The union budget of India is the government’s annual financial statement for the upcoming financial year 2023-24. The union budget 2023 is to be presented in the parliament by finance mister Nirmala Sitharaman on 1st Feb 2023.
This would be Nirmala Sitharaman’s 5th consecutive union budget speech. This year’s budget speech is expected to focus on infrastructure, manufacturing, agriculture, and allied activities.
Here below are the business leader’s expectations from the union budget 2023.
Arun Kumar Gupta, Chief Financial Officer of Newgen Software Technologies
“With Union Budget 2022-23, the government should bring policies and reforms to support enterprises in their digital journeys and facilitate their growth. Initiatives like long-term work-from-home policies, simplification of the GST regime, and streamlining labour laws can facilitate a less-ambiguous and conducive business environment.
Also, there is an urgent need to simplify the foreign withholding tax structure to ensure that full set-off is available to IT companies operating in multiple countries.
“Special Economic Zones (SEZ) are instrumental in driving the Indian IT sector’s growth. Improvements in SEZ-related policies and their extension will help strengthen the sector further.
The IT sector is indisputably an integral part of India’s growth story. However, the government should stay mindful of the recent disruptions in the sector caused by the pandemic and ongoing global business uncertainty. The upcoming Union Budget 2023 is expected to bring conducive policy initiatives to incentivize the IT sector and accelerate its growth”.
Sanjeev Chhabra, MD & CEO of Beetel Teletech
“Investment in infrastructure is crucial for the growth and advancement of any sector, and we are grateful for the government’s efforts in supporting the telecom industry.
Last year, the government recognized the importance of reliable and sustainable power sources by allocating an additional 19,500 crores for the solar PLI scheme.
However, with the rollout of 5G networks, the trend of solarizing telecom towers is gaining momentum. We hope that the budget for 2023 will continue to prioritize the needs of the telecom industry and provide the necessary support and incentives for developing telecommunications infrastructure in India.
At Beetel, we are dedicated to doing our part to make a change and work toward a sustainable future. With one of our partners, we have already started the rollout of solarisation of existing towers for a Telecom Service Provider, wherein Solar solutions are being installed at sites.
Going forward, we would also be offering an end-to-end, comprehensive solution, wherein Solution Design, Installation and Commissioning, solarisation, integrated software-based management, and reporting of the health of the infra and energy analytics along with operations and maintenance would be provided.”
Vidyarthi Baddireddy, CEO and Co-founder of PickMyWork
“The urgent priority of the hour is to devise a policy that further encourages a sturdy startup ecosystem through easier loan disbursements, e-approvals, and more government-led incentives in India’s tier-I and tier-II cities.
Although the Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS) has played an integral role in mobilizing domestic capital in the Indian startup ecosystem, government interference should occur directly in this respect to ramp up the startup perks being offered, particularly for early-stage startups.
Moreover, the government should also recognize relieving angel tax constraints in Budget 2023, as startups are frequently in the early stages of their growth and may not generate the same level of income or revenues as established businesses. Taxing the funds startups secure from investors may demotivate them from advancing creative solutions and developing new technologies.”
Pramod Sharda, CEO of IceWarp India and Middle East
“The Union Budget for 2023-24 is being proposed at a critical moment marked by geopolitical uncertainty, rising inflation, and plummeting global economic development. At this point, targeted actions to boost domestic sources of growth are critical to maintaining a stable economic growth track.
In a continuous pursuit of widening the tax base, the government has introduced a wide gamut of withholding tax provisions over the years, with varied rates and thresholds and overlapping scopes. Thus, there is an urgent need to simplify the withholding tax structure. Further simplification, rationalization, ease of paying taxes, and reducing tax litigation should be key priorities.
Currently, people across industries are working from home. Employees are likely to incur additional “work from home”-related expenses, such as internet charges, rent, power, furniture, and so on. Companies will need to give allowances to cover these costs. Employees who work from home should be granted exemptions under the “work from home” allowance.
Given that the Indian economy has begun to recover from the fiscal consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, the present administration is expected to focus on measures to accelerate job creation and broaden the tax base by rationalizing GST and personal income tax slabs to boost consumption.
The external environment is expected to remain unfavorable for some time. As a result, we must broaden our home economy by developing new growth sectors and pushing job creation to enhance domestic demand, inclusion, and growth.”
