Pre Budget Expectations From Mr. Shibu Paul, Regional Sales Director, ME and SEA, Array Networks, India
“The various initiatives taken by the present government like Smart Cities, Digital India, Make in India, E-governance etc. have opened up new revenue opportunities and created a positive impact on our industry. We are now expecting some more specific announcements from the government to incentivize both manufacturers and end consumers to actively engage them in these initiatives. There is an urgent need to develop infrastructure that can support the implementation of such projects on a large scale, particularly in rural areas. The programs announced for rural development have to be backed by tangible benefits.
The industry is also looking forward to some concrete measures that can increase the pace of economic growth. With close to a billion workforce expected in India by 2020, the government must seriously look at growth levels of 9- 10% and not remain complacent with 7-7.5%. Else it will negatively impact the economic and social fabric of the country. The IT industry, in particular, has been facing challenges due to increase in tax burden and duties. The pace of government projects has also remained painfully slow and at times we have to face unexpected cancellations and postponement which affects our business adversely. The timely implementation of government projects requires strict monitoring at a ministerial level. Apart from this, some immediate steps are needed to check Rupee-Dollar fluctuations as that can cause delay in purchase decisions, thereby affecting investor confidence.”
