The Union Budget for 2021-22 will be presented by the Finance Minister Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman on 1st February 2021. Last year has been the worst year so far in the recent history of our existence due to challenges from the ongoing pandemic. The Indian economy has suffered a lot due to lockdown but in the post-Covid-19 world, the economy has started picking up in almost all sectors. But to grow further and recovery of all businesses, we all are looking towards the government to make some bigger announcements in the upcoming budget. It is expected that few key announcements from the Finance Minister will boost the economy and bring new opportunities for various sectors to grow. The ICT industry is one of the key sectors that have to play a major role in reviving the economy. The key leaders have shared their expectations from the Union Budget 2021-22. Read below the opinion of tech leaders-
“I Am Sure The Budget Will Reflect The New Aspirations Of India”
Sudhir Goel, Chief Business Officer, Acer India
"We are looking forward to the upcoming budget with high hopes especially since the government has been forthcoming and proactive during the pandemic. We hope the digital infrastructure in India get the deliberate push from the government. The focus for such push, should be on the enablement of seamless high-speed networks, ready availability of data centers, and enhanced security of data, amongst other aspects. I am sure the budget will reflect the new aspirations of India."
“We Are Expecting That The Budget Will Have Measures To Boost Domestic Manufacturing”
K. G. Prabhu, Chief Financial Officer, Digisol Systems
"COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent lockdown had a drastic impact on the Indian economy in 2020, however everyone is hoping that the upcoming budget will improve the situation for the next financial year as India looks to recover from the economic devastation with the rollout of COVID vaccine. As last year the government focused on making India a self-reliant economy, thus, we are expecting that the upcoming budget will have measures to boost domestic manufacturing and introduce policies that will allow global companies to invest and manufacture in India."
“This Year's Union Budget Will Be One That Organisations Across Industry Sectors Are Looking Forward To”
Sunil Sharma, Managing Director- Sales, India & SAARC, Sophos
“The pandemic and ensuing lockdown in 2020, saw a huge proportion of organisations pulling out all the stops to ensure their employees can work both remotely and seamlessly. However, the sudden shift to work from home also threw open several opportunities for cybercriminals to take advantage of. As businesses return to offices, it will be a different challenge to regain cyber hygiene due to tampered settings and multiple uses of office devices. This year's Union Budget will be one that organisations across industry sectors are looking forward to. We believe it should take into account necessary provisions for companies to secure their operations from cybercriminals and ensure complete compliance. This can be done through incentives and tax subsidies. As per our recent survey, with 100% Indian businesses being concerned about their current level of cloud security, there is a need for initiatives to develop cybersecurity skill sets that also take care of security of cloud environment which is the backbone of accelerated digital transformation that India is witnessing due to the pandemic.”
“Bolstering Country’s Infrastructure Will Remain Broad Themes On The FM’s Agenda”
Rajesh Gupta, Director, Micron India Sales
"While the galvanizing demand and bolstering the country’s infrastructure will remain broad themes on the finance minister’s agenda, I believe these can be achieved by doubling down on policy focus to strengthen the manufacturing ecosystem, promoting research and development, and incentivizing futuristic technologies."
“AMD Hopes The Government Accords Higher Spending to Provide Students With Computers”
Arvind Chandrasekar, Director, Regulatory Affairs and Government Relations, AMD India
“One of the critical resources during the pandemic has been the use of computing technologies to ensure continuity. From online schools to the use of High Performance Computing (HPC) for vaccine discovery - computing devices have proven how the disruption brought about by the pandemic can be bridged with the use of technology. AMD hopes the government accords higher spending to provide students with computers which have now become a critical learning resource. In addition, the need to expand investments in private/captive HPC infrastructure came to light during the pandemic. From banking services to healthcare, from retail to weather prediction for agricultural productivity, large HPC cluster deployments ensured a smoother transition to digitisation during the pandemic. AMD believes efforts by the government to highlight the significance of HPC from a business need to a national asset, such as according ‘infrastructure status’ to private clouds will help Digital India percolate outside government services. A number of studies have demonstrated the multiplier effect on economic growth, unlocked by investments in HPC. We believe, schemes to fund and facilitate affordable access to HPC resources for startups will rapidly accelerate India’s ability to scale innovations across agriculture, energy, electronics manufacturing, and pharmaceuticals. Additionally, tax incentives that reward substantial datacenter investments will spark a virtuous cycle across India’s IT demand and supply.”
“The Financial Budget For 2021 Will Be Very Crucial For Various Sectors Including Tech/ IT”
Dipesh Kaura, General Manager, Kaspersky (South Asia)
"The financial budget for 2021 will be very crucial for various sectors including Tech/ IT, especially after the year 2020- where economic growth of our country almost came to a standstill, due to the pandemic and its after effects. However, it was the use of digital technology that helped companies run their businesses remotely and steadily throughout the year. It is a fact that the emerging trend of digital transformation created various opportunities for us, however, it also led us to a juncture where newer opportunities met newer threats. The use of digital technology has not only transformed the way we operate today, but has also opened gates for nefarious cybercriminals that are waiting to exploit our vulnerabilities. From growing number of cyberattacks on enterprises, critical infrastructures, consumers, to increased cyber warfare, we have witnessed a drastic change in India's threat landscape in the past year. To keep the digital transformation ongoing, it is imperative to embed cybersecurity at the most initial stage of digitization. While Digital India is our future, the right investment made in cybersecurity today can help us secure this future, and hence the funds should be allocated accordingly. Increase in cybersecurity awareness and maturity amongst the growing internet users in India is equally important in order to protect them from the potential threats and encourage them to explore opportunities digitally. It is true that the Finance Minister has to look at various aspects while announcing the budget, but with right investments made in the technology sector, the country is sure to soar to new heights."