Mahesh Krishnamoorthy, Managing Director at Core Integra
“Budget 2023 is the “Budget of Hope” because it comes after three years of pandemic impact on corporations and individuals and it is also the final full budget before national elections.From a corporate standpoint, I look forward to steps toward simplifying labour law, digitalization of labour compliances, and enhancing transparency in licensing and registration processes. Individuals would appreciate it if the budget significantly increases sec. 80C limits, eliminate surcharges and cess, increase the tax benefit on housing loan interest u/s 24, and move housing loan principal, stamp duty, and registration cost from sec. 80C to an independent benefit section.”
Sarvagya Mishra, Co-founder & Director of SuperBot (PinnacleWorks)
“Over the years, the popularity of Artificial Intelligence (Al) has skyrocketed across industry sectors as a result of the greater push toward automation. While previous budgets acknowledged the relevance of AI technology in modernising India, we now expect prospects and large government initiatives from budget 2023 which can position India as one of the world’s favored Al leaders”.
“Since we have an AI-powered voice-based product, we also anticipate announcements and measures to improve digital infrastructure such as high-speed internet and data centres. Moreover, as the founder of the startup, I eagerly look forward to funding and investment opportunities such as venture capital and angel funding to accelerate our business momentum.”
Ankit Ruia, Director & CTO of SuperBot (PinnacleWorks)
“In the aftermath of COVID-19, almost every second business migrated online after recognizing the significance of automation. Given the centre’s objective for a digitally robust Bharat, Al technology is one of the major sectors that anticipates the Budget 2023 to unveil AI-friendly policies that can revolutionize India’s tech ecosystem. We are hopeful that easier loan disbursements, electronic authorizations, and incentive programs for startups to use digital finance can advance the growth rate of Indian startups.”
“With AI- technology playing a critical function in shaping the nation’s economy, the Union Budget should also include tax relaxation to spur innovation as well as minimize regulatory burdens to aid in the ease of doing business.”
Kushang, Co-founder & CEO of SupplyNote
“As a technology start-up in the food and beverage industry, SupplyNote is keenly aware of the challenges facing the sector. From high taxes to complex liquor regulations and difficulties in obtaining permits and licenses, the industry is in dire need of a more streamlined and business-friendly environment. We hope that the Budget 2023 will address these issues by simplifying the tax bracket and easing regulations around liquor, permits and licenses.”
“Additionally, as the food and beverage industry is one of the largest job creators in the country, we look forward to the government creating a positive environment for the sector, including relaxation on taxes for start-ups and the positive induction of private companies in the government ecosystem. We also hope to see the impactful implementation of ONDC, as it will help to digitize and optimize the backend operations of food businesses and increase profitability.”
Harshit Mittal, Co-founder & CTO of SupplyNote
“In the eye of rising costs and reduced margins, we need a budget that supports interest-free loans, allows greater subsidies and reduces tax structure. Another, is the non-availability of input tax credit (ITC) that impacts the P&Ls adversely. We hope the union budget 2023-24 will address these issues to accelerate the growth of the F&B sector”
Sujata Pawar, Co-Founder & CEO at Avni
“While the Union Budget 2023 will primarily focus on promoting comprehensive, holistic growth across the nation, but it would be great if women’s health and wellness, particularly menstrual hygiene, are kept on high priority. For India to spring up from its menstrual waste problem, we eagerly await policies from the government that fosters the marketing and sale of organic biodegradable menstrual products. This small step can potentially reduce the tons of commercial plastic sanitary napkins that end up creating mountains of landfills. Although the emphasis should be ‘Make in India’, lowering import taxes on raw materials could assist address the initial bottlenecks and motivate more female-led businesses to start contributing towards a greener India”
“In terms of financing, the seed fund scheme is a great initiative. However, it needs to be more transparent and structured so that startups can easily navigate it. A central database of all possible schemes through which startups can access funding must be established. It will also be beneficial to have a counsellor or guide accompany the startup to the appropriate incubator. Moreover, a single-window policy for all registrations such as incorporation, Pan, GST, MSME certificate, and so on will help save time, effort, and money.”
Dr. Ganesh Nikam, Managing Director, and CEO of Biojobz
“Since it is a budget wish list, I would like to limit my wishes to two very important demands on taxation. One, considering the holding period, ESOPs should be considered long-term capital gains (LTCG) for tax purposes and should only be taxed at the time of sale rather than at the time of exercise. Two, to incentivize and increase retail investments into early-stage startups, a) Tax credit upto to Rs 5 Lakhs from personal taxable income for any investment loss in recognized startups b) Deferring of capital gains in case it is reinvested again in startups or any SEBI recognized funds.”
