The Union Budget for the financial year 2023-24 was presented by Union Minister Nirmala Seetharaman in the parliament today. Several business leaders shared their reactions on the union budget 2023-24.
Full speech of union budget 2023-24
- Leaders reactions
Arun Kumar Gupta, CFO of Newgen Software
“The Union Budget 2023-24 showcases the government’s focus on developing both the physical and digital infrastructure. The boost in proposed capital expenditure by 33% is a clear step towards ensuring the nation’s long-term economic development. Also, it was heartening to find that the government has allocated INR 35,000 crore towards reaching net zero emissions and achieving energy transition. Green growth has also been listed among the seven priorities.”
“In continuation to the previous trends, there are some other initiatives that will further improve the ease of doing business, provide digital thrust, and simplify regulations and compliance. The increase in personal income tax rebate limit and raise in exemption will be a relief for the salaried class. However, no direct benefits were provided to the information technology sector.”
Thompson P. Gnanam, MD & Global CEO of 3i Infotech
“The first Amrit Kaal budget is certainly a progressive direction by the Government of India to give a boost to the overall technology-driven and knowledge-based economy within the country. The government’s focus on AI and 5G in the Union Budget 2023 will help India’s aspirations of being a global powerhouse of technology, innovation, and digital transformation. The budget comes with a strong promise for development towards the creation and promotion of the vision ‘Make AI in India’ and ‘Make AI Work for India’. This will indeed enable and establish a strong AI ecosystem in India.”
“As a company, we envisaged the potential of 5G and AI by setting-up COEs and tying-up with prestigious institutions like IIT Madras Research Park to establish FutureTech Business Labs focused on 5G and allied areas. Hence, the Government’s priority on setting-up 100 labs for developing 5G applications in engineering institutions, to realize new range of opportunities, business models & employment potential, is greatly appreciated and applauded.”
Rajnish Gupta, India, and Sub-Continent Lead at Zebra Technologies APAC
“In this Union Budget, the government has set the tone to unleash both human and digital potential for the country’s socio-economic development. This is reflected from all the 7 key priorities, including reaching the last mile, infrastructure and investment, youth power, inclusive development, unleashing the potential, green growth, and financial sector.
“The government has shown a clear objective of raising the infrastructure development in the country as it plans to raise its capital expenditure by 33% to INR 10 trillion ($122.29 billion) in the next fiscal year. This will provide the much-needed impetus to the existing infrastructure schemes like Gatishakti, Bharatmala, Parvatmala, Sagarmala amongst others.”
“Apart from this, with the announcement of PM Kausal Vikas Yojana 4.0, the government has set a clear agenda to make the Indian youth ready for next-generation technologies. The initiative to train 47 lakh youths digitally on industry 4.0 technologies like AI, IoT, drone and 3D printing etc. will make them ready for industry-specific roles. This will be key for the logistics sector as organizations have started deploying technologies to automate warehouse, supply chain, and workforce management.”
Amit Chadha, CEO & MD at L&T Technology Services
“The Union Budget 2023 has shown a strong focus on boosting digital infrastructure and adoption, which is a positive sign for the technology industry. It was also encouraging to see Hon’ble Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman share her vision of “making AI in India and making AI work for India”, further highlighting the importance of building a strong AI ecosystem in India. We welcome the government’s move towards developing three AI excellence centres and 100 5G labs, as well as introducing the National Data Governance Bill, which will open up a wide range of opportunities for business growth and employment generation.”
“As a pure-play ER&D services provider, our belief is that such a mass scale enablement of digital transformation and innovation will unlock the full potential of the Indian engineering and technology sector. It will also result in complementing uptake of digital engineering capabilities resulting in the country maintaining its strong hold as a global preferred destination for engineering services.”
