Encouraging Budget, They Say
Auto, EV, tech firms appreciate the Budget ’23 focus on Saptarishi and Green Initiatives
The Budget seems to give more push to employability readiness in youths. Direct Benefit Transfer under a pan India national apprenticeship scheme which will impact 47 lakh youths seems promising. Setting up 100 Labs in engineering institutions will help graduates be ready to build applications on India’s 5G stack. Focus on smart classrooms will also help us take advantage of the metaverse and immersive learning. Overall it should help India to release its demographic dividend for inclusive development. We applaud the government’s decision to establish a National Digital Library for Children and Adolescence to facilitate access to high-quality books on any device. The finance minister’s decision to expand Eklavya model schools for tribal students is another step forward in promoting digital literacy. Furthermore, by proposing 30 Skill India International centers across various states, Surely, this year’s budget clearly emphasizes the importance of closing the skill gap in youth across India. –Atulya Kaushik, Co-founder & CEO of PrepInst
“For any startup to grow smoothly, easier compliance plays a major role. A lot of decisions of the entrepreneurs and investors depend on the same. In this budget, more than 39,000 compliances have been reduced and more than 3,400 legal provisions have been decriminalized, indicating that even the government sees the startup ecosystem contributing greatly to the future of India. Simultaneously, investors have remained enticed by the agriculture sector in India, and always encourage any innovation that offers support to the largest industry. The announcement of the Agri Accelerator Fund by the government will not only encourage entrepreneurs but also strengthen the agri supply chain which has been struggling for way too long. We have been bullish and investing in Agri startups and have 3 companies in our portfolio, I believe this initiative by the government will see a boost across the entire value chain in the agriculture industry and we definitely see a lot of startups emerging and potentially becoming unicorns from the Agri startup community.
Carrying forward Digital India, and the now renowned IndiaStack or BharatStack of digital solutions for financial inclusion, compliances, governance, and public services, the Honorable FM has announced the launch of various other digital programs such as a digital platform for agriculture, Digital National Library, AI Center for Excellence, extension of eCourts, Unified Skill India Digital Platform, Tourism App, Central Financial Data Repository, Unified Filling Platform, thrust on BharatStack viz. Digilocker, Video KYC, etc.
This is commendable and takes India higher in the tech sphereariousv. Especially, the unified filling platform, if done properly, can simplify the multiple compliances that companies have to currently do for various regulations through a common digital filling of data/forms. –Gaurav VK Singhvi, Co-Founder, We Founder Circle
While many crypto industry leaders had big expectations for the union budget 23-24 and requested some key reforms such as lowering the TDS rate from 1% to 0.01% and providing clarity on taxation, I, as the CEO of Cashaa, a neo-bank that provides services to hundreds of businesses in the crypto industry, honestly did not have lofty hopes from the Indian Government through this budget. I genuinely believe that it is best to wait until the Indian government fully comprehends what cryptocurrency is and the value it can bring to the Indian economy. Overall, this budget is very considerate knowing that the government is still trying to understand the crypto and is not saying anything about the crypto. So I appreciate that.-Kumar Gaurav, Founder & CEO of Cashaa
This Budget is notable for its renewed emphasis on the development of digital infrastructure. The Indian government’s intention to establish three “Centers of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence” in prestigious educational institutions to make “AI Work for India” is a dose of encouragement for entrepreneurs who have been working in the field, hoping to give a new face to sectors and services. These centers will undoubtedly serve as a bridge between educational institutions and leading industries, with the goal of researching and developing practical AI applications across different verticals including agriculture, health, and sustainable cities. Furthermore, the focus on building a strong AI ecosystem in India and training skilled AI professionals will assist new businesses in acquiring the right talent. This also puts a lot of responsibility on education institutes to strengthen the curriculum in the field.-Sarvagya Mishra, Co-founder & Director of SuperBot (PinnacleWorks)
The food and beverage Industry had high hopes for the Union Budget. In the last year, the sector has faced two major challenges: recovering from the aftereffects of COVID-19 and combating rising inflation and food prices. However, following the announcement, the food and beverage industry had a mixed reaction to whatever little was doled out as part of the Union Budget 23-24. Nonetheless, the industry is optimistic that consistent measures such as skill development and new investments will help the industry recover from the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.-Kushang, Co-founder & CEO of SupplyNote
It is really great to see how environmental sustainability has been one of the top 7 priorities in this budget. The Pro-EV budget focuses on much-needed initiatives such as Customs Duty reduction from 21% to 13% on capital goods and machinery required for Lithium Batteries and an extension of the subsidies on EV batteries for one more year. This will certainly encourage each EV manufacturer to contribute to Government initiatives to achieve mass EV adoption by 2030. This will also encourage investments in the EV sector which help new players to continue with innovation.-Anmol Bohre, Co-founder & Managing Director of Enigma
