Union Budget for 2017-18 was announced by Mr. Arun Jaitley, Finance Minister on 1st February 2017. This time budget was more focused on Farmers, Rural Development and infrastructure.
The government also focused on digital payment to push cashless economy in India. Yet there is no any direct big majors announced for ICT industry but this was well balanced budget for the growth of overall Indian economy. We got reactions from all key industry players, which we had listed to share their opinion on budget announcement.
“Focus on Digital Literacy will Act as an Enabler for Job Creation & Skill Development”
Mr. Rahul Agarwal, MD & CEO, Lenovo India
The Tech-India agenda in the budget is a great highlight for the IT companies. We are pleased that the budget addresses the last mile connectivity issue which was a missing link in the earlier plans. Digi Gaon and Bharat Net are positive steps and will inevitably boost IT penetration. Focus on Digital Literacy will act as an enabler for job creation and skill development. Thrust on such initiatives provides an impetus for companies like Lenovo. However, we would expect more proactive measures from the government on ease of doing business as the cost of compliance in India is higher as compared to other countries, because of which large scale manufacturing is not yet shifting to India.
“Initiatives like ‘Digital Village’ & ‘Digi-Gaun’ will extend the Benefits of Digitization to Rural India”
Mr. Jay Chen, CEO, Huawei India
We at Huawei Telecommunications India are pleased to note that the current budget strongly supports the progressive vision of a Digital India set by Hon’ble Government. The allocation of Rs 10,000 crore towards BharatNet will give an overall boost to broadband connectivity in the country. The success of the BHIM app and announcements related to its promotion, Aadhar based swipe machines, and tax exemption to those who use Aadhar based POS machines, will all help accelerate acceptance of digital payments. Furthermore, initiatives like ‘Digital Village’ and ‘Digi-Gaun’ will significantly extend the benefits of digitization to rural India and contribute to a Better Connected India.
“The Budget Moves the Education & Skills Sectors in the Right Direction”
Mr. Nikhil Sinha, Chief Business Officer, Coursera
The focus on learning outcomes and a new innovation fund are good initiatives to improve school education, but it would have been nice to see concrete steps to improve school infrastructure and teacher training, which are basic needs in the sector. In higher education, the Budget focuses on much needed and long overdue regulatory reforms with a promise of changes in the UGC, a revised framework for output based accreditation and greater autonomy for high quality institutions. It’s also encouraging to see the continued expansion of SWAYAM. But online education is an important component of the country’s ability to expand higher education and SWAYAM alone won’t be the answer to making high quality education widely available. The Government also needs to reduce the regulatory hurdles for good quality private online education providers, both domestic and international. With the SANKALP and STRIVE programs, the Government continues its emphasis on skill development. However, skill development needs to go hand-in-hand with job creation and the Government needs to focus on increasing employment in the formal sector. Overall, the budget moves the education and skills sectors in the right direction but execution and the allocation of funds will, as always, determine whether we see real impact on the ground.
“We Also Appreciate the Initiation of the SANKALP Program”
Mr. Pankaj Raina, COO, betterU
The Finance minister’s opening remarks on the need for quality education to encourage the youth garners praise. We welcome the steps taken by the government to promote digital learning as part of the Union Budget 2017-18. The focus on educational reforms by introducing better measurement system of the outcomes, skill development to push job creation and provide vocational training for livelihood programme are all bold moves in the right direction. The Government’s endeavour to introduce 350 virtual courses on the SWAYAM platform will spur learning opportunities for the youth. In line with skill development, we also appreciate the initiation of the SANKALP program which will give a strategic boost by training over 1 crore youth. We strongly believe these measures will further uplift India’s education sector.
“Realising Digital India Movement, Expansion & Internet Penetration in Rural Markets Will Boost Startup Eco-System”
Mr. Punit Desai, Co-founder and CEO, Welcome Cure
A 7 year tax relief is a welcomed move for the startup eco-system to help overcome any losses the industry has incurred in the last quarter of 2016 due to the demonetization drive. An added relief is the profit-linked deductions reduced to 3 out of 7 years giving a push to the sector overall. Realising the Digital India movement, expansion and Internet penetration in rural markets will further boost the startup eco-system while the digital transactions encouraged by the recent demonetization drive will help push the Startup India initiative.