Venkatraman Narayanan, MD & CFO, Happiest Minds Technologies
“Digital has emerged as the hallmark of Union Budget announced today. Be it the setting up of AI-focused CoEs, or a Unified Digital Skilling platform, the role of digital technologies is empathetically at the forefront of India’s economic rise. It will be interesting to see how the paperless digital locker-based document storage and management for citizens shape up, as accordingly, it promises to open up a wave of opportunities in the domestic market related to cyber security, cloud, AI and ML. While tax exceptions on exports are a welcome step, certain breather on corporate tax would have complemented it well. Overall, it is a sound and holistic budget devised to ensure upliftment, empowerment and inclusivity to all.”
Hitesh Garg, India Country Manager of NXP Semiconductors.
“The government has brought a progressive budget that will support green mobility and innovation in the automobile sector. Major steps like National Green Hydrogen Mission and extending the subsidy on EV batteries will help the country to have a seamless transition towards a low carbon intensive and fossil fuel dependent economy, empowering the country to achieve its net zero goals.”
“The three centers of excellence for artificial intelligence to enable ‘Make AI for India’ and ‘Make AI work for India’ will stimulate an effective AI ecosystem and nurture quality human resources in the field of technology. It will also boost the Public-private partnership in conducting research and developing cutting-edge applications and scalable solutions across industries.”
Rajesh Sharma, Managing Director of Capri Global Capital Ltd
“In the backdrop of a slowing global economy, budget’s strong emphasis on capital expenditure as well as social sector spending seeks to strengthen foundations for growth continuity over medium term without ignoring short term social welfare needs. The collateral-free credit limit under the revamped credit-guarantee scheme for MSMEs should inject the right booster shot for a sector that has begun to emerge very strongly after the pandemic. The expansion of the digital ecosystem for skilling, especially through linkages with employers including MSMEs augurs well for the growth of new businesses and employment.”
“The direct tax proposals fulfil much anticipated expectations of the tax-paying middle class. Overall budget estimates are pragmatic and based on reasonable assumptions of nominal GDP growth. It has once again provided a good anchor to all stakeholders for the year ahead. The likelihood of outperforming the estimates seems higher. The budget has sounded a positive note for the economy to guide itself over the next 25 years on the path to becoming a developed nation.”
Srividya Kannan, Founder, and Director of Avaali Solutions
“The Union Budget presented by the Indian government is truly ambitious with its seven ‘Saptarishi mantras’. Many welcome announcements are in line with a focus on the country’s technological development and commitment to becoming a global superpower. It is heartening to hear the adequate emphasis on digital skill investment, including CoEs in the education ecosystem, tech and AI innovation announcements, 5G apps, and other digitalization priorities.”
“This will create more jobs across the country, increase economic activity, and add value to the nation’s GDP. Companies across various sectors are expected to benefit from this investment which will help them become more competitive by accelerating their digitization process. It is also heartening to see announcements focused on green growth and ensuring various initiatives focused on sustainability.”
“Additional infusion into CGTMSE and interest rate reduction thereon are also very welcome moves. Overall, it will be interesting to see how these investments will be made and how we can ramp up the digital talent pool to build various tech innovations that will be useful for our country.”
Sarvagya Mishra, Co-founder & Director of SuperBot
“This Budget is notable for its renewed emphasis on developing 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.”
Dr. Ganesh Nikam, Managing Director and CEO of Biojobz
“We had bucketed our expectations before the budget into several categories, and it is encouraging to see that the government checked at least some of them. The pharmaceutical industry’s request to incentivise and encourage R&D investments has finally been granted.”
“The new Centers of Excellence programme, aimed to promote pharmaceutical research and innovation, will encourage investment opportunities that will directly fuel the sector expansion and jobs. It will begin to unleash the high innovation potential of rich Indian scientific talent. Also on the direct taxes, the increase in the Income.”
Kushang, Co-founder & CEO of SupplyNote
“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.”
Himanshu Singh Raghuvanshi, Co-Founder & COO of CapGrid
“The budget is very thoughtful driven by market dynamics. Lots of positives coming out on the green energy front. Welcome the decision of extension of subsidies on EV batteries.”
“Scheme to support state governments and municipalities in replacing their old polluting vehicles will also give sales push to the automotive & EV segment. With cost of capital expected to remain high, glad that the current liquidity scenario in the markets have been paid heed to with Credit Guarantee Scheme for MSMEs extended with an infusion of Rs 9000 crore. This will help the entire auto sector which is held together by MSMEs.”
