Union Budget 2022: Reaction from Industry Leaders
BUSINESS & ECONOMY:
K R Sekar, President-BCIC and Partner, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP“The Union budget certainly looked growth-oriented from the perspective of a recovering economy post-pandemic. We are happy to announce that recommendations made by BCIC have been considered by the Finance Minister and have been brought into the Union Budget 2022. The proposals suggested that for India to grow, the increased focus and higher allocation for R&D, a cap on surcharge at 15% on capital gains, and deferment of litigation in the high court and supreme court in case of taxpayers having favourable orders. The fiscal deficit has also been maintained at 6.9% due to GST & direct tax collection. There has been no increase in the tax rates, the liquidation for corporates is now becoming easy. Taxing digital assets is a strong move by the government. However, taxing at 30% is not appropriate and it is recommended the taxation rate on digital assets should be pegged at normal corporate tax rate or capital gains tax rate particularly due to non-availability of any deductions other than the cost of acquisition of the asset. Also, a major initiative to digitize and interlink all government and finance ministries’ payments will enable transparency and help to create better administration.”
FMCG & Retail:Mr. Arjun Ranga, Managing Director, Cycle Pure Agarbathi
“The Make in India initiative to create 6mn jobs will boost our economy and strengthen India’s Atma Nirbhar Bharat dream. The focus on ease of living will boost Naya Bharat and enable more businesses to flourish. The move to repeal union laws to make it easier for businesses will uplift the employment scenario of the nation. As we are already in the jobs creation space, it will be a notable moment to witness industries coming together to create 60 lakh new jobs. The move to create a Special Economic Zones Act to enable states to become partners in ‘Development of Enterprise and Service Hubs’ will enhance the competitiveness of exports. New businesses and brands should now take climate change seriously and align their brand’s vision to minimise the effect on the environment. It is our responsibility to take India towards a more sustainable development path”.
EDUCATION:Mr. Allan Andersen, Director, Chaman Bhartiya School“The pandemic has highlighted the fact that digital can be an efficient resource for delivery of quality education. Hence in this scenario, it was expected that the government would have initiated a specific action plan to bridge the digital divide not only between the urban and rural, but also between the high-income and low-income population of India. The Finance Minister today in her Union Budget 2022 speech acknowledged the serious impact of the pandemic on crores of children, who have lost almost two years of formal schooling. The government recognized the need to build supplementary teaching resources and expand the PM e-vidya scheme from the existing 12 educational television channels to 200. This would allow all States to provide extensive content in regional languages. We are also ecstatic to see the Government’s focus on creating enriching e-content & content delivery platforms clubbed with better offline pedagogical methods by training teachers in order to create a holistic learning ecosystem. Also, the expansion of “One Class One TV Channel” will help in tackling continued learning even in a pandemic. We at Chaman Bhartiya School look forward to the positive impact this will make.”
AEROSPACE & DEFENCE:
Pavan Ranga, Director, Rangsons LLP
The Union Budget 2022 looks promising for private industry in the Defence Sector. The move to allow private firms to take part in the R&D will encourage more players to take part in the growth of the nation’s defence sector. This will shorten the buying cycle of manufacturing products from foreign countries and make India capable of producing world class products in the defence and aerospace segment. The allocation of 25% of defence R&D budget will push more startups and academia to set incubation centres and accelerate new solutions in India that will be aligned to promoting Atma Nirbhar Bharat dream.
TECHNOLOGY:
Sunil Bist – CEO, NetConnect Global
“We see enormous potential in the next digital transformation era, fuelled by fields such as 5G-enabled internet of vehicles, internet of things, and industrial internet, and in India, we will see upcoming growth opportunities for a range of small and medium-sized enterprises, which can explore the innovative 5G applications in various industries.”
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