As the Hon’ble Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman completed her Union Budget 2023 speech, the Indian industry leaders were quick to laud the budget as one with vision and growth centric that will put India on the map to become a world champion. Here are some business leaders from the technology sector who shared their opinions about the impact and benefit from the budget announced on 1st February.
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Pramod Sharda, CEO, 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.
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Niranjan Nayak, MD, Delta Electronics India
We are firmly aligned with the Government’s vision of ‘Amrit Kaal’ which includes a technology-driven, knowledge-based sustainable economy. For the vision of 2070 Net-Zero CO2 Emission, investment in the energy transition will play a crucial role. We at Delta have already implemented many programs for reducing carbon emissions and signed up for many sustainable initiatives like RE100, net zero, green products etc. for a greener tomorrow. Also, all our products offerings are energy-efficient and green solutions that aid in achieving the overall nation’s carbon footprint reduction targets ranging from power quality improvement products to green EV charging solutions etc.
The Budget 2023 further focus on sectors that include setting up labs for developing applications using 5G services, railways and enhanced focus on the smart city infrastructure to keep the economy on a steady growth, these are progressive measures and we feel that they will play a critical role for us to become key contributors in these areas and further development. The budget has particularly emphasized on efficiency and sustainability as the key driving forces in the coming years and let all key stakeholders identify and utilise these opportunities to drive the robust growth agenda of the country.
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Sudhir Kunder, Country Director, DE-CIX India
Successes in the previous budget and our transformation into the ‘AmrutKal’ were highlighted today by the Honorable Financial Minister. It’s encouraging to see continued support for digital payment systems, digital document integration, and the creation of a digital public infrastructure for agritech and Fintech. Introduction of Digital lockers, Digital Library, E-Courts, and the promise of one hundred research labs to create applications for 5G were the landmark announcements.
Empowering youth with 30 Skill India Centers imparting skills like Coding, AI, robotics, mechatronics, IoT, 3D printing, and drones with other NextGen cutting-edge technologies will make them economically independent. Establishing three Institutes of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence Development is a major step forward for our country and will help to create AI in India and make AI work for India. Summarizing, the budget makes it abundantly clear that 2023 will be the year of digitalization, with demands for digitalization rising throughout the year. As an Interconnection Platform, DE-CIX India is pleased to shoulder the duty of ensuring the long-term viability of India’s Digital Infrastructure as “We Make Interconnection Easy. Anywhere”.
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Vishal Agrawal, MD, Avaya
We appreciate the government’s continuous focus on the technology sector with the Budget 2023-24. The introduction of three centres of excellence for artificial intelligence to enable ‘Make AI for India’ and ‘Make AI work for India’ is something to look forward to for the upcoming digital nation. The initiatives outlined for skill development and research in cutting-edge fields like artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and 5G, among others are encouraging for the IT industry. In line with the GoI’s initiative to strengthen the MSMEs, we look forward to supporting them in creating a user-friendly space and helping them further to scale up with the help of our robust and collaborative solutions. The government’s initiative to set up 100 labs for 5G solutions across engineering colleges and the announcement around the National data governance framework will further empower the students, Indian start-ups, and researchers that will collectively help us achieve our collective vision for the 5 trillion economy.
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Rajiv Bhalla, Managing Director, India & Vice President APAC, at Barco
Indian economy is heading towards a bright future, the ‘Saptrishi’ of the Budget 2023 prioritizes on inclusive development, reaching last mile, unleashing potential, green growth, youth power. Announcement around adding 50 tourist destinations as a whole package and focusing holistically on physical as well as virtual connectivity, tourist guides, high standards for food streets and tourists’ security through an app to enhance tourist experience, is a significant step that will unlock growth and job opportunities in the sector. The Budget is perfectly aligned with Barco’s aim to make India a popular tourist destination with visible impact, allowing people to enjoy compelling entertainment experiences. Further, Budget has focused on overall growth & sustainability as India has the potential to be a world-class infrastructure centre, moving toward net zero carbon emissions by 2070 & setting up the AI based solutions in health, education, and sustainable cities will give additional push towards the extensive use of technology.
