI-led analytics and insights.

The role of analytics is more pronounced post global pandemic accelerating digital adoption by companies globally as they seek to digitize their core business model to remain economically viable. We, at Course5 Intelligence have been working with Fortune 500 global giants and it is good to see that the Indian Government is now aligned to this progressive global thinking. As FM included Data Centres in the harmonized list of infrastructure, we re-emphasize the significance of Data and Analytics, which is expected to account for 13.9% of the estimated total digital spend (US$2.39 trillion) by 2024. The boost to startups will facilitate innovation required for Digital India. As the Government invites private participation in strengthening public infrastructure and seamless coordination between diverse pillars, we advocate the growing significance of AI-led analytics in Urban Planning. Clearly, the government is focusing on deep tech at an opportune time. Till now the focus has been on the application layer which provided solutions to problems and business opportunities. A focus on deep tech will only highlight the significant role data analytics and AI can play in providing that strategic depth to the digitalization of India. With our rich experience in AI-driven data analytics and insights, we at Course 5 Intelligence look forward to support the tasks ahead. -Mr. Ashwin Mittal, CMD and CEO, Course5 Intelligence Ltd.

Union Budget 2022 – Neeraj Dhawan, Managing Director, Experian India

The Union Budget focused on three major growth factors namely maintaining an all-inclusive approach by focusing on macroeconomic and microeconomic growth, promoting digital economy and fintech, and creating a cycle of investment between public and private capital. Taking a cue from the Prime Minister’s term ‘Amrit Kaal’ which is the period of the next 25 years, the Finance Minister laid down the economic framework.

The government’s continuous focus on digital and financial inclusivity has been reiterated this year with the announcement of the launch of the auction of the 5G spectrum, setting up of 75 digital banking units across rural India, connecting 150,000 post offices to the core banking system and the new digital rupee that will be launched by the Reserve Bank of India.  These are welcoming announcements by the Finance Minister in the Union Budget 2022 These are definitely welcoming initiatives that will benefit both consumers and the MSME segment as they increase their digital and financial activities which in turn will help them build a strong credit history for quick and easy access to credit.

Finance Minister’s announcements of the interlinking of the Udyam, e-Shram, National Career Service (NCS), and Atmanirbhar Skilled Employee Employer Mapping (ASEEM) portals will for sure help in credit facilitation. The extension of the date and an increase in the guarantee cover Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) announced in 2020 and the CGTMSE or the Credit Guarantee Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises Scheme that will be revamped with the infusion of funds is expected to help MSMEs largely

As mentioned during the budget speech, India is expected to have a strong growth with the GDP rate at 9.2% in the coming year. With improvement in infrastructure, support to MSMEs and entrepreneurs, a continued thrust toward leveraging digital technology, and creating an all-inclusive growth strategy, the Finance Minister has delivered a Budget that will infuse optimism in an economy, a definite need of the other with the economy marred by the impact of the pandemic. The budget has definitely focused on growth providing the required impetus to the economy. With growth and further increased employment, we the players in the credit industry are optimistic of expecting a surge in the demand of loans to fuel personal finance and business growth.

Anurag Sinha, Co-founder & CEO, OneScore & OneCard

Considering we have not yet emerged out of the shadows of the pandemic; I believe the Finance Minister has done an excellent job in striking a fine balance in being fiscally prudent and growth supportive. The budget has laid out a host of top-notch measures offering a huge push for infrastructure besides incentivising manufacturing and addressing key growth driving cohorts such as MSMEs, youth and even the startup community.

The budget has laid considerable focus on public investment and capital expenditure; however, on the other side it is quite conservative in its tax growth estimates. The budget however, contains several significant reform measures and fiscal initiatives that will boost social and economic development.

Promoting digitization across sectors and levels is indeed a welcoming move which would not only speed up the processes but also bring much-needed transparency and uniformity to the system. Introducing digital currency is a dynamic decision taken by the government and would really help the economy in coming at par with developed economies. It would also streamline the current financial infrastructure, making it cheaper and faster to conduct monetary transactions. Further to promoting digital currency, the move of introducing 75 digital banking units in 75 districts will significantly strengthen the financial infrastructure across the country. All in all, with an outlay from India at 75 to India at 100, I believe this Budget is futuristic and focuses well on economic revival while ushering the next era of growth for India.

  Democratising fractional real estate ownership via technology – MYRE Capital: Quote by Mr. Aryaman Vir, Founder & CEO, MYRE Capital

‘Budget 2022 is highly growth oriented that propels capital expenditure. The boost provided by the government on affordable housing will be beneficial to the continued housing demand post COVID-19 and will also encourage prospective buyers to avail more benefits and invest in real estate. With the initiation of the PM Gati Shakti, there will be a rise in infrastructure developments which will gradually lead to growth in commercial real estate sector and thus help in accelerating the economy as a whole. This will also create more employment opportunities for the youth of the country. The step taken by the government for urban development also focusing on Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities will facilitate businesses to expand across the country and rise to match the vision of a developed economy.