Neeraj Tyagi, Co-Founder and CEO of We Founder Circle
“Post-pandemic a lot of startups were struggling for survival and still are. The announcement of the extension of tax benefits on the incorporation of startups, and additional 3 years to carry forward the losses to set off against future profits will serve as lifeboats to many.”
“Additionally, what is not realized yet is that ease of compliance plays a major role for any business. More so for new businesses and young entrepreneurs. More than 39,000 compliances have been reduced which will offer great convenience to startups and encourage aspiring ones. The Agri Accelerator Fund set up by the government will not only encourage entrepreneurs but also attract investors to invest in Agri startups aggressively.”
Shiv Bhambri, Country Manager of RS India
“We appreciate the emphasis on green growth in the Union Budget 2023. The budget is well-thought-out. Climate change is one of the greatest challenges in today’s world. Everyone must take action to decarbonize, reduce risks and invest in opportunities to accelerate the vision of a low-carbon ecosystem.”
“We, at RS India, intend to bring a positive environmental change to the global industrial sector by developing a cleaner and greener distribution model and bringing together the world’s leading suppliers of innovative and sustainable products & technologies”
Mridu Mahendra Das, Co-founder and CEO of Automovill
“Auto and auto service sector have been facing various challenges. In the current scenario when new age entrepreneurs are trying to explore businesses in unorganised sectors like auto services or similar, it becomes difficult to follow procedures of traditional business, as it comes at a cost, and you only have so much bandwidth in terms of resources. Therefore, we value a lot that the budget has taken the same into consideration and by reducing more than 39,000 compliance it has made an effort to add to the ease of doing business in India. Additionally, the tax benefits on their incorporation is being extended by another year and the carry forward of losses to set off against future profits will now be allowed for 10 years instead of 7 years, which is going to provide a lot of relief to startups.”
Pramod Sharda, CEO of IceWarp, India, and Middle East
“The Union Budget 2023-24 by FM today has announced attractive incentives and rebates. The Income limit for rebate of Income Tax increased from 5 Lakhs to 7 Lakhs is a welcome note for the employee base. The budget includes renovations in the digital framework of the nation focusing on increasing the accessibility of these services for rural and tribal areas. We highly support the government’s initiatives to create jobs, and are keen on contributing towards the projected employment generation initiatives.”
“We are excited to witness the development of a tech-driven economy while contributing towards the same and enabling the growth-bound MSMEs sector, which will be infused with Rs 9,000 crore in revamped credit guarantee scheme, with our affordable, seamlessly integrated, secure Email & Collaboration solutions to effectively communicate and collaborate towards the growth path.”
“It certainly boosts our morale when we noticed that investment and job creation continue to be the government’s top priority as they announce capital investment outlay being increased by 33 per cent to Rs 10 lakh crore, which would be 3.3 per cent of GDP. Announcement of National Data Governance policy is also a positive move to protect the data privacy”
Sean Yalamanchi, President at Infovision
“Several measures have been taken for Digital India from the standpoint of the IT sector. All of these are encouraging signs for the IT industry, as they will increase demand for candidates and services. To begin with, the announcement of a National Data Governance policy will allow access to a wealth of anonymized data. To realise the vision of “Make AI in India, Make AI Work for India,” the establishment of three centers of excellence for Artificial Intelligence in collaboration with top educational institutions is a bold step. Furthermore, the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 4.0 will assist in the skilling of lakhs of youth over the next three years by covering new age courses for Industry 4.0 such as coding, AI, robotics, mechatronics, IOT, 3D printing, drones, and soft skills.”
Sanjeev Singh CEO & MD – CMS IT Services
“The infra and capex push of the budget combined with a focus on creating a tech and knowledge-driven ecosystem will accelerate India’s journey to becoming a $ 5 trillion economy. This will also generate tremendous opportunities for the tech industry in multiple advanced domains like 5G, AI, digital, agri-tech & fintech.”
Read or download the key features of the union budget 2023-24
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