Rahul Raj, Founder & CEO at FloBiz | Building for Growth, Building for Bharat
“I’d like to commend the government on presenting a comprehensive budget that aims to address some of the most important aspects of how we can build a resilient economy, especially in light of the global pandemic. The budget was clearly pro-growth, pro-technology, pro-infrastructure and also had an earmarked place for improving healthcare in our country. The initiatives announced will certainly aid economic recovery, whether that’s through capital infusion, change in taxation norms, programs for promoting domestic manufacturing or development of relevant infrastructure – these will create large opportunities for the MSMEs and is a right step in the direction of building an “Aatmanirbhar Bharat”.
Gaurav Shinh, CEO & Founder, DAAS Labs
The Budget 2021-22 has left the data science community quite excited for what is to come. For me it was really interesting when the Government announced that it will launch multiple data analytics, AI, ML driven models for e-security, e-education, e- consultation, and compliance management. Also, the prospect of using Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in GST Fraud Tracking is quite motivating and intriguing.
The Government’s continued support for the startup is quite uplifting as the Government is setting aside Rs 15,700 crore in FY22 and has reduced margin money requirement from 25% to 15% for startups. The proposal of extending the tax holiday for start-ups by one more year will also give more confidence to the entrepreneurs.
Travel & Hospitality and F&B Sector
Mr. Sarbendra Sarkar, Founder & MD, Cygnett Hotels and Resorts
While there is nothing specific on the tourism and hospitality sector in the budget, I feel broader focus on the budget on increasing consumption and infrastructure spend by the government will have a positive impact on the hospitality sector. The government has done the right thing by not introducing any new tax or COVID cess as some had anticipated. We also believe that the amount allocated for COVID vaccination is a positive for our sector as more people get vaccinated it will encourage people to travel.
Luxury & Retail Sector
Mr Gaurav Mehta, Founder & CEO, Jaipur Watch Company
I think the budget is positive in the sense that it will drive consumption and encourage consumers to spend like they were doing the pre-COVID times. The announcement on rationalization of custom duty on gold, silver and other precious metals is a huge positive for us in the bespoke watch industry. The demand for bespoke gold watches is at all time low, a lower customs duty will help us in reducing our input costs which we can pass on to consumers. Await to hear details on custom duty for imported watches.
Healthcare Sector
Dr. RB Smarta, Managing Director, Interlink Consultancy.
Overall, it is a very promising and encouraging budget for the health and wellness sector. Happy to see that health and well-being has been given due importance and noted as the first pillar of the budget. Most of our suggestions have been incorporated.
Increasing outlay by 138 percent and the focus on strengthening the healthcare infrastructure across the primary, secondary and tertiary levels is a welcome move. The investments allocated for the detection and cure of new and emerging diseases, renewed thrust to Mission Poshan, skill development appropriate to the healthcare segment and commitment to meet one of the SDGs on infant mortality is commendable. I believe all these steps combined will benefit millions of Indians and help us move ahead on the goal of ensuring healthcare access for all.
The budget has also given a fillip to innovative, agile companies and has opened several avenues for them. The API sector will get an incentive to boost PLI and the tax holiday to R&D is another positive move.
The only let down in a sense has been that while the government has increased funding and allocation, in some areas it has increased the cost of doing business. Again, given that healthcare is a largely state issue, the onus will be on the states to ensure that these allocations reap benefits. On the whole, I would give the budget a thumbs up, but resource allocation and on-ground implementation will be critical for success. I would also like to see prevention, cure and wellness being continuing themes for the budget y-oy.
Post Budget Reaction – Fintech/Payment Sector
Ketan Doshi, MD at PayPoint India
“Governments move on the proposed 1500 crore fund for digital payments is a welcome move and will go a long way in strengthening payment infrastructure in the country and taking financial services to the last-mile. We would await to see the fine print of where this fund will be allocated.
Waiver of Tax audit for companies with turnover upto 10 crs and a cash expenditure of less than 5% will push Small businesses to move towards Digital payments.”
“Earmarking of INR 15,700 crores towards the development of MSME sector is indeed a positive move and it will have an impact on the Agarbathi industry as most of the Agarbathi manufacturers fall under the MSME bracket. Similarly the plan to put in place a revised customs duty structure by October 2021 is also commendable. In fact, even the strengthening of NCLT framework, implementation of e-courts systems, introducing alternate methods of debt resolution and setting up a special framework for MSMEs will help the industry significantly. However, considering that the government had acknowledged the issues that MSMEs faced owing to budget , one would have expected extensive support. The budget should have considered giving a 50% additional weightage under the Atmanirbhar Allowance in the Income Tax Act on the cost of materials consumed as well as on the manufacturing expenses incurred in making raw Agarbathi. This would have provided a great relief to the small units who have recently commenced their efforts in making our industry self-reliant and completely indigenous. Further, the government should have re-considered investing in providing infrastructure support like setting up of a dedicated state warehousing facilities and offering them at concessional rates. Funds should have also been considered for setting up common facility centres for bamboo stick making from strips across the district and taluka headquarters of identified states “by Mr. Arjun Ranga, President, All India Agarbathi Manufacturers’ Association (AIAMA).
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