Rahul Jain, Director of Crayon Motors, on the expectation from the Union Budget 2023
“Even when the EV sales have doubled in the last year, the industry still suffers from higher initial ownership costs of EVs, which is a direct result of higher input costs. We hope the upcoming budget will reduce GST on raw materials/components, thereby accelerating India’s EV race. Because battery manufacturing in India relies heavily on imports, some duty relief could help reduce overall costs. EVs have fewer financing options and higher interest rates than ICE vehicles. The EV industry is hoping for a positive outcome from the government’s meeting with the World Bank. Aside from the PLI expansion, other state government programs such as GEDA and central government initiatives such as “Atmanirbhar Bharat” would undoubtedly benefit.”
Gaurav VK Singhvi, Co-Founder, We Founder Circle
“In the upcoming Union Budget 2023, I expect to see a reduction in Capital Gain Tax for unlisted investments to help encourage angel investors and VCs to hold on to their investments for longer, providing more stability for the startup ecosystem.
I also hope the government takes the correct measures to promote entrepreneurship and startup growth and support innovation and technology development. Additionally, I hope to see efforts to improve the ease of doing business in India, such as simplifying regulations and providing access to funding for small businesses. Overall, I believe that a budget that prioritizes these areas would benefit the Indian economy and society.”
Rajiv Srivastava, MD, Redington Ltd
“In the upcoming Union Budget 2023, we look forward to policy initiatives that will accelerate our journey to a $10 T economy in the near term. Economic growth is now increasingly driven by digital transformation. Therefore, investment initiatives that lead to the build-out of a quality digital infrastructure – data centers and high-speed internet – will be crucial.”
“India is a global leader in technology services. We expect incentives for investments in new innovative technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Metaverse, 5G, Internet of Things, and Data Sciences to ensure we maintain our leadership. We have to encourage people to participate in the digital economy, and towards this, the budget should also address the need for talent and skilling in digital technologies. This has the potential to create a range of sustainable jobs.”
“We must aspire to become the global hub for innovation, and our technological capabilities can make that possible. The budget should provide an incentive structure for creating intellectual property in the country. Sectors like Healthcare, Green Energy, Retail, Fintech, Research and Development, and others can benefit immensely, help improve the quality of life for all citizens and make us a real powerhouse.”
Sean Yalamanchi, President of Infovision
“As an IT Company, we have our own unique set of issues and expectations from the union budget 2023.
- MAT to have two slabs – similar to corporate tax – to help incentivize smaller IT companies – this will help in better working capital management.
- For smaller IT companies – Government to provide an incentive – a tax holiday for five years – to set up offshore development centers in Tier 2 and Tier 3 locations – to improve employment opportunities.
- Safe harbor margin notified for companies – This is to be enhanced – from the current limit of Rs.200 crore (company turnover) to Rs.500 crore– The limit has not been revisited for over a decade. This will help reduce compliance requirements for smaller companies.
Government should actively consider the cost of compliance, litigation, and the refund process to improve the ease of doing business
- Vendor credit – The government to take steps to enable a mechanism to track vendor compliance on the GST front rather than putting the onus on the service receiver. The cost of compliance puts a burden on the service receiver.
- Time Limit – With provisions such as Sec 16 (4) of the GST Act, wherein there is a time limit for a business taxpayer to avail GST credit, the time limit to open and re-open assessment under the GST Act still remains open-ended.
- Tribunal – Government should prioritize setting up the tribunal for GST cases to address the grievances or litigation to make compliance easier, especially for the SMEs.
- Streamline the faceless assessment process so that the companies are not burdened with additional litigation and/or getting the refund faster”
Sharan Maini, Director of Operations at Veira Group
“The country’s ecosystem for LED TVs and Washing machines have already started to develop, however, if PLI schemes are extended to these two products, the ecosystem for complete product manufacturing will develop faster and will in turn, help to compete globally. Open Cells, which are not domestically produced, should have no taxes applied to them. The GST on LED TVs bigger than 32″ should also be decreased. These adjustments will boost the product’s demand, promote domestic production, and improve exports too. Schemes from the government are expected to push consumers towards more energy-efficient LED TVs & replace existing CRT TV homes”.
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