“This Union Budget is People Friendly”
Mr. S. Durgaprasad, Co-Founder, Director & Chief Executive Officer of Bahwan CyberTek
The Union Budget for 2017-18 has a number of steps that are paving the way in making India a digital economy. With the first step of demonetization taken towards this promise, the budget has further highlighted steps in this direction; for example, Aadhar Pay, is a mandate to digitize all Government receipts and the restriction of cash transactions up to Rs. 3 lacs. An interesting point to note here is that the budget has been presented with a fiscal deficit of 3.2%, which is expected, given the current global market scenario. Firstly, it is likely that there will be higher capital outflow from emerging economies like India, since the US Federal Reserve’s intention is to increase policy rates this year; secondly, the uncertainty around commodity prices - especially that of crude oil - is bound to have implications on the fiscal situation of emerging economics; finally, there are signs of withdrawal from the globalization of goods, services and people, as the pressure of protection on the global economy is unsurmountable. What is definitely reassuring is the amount of measures taken to stimulate growth – Income Tax for companies falling under the MSME category with a turnover of up to 50 crore has been reduced to 25% and the MAT credit carry forward has been increased to 15 years versus 10 years. Overall, this union budget is people friendly; with widened tax net for corporates and industries, and budget deficit control of 3.2%, this is a pro-industry budget, and the scope for technology companies for automation initiatives has vastly widened because of this.
“This is a Clearly Growth Centric Budget”
Mr. Rajasundaram Sudarshan, COO & C0-founder, CreditMantri
This is a clearly a growth centric budget. It has brought significant benefits to middle income group and SME sector through lower taxes, deferred loss absorption benefits and capital gain period reduction. It has released more money with these segments which will give better purchasing power. Low cost housing will certainly help the much needed boost. These two sectors are likely to see more lending and credit activity happening.
“By Providing Tax Relief in HRA, the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, has Helped Public-At-Large”
Mr. L C Singh, Vice Chairman & CEO (Founder) at Nihilent Technologies.
The Narendra Modi led National Democratic Alliance government’s budget for 2017-18 has an special emphasis on enabling extensive transparent system of governance with providing more avenues for learning and development, through importance to building a huge digital infrastructure, which clearly indicates a wholehearted commitment to development of rural India. By providing tax relief in HRA, the finance minister Arun Jaitley, has helped the public-at-large. The announcement of 'Transform, Energise and Clean India' is a sincere attempt to focus on transforming the quality of governance, energizing various sections of society - especially the youth - and more importantly, cleaning the system from the age-old diseases of: corruption, black money and non-transparent political funding, which is certainly a welcome move.In addition to that, the promulgation of digital transactions to the tune of of Rs 2,500 crore across various platforms like: UPI, USSD, IMPS, Aadhaar Pay, debit cards, and tax exemptions on digital transaction equipments, referral bonus and cash-back not only for customers and merchants as well, in order to promote BHIM app, will not only boost the fast adoption of digital technologies across the country but it will, for sure, encourage means to reach out to consumers digitally and different markets. In a nutshell, it's a balanced and realistic budget.
“Introduction of Measures Like AadharPay, Targeting 2500 Crore Digital Transactions Across Platforms Will Bring Ease in Transactions Especially in Rural And RUSU”
Mr. Ravi Goyal, Chairman and Managing Director, AGS Transact Technologies Limited.
As a leading end-to-end payment solutions provider, we welcome the pro-growth policies announced in today’s Union Budget which gives a strong impetus to all forms of transactions – especially the digital and the alternate payments ecosystem. The introduction of measures like AadharPay, targeting 2500 crore digital transactions across platforms like UPI will bring ease in transactions especially in rural and semi urban areas (RUSU) as well as incentivise the merchants owing to favorable merchant discount rate (MDR). Furthermore, creating digital infrastructure at petrol pumps will increase the ambit of cashless transactions/payments. With a much-needed boost of INR 10,000 crores for recapitalisation of banking institutions under the Indradhanush scheme, the NPA limit enhancement from 7.5 to 8.5 pc and with affordable housing thrust, banking sector will witness an upsurge in performance. We also laud the tax exemptions on duties levied on manufacturing miniature PoS & m-PoS machines and on its import coupled with the target to develop 10 lakhs additional PoS terminals by March FY’17 which will further incentivise domestic players like us in building India’s digital economy. As the exclusive technology partners of the first of its kind Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL) project, we are glad to see a formal impetus from the government in this direction and eagerly await more details on the policy.
“The Budget Rightly Focuses on Ensuring Fund Infusion & High Liquidity in Banks”
Mr. Satya Vishnubhotla, Co-Founder, Creditseva.com
The Union Budget 2017-18 has struck a fine balance between fiscal prudence and giving a digital boost to the economy. As expected, the Budget has laid emphasis on online payments, essentially moving towards a cashless economy to bring in better transparency. The Budget rightly focuses on ensuring fund infusion and high liquidity in banks which will enable them to enhance their lending operations. The Government’s thrust towards digital payments, targeting Rs 2,500 cr digital transactions across platforms such as UPI, will also increase the credit flow in the economy. Overall, the mixed bag of announcements is a welcoming move for India’s growth and development.