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Piyush Jha, Senior Vice President, Strategy & Technology APAC, GlobalLogic
As a country with a rich history of innovation and a rapidly growing tech sector, India is uniquely positioned to harness the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and drive economic growth and social progress. Over the years, AI has been demonstrating its potential to transform various industries, from healthcare and finance to manufacturing and retail. Today, at the Union Budget 2023-2024, our government’s vision of ‘Make AI in India’ & ‘Make AI Work for India’ and strengthening it by setting up three centers of excellence for AI in top educational institutions is a remarkable step towards leading the AI revolution and becoming a global hub for AI innovation.
Additionally, the establishment of 100 laboratories in engineering institutes for 5G apps will enable India in becoming a center for digital capacity on a worldwide scale. The allocation of funds and initiatives aimed at upskilling the workforce, promoting research and development, and leveraging AI for various sectors, is a positive step towards a future where technology and humanity coexist for the betterment of society. We appreciate our government’s support and strong commitment to digital transformation, and I strongly believe that our country is poised to create a more prosperous and inclusive future for all.
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Sanjay Lodha, CEO, Netweb Technologies
Government focus on AI and setting up 3 centres of excellence is a good beginning to see the adoption of AI in government use. We are excited as this beginning will further enhance going forward and it will have an impact in consumption of Electronics and to use the huge amount of Data that India is now able to generate. AI excellence centre will help in exploring the data easily and insights that could help in delivering govt models applications. It is exciting to see Govt. push on 5G and private 5G, Government has also identified some of the important use cases. As stated a total of 100 labs will be set up in engineering colleges in partnership with various authorities, regulators, banks, and other organisations. This is quite in line with the task we were aiming at as well. In order to create applications employing 5G services. The labs will cover applications such as smart classrooms, precision farming, intelligent transport systems, and healthcare applications, in order to realise the new range of options, business models, and job potential. The building of applications increases the requirements of strong server connections, Data Storage, the hardware choices for embedded security wherein if we talk about the general impact, it will increase the businesses from Servers to IoT Manufacturers. These services would help in running various application and radio access networks which will help in excelling 5G in future. The purpose of these labs will be to present fresh opportunities, company ideas, and job prospects. Overall we believe that this will give a positive growth and enhancement in the digital electronic, data localisation and usage that will boost the technology as a whole.
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Gautam Nimmagadda, Founder & CEO, Quixy
The union budget is growth focused, a welcome announcement that liberally provides impetus to digital India. The government’s strides in advancing public and private digital services are a testimony to the rising global profile of the Indian Technology industry. The Indian government has recorded a phenomenal improvement in the Taxpayers Services owing to their digital adoption, where the average processing period has been reduced drastically in the past few years.
Furthermore, the 3 CoE’s for AI and the 100 labs for developing applications using 5G services will drive digitization and reignite employment potential in the tech ecosystem. Such measures demonstrate the multiplier impact of tech on India’s strides onwards. Yet another stimulus was provided for E-Courts, a novel initiative undertaken to transform the Indian Judiciary by ICT enablement of Courts. A digitally driven government will expedite a digitally driven India.
Furthermore, the budget recorded a strong focus on the development of MSMEs and startups, with the extension of the carry forward of losses on change of shareholding of startups to 10 years of incorporation. This measure, coupled with the establishment of the National Data Governance Policy, will boost digital innovation empowered by ease of doing business.
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Rajesh Ganesan, President, ManageEngine
The resilience of the Indian economy, despite global economic slowdown, is truly remarkable. Investment in research and development is crucial in overcoming the challenges posed by macro trends and the threat of recession. For instance, allocating more funding to R&D than marketing, companies can ensure their continued success.
Initiatives such as the Skill India Digital platform, which provides training in cutting-edge technologies and soft skills, are commendable as the youth need to upskill to succeed in the rapidly changing job market. This investment in human capital is critical to ensure that India remains competitive and well-positioned for future growth.
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Vishal Prakash Shah, CEO & Co-founder, Synersoft Technologies Private Limited
Overall, the Indian Budget 2023 presents a well-rounded plan for the country’s development. With a focus on infrastructure development, job creation, and financial inclusion, the government aims to fuel the nation’s progress and uplift the standard of living for all citizens. A revamped credit guarantee scheme for MSMEs with an outlay of Rs 9,000 crore will empower MSMEs with more resources. The new income tax regime will relieve the Indian middle class to an extent. While there are still some challenges, such as managing the fiscal deficit and reducing public debt, the budget sets the country on a path toward a stronger and more prosperous future.