“Import Duties Should Be Levied On All IT Products”
Suresh Pansari, Co-founder & Director, RP tech India
“India is now moving towards becoming Aatmnirbharta (self-reliant) in terms of imports. A lot of expectations are from the union budget to provide a support for local manufacturing. The IT hardware industry’s expectation from the union budget as below:
“We Hope That The Upcoming Budget Will Address The Challenges Faced By Businesses”
CP Gurnani, MD & CEO, Tech Mahindra
“2020 has been an unprecedented year and we hope that the upcoming budget will address the challenges faced by businesses and propel the economy towards faster recovery and growth. Digital technology and connectivity continue to be the cornerstone of India’s growth and leadership. The pandemic accelerated the shift to digital and we need to maintain this growth momentum, as it will have a cascading effect on creating efficient businesses, new jobs and all round development. R&D (Research and Development) spending must be increased in order to accelerate digital transformation and jumpstart education with focus on next-gen technologies, skilling, reskilling and upskilling programs, to nurture our young talent pool and thus accelerate our journey towards an ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ (Self-reliant India). We also hope to see focused initiatives to boost consumer sentiment, accelerate infrastructure development, move towards a lower interest rate regime and increase investments in key areas including healthcare and education. From an IT (Information Technology) perspective, we expect the government to create a fund for product companies along with extended SEZ (Special Economic Zone) benefits in the new normal of remote working, besides nurturing an ecosystem for deep tech startups in areas including blockchain, artificial intelligence, augmented reality and virtual reality. India is on the path of a higher growth trajectory and the vision of a $5 trillion economy can be achieved with focus on economic growth and development.”
“Nurturing New-Age Tech And Enabling MSME Must Be On The Agenda For The Government”
Mandeep Arora, Managing Director, UBON
“The year 2020 was a year of challenges for nearly every sector, so, we are eagerly waiting for Budget 2021. Every sector is expecting the government to focus on overall economic growth and taking measures to continue positioning India as the business epicenter of the world. We expect new policies promoting R&D innovations by pushing relevant initiatives, making innovative and bold policy interventions to propel the process of Make-in-India across sectors. There’s no denying that Digital Innovation is an important building block for India’s future growth. Thus, nurturing new-age tech, improving the quality of talent, and enabling MSME must be on the agenda for the Government.”
“We Are Hopeful That The Government Will Continue To Promote Manufacturing In India”
Lalit Arora, Co-founder and CEO, VingaJoy
“The consumer tech industry has great expectations from the Union Budget 2021-22. We hope that the upcoming budget has provisions that can strengthen progressive initiatives such as ‘Make in India’, ‘Digital India’, and the ‘Smart Cities Mission’. In the upcoming budget, we are hopeful that the government would continue the good work it began carrying out in its first term with regards to GST, Make in India, along with a host of initiatives it has undertaken in the consumer tech / FMCG sector. There has been an abolition of Chinese applications in India; this has led to considerable slowdown in import of Chinese products, so our industry is expecting improved funding and credit facility from the upcoming budget. Additionally, we are hopeful that the Government will continue to promote manufacturing in India through its ‘Make in India’ initiative as this would not only provide a boost to Indian companies but also aid in creating more employment opportunities.”
“We Expect The Budget To Act As A Much-Needed Catalyst For Boosting Demand”
Rajiv Bhalla, MD, Barco India
“We expect the budget to act as a much-needed catalyst for boosting demand, curbing inflation and thereby reviving the economy. There is a need to undertake definite policy measures and provide fiscal stimulus to ensure financial recovery and spur economic growth, specifically across, sectors, like healthcare, EdTech, Infrastructure and Manufacturing. We are also hopeful that the budget will address measures essential for an accelerated digital transformation. This includes investment in R&D, automation technologies, skilling and development of a talent pool trained in digital age skills which will help accelerate the pace of development.”
“I Believe That The Tech Space Is Eagerly Awaiting Big Changes”
Sheshgiri Kamath, Co-founder & CEO, Kapture CRM
“Startups have long been wishing for the relaxation of the FEMA laws. The ease of inbound/outbound financial transactions internationally has been a much-debated subject due to the number of startups that are raising capital from foreign funds. Currently, there are talks around simplifying the compliance procedure with reduced paperwork - especially the ones pertaining to filings. Startups will definitely benefit immensely if filings, returns, and submissions are made online. The technology sector has faced tailwinds in recent times, especially during the pandemic. Making the process of raising capital a little easier by simplifying foreign outward and inward transactions will go a long way. Additionally, making changes to capital gains tax and the tax structure on ESOPs is going to help the sector tremendously as well. ‘Make in India’ is another initiative where technology companies have been leading from the front, especially considering the size of the Indian software exports. And as reportedly, the government is planning to make this the best budget in the past century, I believe that the tech space is eagerly awaiting big changes.”
“The Government Must Consider Initiatives in Areas Such As Broadband Internet Penetration”
Javed Tapia, Managing Director, Clover Infotech
“I believe it would immensely help if the budget can address the MSMEs ( a sector that contributes 30% to the GDP and plays a vital role in 40% of our exports) with incentives to adopt the latest digital technologies and augment growth and operational efficiency. We are at the onset of a decade of accelerated digital transformation across industries and we are well-poised to address this global demand by leveraging the power of young India. To facilitate this, the government must consider initiatives in areas such as broadband internet penetration and building a secure technology infrastructure to ensure democratic access to digital skills and ubiquitous learning opportunities for our largely millennial population.”
