“We welcome the union Budget 2023, as the announcements made in the Budget are a testament to the Government’s commitment to fostering a stable and inclusive financial landscape. The government has raised capital expenditure, shown fiscal prudence and declared the new personal income tax regime as default. With greater emphasis on the rural sector, social sector schemes, infrastructure creation, and for the middle-income group we think that the budget is financially prudent for the people. I am confident that these measures will not only benefit the industry but also contribute to the overall economic growth of the country. We look forward to leveraging these opportunities to provide innovative and accessible financial services to our customers and drive progress in the sector.”
Budget 2023-24: Quote from Dr Saundarya Rajesh, Founder – President, Avtar Group
The Union Budget 2023 bySmt. Nirmala Sitaraman, Honorable Minister of Finance, Government of India presented as the Last Mile Inclusion budget has covered the cohorts such as indigenous tribes, youth, MSME’s, women and senior citizens with a potentially impactful list of benefits being offered to them. The sustainable city program is an applaudable move for it is one of the key inclusion measures required to increase women’s workforce participation. When there is a focus on capital expenditure spending on infrastructure, it is bound to have a ripple effect on women’s employment. As per Avtar’s recent report on Top Cities for Women in India report, more industrial investment in cities result in ecosystem infrastructure improving including day care facilities, commute facilities and medical amenities. This can act as a catalyst to enable women’s employment, thereby improving women’s workforce participation in the country. However, despite our President of India expressing concerns over the skewed gender ratio in economic activity, no specific schemes for the urban working women have been announced. As per the data available, between 2019-20 and 2020-21, rural women’s labour force participation rate (LFPR) increased from 33% to 36.5%, while urban women’s LFPR fell from 23.3% to 23.2%. There has not been a significant rise in this population, a talent segment that contributes significantly to the country’s GDP. If women’s workforce participation has to burgeon, then corporates have to be incentivized to hire and sustain this underrepresented talent pool. The only silver lining is the heavy focus on skilling – the Unified Skilling Platform and its link to MSMEs, a sector that has the potential to boost women’s workforce participation.
Budget reaction quote from FADA PRESIDENT MR MANISH RAJ SINGHANIA
“The Modi Government’s last full budget has been populist in all aspects as it will help boost Auto Sales all around.
While the capital outlay of Rs 10 Lakh Cr in infra spending will definitely aid CV sales, the aim to scrap all old government vehicles by aiding State Governments will boost all segment sales.
Apart from this, the reduction in individual tax slabs will benefit the ailing entry level 2W and PV segment. Reduction in highest tax surcharge from 37% to 25% will also benefit luxury vehicle sales. With focus on Electrification, relaxation on import duties of Lithium ion batteries will help in price reduction of EVs, thus make it affordable for the masses.
On business front, being part of the MSME universe, cost of credit guarantee will reduce by 1% thus helping Auto Dealers in raising funds. The budget has also focussed on ease of doing business by reducing more then 39K compliances and enabling entity level digilocker for storing and sharing documents.”
Budget reaction quote from Mr. Rajesh Sharma, Managing Director, Capri Global Capital Ltd
In the backdrop of a slowing global economy, budget’s strong emphasis on capital expenditure as well as social sector spending seeks to strengthen foundations for growth continuity over medium term without ignoring short term social welfare needs. The collateral-free credit limit under the revamped credit-guarantee scheme for MSMEs should inject the right booster shot for a sector that has begun to emerge very strongly after the pandemic. The expansion of the digital ecosystem for skilling, especially through linkages with employers including MSMEs augurs well for the growth of new businesses and employment. The direct tax proposals fulfil much anticipated expectations of the tax-paying middle class. Overall budget estimates are pragmatic and based on reasonable assumptions of nominal GDP growth. It has once again provided a good anchor to all stakeholders for the year ahead. The likelihood of outperforming the estimates seems higher. The budget has sounded a positive note for the economy to guide itself over the next 25 years on the path to becoming a developed nation.
Budget reaction quote from Neeraj Dhawan, Country Manager, Experian India
We welcome the government’s efforts to enable more fintech innovative services and simplify the KYC process by expanding the scope of documents available through DigiLocker. India’s fintech services have been revolutionised by our digital public infrastructure, through Aadhaar, PM Jan Dhan Yojana, India Stack, UPI, and Video KYC. Additionally, the move to set up an Entity DigiLocker which can be leveraged by MSME’s, large businesses, and charitable trusts to safely secure and store their documents, which can be shared with various authorities and regulators, is a positive step towards ease of doing business. Another positive from this budget is the government’s commitment to putting the final touches to National Data Governance Policy. This will add good momentum to India’s emergence as a knowledge-powered economy.
]The setting up of the National Financial Information Registry is a progressive one and in line with the PM’s vision to make India a leader in the knowledge economy. It will help organisations keep the necessary documentation accessible for both business operations and compliance audits. The revamping of credit guarantee for MSME’s to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore will enable additional collateral-free credit of Rs 2 lakh crore and reduce the cost of credit by 1%, is another welcome step. The move to improve bank governance and enhance investor protection by amending certain sections in the Banking Regulations Act, Banking Companies Act and RBI Act is bound to increase investor confidence in the India’s economic story.
BUDGET QUOTE from Dr Alok Khullar, CEO, Gleneagles Global Health City
We are delighted to note that the budget session was introduced with the announcement of increase in allocation for Research in the healthcare sector including Pharma, Clinical Research and Public-Private partnership in Healthcare Research. The government’s initiatives to encourage Research and Development in Healthcare is a much-needed move. The collaborative set up of Research and Innovation Centre and the facilities in select ICMR Labs made available for research by public and private medical college faculty and private sector is commendable. Setting-up of more nursing colleges is a welcome move to generate adequate Nursing workforce every year. Introduction of courses for medical devices will fill a significant gap in the industry.
Budget reaction quote fromMr. Nemin Vora, CEO, Odysse Electric Vehicles
Union Budget great encouragement for the automobile and EV sector
“With the budget announcement completed, we can see the emphasis on this year’s budget on wider adoption of Electric Vehicles for public as well as private use. The introduction of the National Hydrogen Mission in India is a huge step towards making the country greener and more sustainable.
Government’s decision to increase the income tax rebate limit on personal income from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 7 lakh in the new tax regime is a welcome step for the middle-class citizens. This step is likely to help the sector as more disposable income with salaried customers may give supplementary push to demand for personal vehicles.
Another significant announcement made by the government is the elimination of customs duty on capital goods imported for the manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries. This step is a boost for companies that are / would be manufacturing batteries for electric vehicles locally. Overall, this move by the Government of India is expected to have a positive impact on the lithium-ion battery industry, making it more accessible and cost effective for businesses.”
Bangaloretimenews 