We firm believe that, setting aside ₹250 Crore towards a robust urban development plan will boost the growth of real estate sector in the coming year. As the government plans to improve quality of life, Aspirational Districts will continue to attract more commercial developments in these spaces boosting employment and standard of living. We highly appreciate this step taken towards the growth of urban regions. Further, we trust that the implementation of a new legislation in the place of ‘The Special Economic Zones Act’, will certainly help in effective utilisation of available resources in the SEZs. For emerging business, the ‘One nation, One registration’ policy will aid in regularising and easing their set-up by eliminating complex processes. There was a clear push for technology companies across domains indicating that the Government clearly sees startups as growth engines across talent, infrastructure, small businesses.’

·         Making Alternative Global Assets accessible to Indian accredited investors – Kristal.AI- Quote by Mr. Asheesh Chanda, Founder &CEO, Kristal. AI

‘The FM has presented a growth oriented budget, the focus on capital expenditure will support growth and have a multiplier effect on economy besides generating employment which is long term positive for long term India growth story.  Besides supporting the India growth story, the focus on digital economy and start-ups is positive for companies like Kristal.AI which is a digital-first global private wealth management platform. With the growing interest to invest in digital assets among all age groups, a keen eye was laid on the Budget 2022 announcement around the same. The step towards taxing virtually owned digital assets indicates a positive sign of acceptance and regularisation of digital assets. The FM has proposed a tax of 30% on all transfers of digital assets, we welcome this move as it suggests legitimisation of digital assets. This also gives more clarity on the tax regime and we hope Indian investors can now utilise LRS money to purchase crypto assets. We believe that setting up of a regulatory body to review and scale up investments from venture capitalists and private equities, will further propel positive growth among start-up community. Further, the extension of existing tax benefits for start-ups by one more year up to end March 2023, is an important positive development for the start-up ecosystem.’

·         One of the few profitable B2B2C SaaS FinTech company, which is digitizing spends to drive growth and unlock value through innovative and automated workflows- Zaggle- Quote by Mr. Avinash Godkhindi, MD and CEO, Zaggle

‘The honourable FM has presented a balanced budget with a strong push for digitalization, financial technology and digital payments specifically. As one of the very few profitable SaaS Fintech players, we believe the biggest news is the issuance of the digital currency by RBI which will open a wide range of options and opportunities. Additionally, the endorsement that digital payments are user friendly and economical is a big boost to the morale of FinTechs and all digital payments ecosystem players, the continued support is most welcome. The aim to take digital banking to every citizen is extremely heartening, positive and a bold statement. The plan to create 75 digital banking units in 75 districts is great. Possibly the best way to execute this would be for scheduled banks to partner with FinTechs to roll out these effectively. The Union Budget 2022 has various encouraging initiatives that will propel aspiring entrepreneurs and boost Fintech and startups. To further ease business environment for startups, the government has announced the existing tax benefits for startups to be extended by one more year up to 31st March 2023. Overall the FM has presented a growth oriented budget focusing on capital expenditure that will go a long way in providing the much needed support for India’s long term growth story and help create employment opportunities for the wider section of the society.’

 Rajeev Kale: President & Country Head, Holidays, MICE, Visa – Thomas Cook (India) Limited.

While the Union Budget 2022-23 offered significant initiatives and outlay pertaining to infrastructure development, technology, health, education and skill development, we are disappointed that the Travel & Tourism sector saw limited attention.  The recommendations  put forward by our industry to support recovery did not receive mention – including tax rationalization, GST holiday, exemption of TCS on outbound tours, reduction in indirect taxes, removal of SIES benefit capping of Rs 5 cr. The Travel & Tourism industry is a valuable contributor to India’s GDP with significant inflows of forex earning, cascading positive impact to direct and allied sectors and a catalyst to job creation and skill development and support via the Union Budget would have had a far reaching impact on the country’s recovery.

The Union Budget’s focus on expansion and modernisation of transport infrastructure, leveraging the PM GatiShakti masterplan, is a welcome move in unlocking the full potential of domestic tourism that has played a mission-critical role over the last 2 years. The investment on infrastructure  will create much needed access/connectivity to yet underleveraged but high potential locales with cascading benefits, including employment, for the catchment areas.

What is noteworthy is that the seven engines are broad-based:  covering not just roads, railways, airports and ports, but equally mass transport and waterways.

We appreciate that the Budget has highlighted priority towards enhancement of the national highways network by 25,000 km in 2022-23, expressways, metro networks, multimodal connectivity between mass transport and railways, development of 400 efficient Vande Bharat trains in the next 3 years, finalisation of draft DPRs for five river links and ropeways.

The limited relief 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.