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Manoranjan Mohapatra, CEO, Comviva
With the ongoing 5G rollouts in India, the government’s decision to establish 100 5G application Labs is a timely move to spur innovation in developing the 5G ecosystem and India relevant use cases. There is a great opportunity to combine 5G and AI to improve network speed, responsiveness, and efficiencies. The special emphasis on establishing AI centres of excellence shall help produce specialized talent to enable India preserve its global advantage and leadership. These are extremely positive initiatives and shall bring technological advancements to the country as AI and 5G are the two most critical elements to enable futuristic innovations and developed related 5G ecosystem.
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Sumant Sinha, Chairman and CEO, ReNew Power
We welcome the budget proposals presented by the Hon’ble Finance Minister. The focus of the budget on expanded support for infrastructure investment, growth of small industry and agriculture sectors, while committing to fiscal consolidation, strikes the right balance. In the context of overall geopolitical and economic outlook, the outlay of Rs. 35,000 crore for energy transition and energy security is a significant step forward. We believe the Finance Minister has presented a Green Budget that demonstrates Government of India’s unwavering commitment to achieving Net Zero by 2070.
For the clean energy sector, there are several welcome announcements. Support for Battery Energy Storage Systems (requested by ReNew Power during pre-budget consultations), the transmission infrastructure to evacuate power from Ladakh, the allocation for biogas to energy projects and the initiatives for scrapping of old vehicles of the central and state governments are all significant steps in the right direction. We look forward to seeing further details on the recently announced Rs. 19500 crores allocation for the National Green Hydrogen Mission.
The budget will give a thrust to accelerating clean energy in India and ReNew Power is committed to support Government of India in this endeavour.
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Nikhil Goyal, CEO & Founder, Beyond Imagination Technologies
“The Union Budget 2023-24 is applaudable at various levels. The initiative to launch Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 4.0 for the skill development and digital skill training of youths on Industry 4.0 courses like coding, AI, robotics, mechatronics, IOT, 3D printing, drones, and soft skill is greatly appreciated. This will unlock significant opportunities for growth and economic development and position India as the world’s tech hub.
While there is no direct mention of the blockchain sector, e-governance is on high priority in this year’s budget. Blockchain technology has the potential to play a crucial role in the e-governance sector. It is commendable to see the government prioritizing e-governance by stretching digital outreach, and data sharing for transparency.
Moreover, this year’s budget focuses on enhancing productivity by incentivizing the use of technology to make India ‘Atmanirbhar’ and future-ready. Technology being the core suite to build on a successful business ecosystem and the honorable Finance Minister has left no stone unturned to give a boost to new age technologies in the budget 2023.”
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Mahesh Krishnamoorthy, Managing Director, Core Integra
As expected from the last full budget before Elections, the FM has announced aggressive growth plans through the budget. It is encouraging to see the projected growth target at 7% with the Indian economy poised to continue the growth momentum as seen over the last 10 years. The initiatives to promote the Agriculture, MSME, Tourism sectors along with focus on job creation is a welcome change. It is also nice to note the Government’s continued focus on ease of doing business, simplifying compliances and making the legal framework friendlier towards startups and entrepreneurs. Unified KYC process with control in the hands of the filer looks to be a first step towards data privacy and user controlled information governance, definitely a positive move. On the personal income tax side, it is indeed appreciated on the steps taken to increase minimum taxable slabs, reduce tax slabs and tax rates, simplify the tax structure with reduction in highest tax rates along with making the new tax regime as the default one. Its highly commendable to note that income tax refunds are processed within 24 hours to 16 days, which is probably for the first time in the history of our country. While the initiatives and benefits may cause a dent on the tax collection, I am sure that it would increase the tax base with increased transparency through digitalization. Last but not the least, the 7 point priority definition made the entire budget more structured and process oriented. Overall a well presented budget and look forward to continued growth of the Indian economy and a rising star in the global arena.
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Triveni Rabindraraj, Head of Sales, GoTo, India
Union Budget 2023 is a great development and comes with many positives keeping people at the heart of Amrit Kaal vision. With the level of technology disruption and digital adoption witnessed in the last year, it is exciting to see the government’s inclined interest towards a technology-driven and knowledge-based economy. Start-ups and SMEs have the potential to be the key employment generator in the country. The renewed emphasis on growth in the MSME sector, women empowerment, and skilling is a welcome move as it strengthens inclusive and sustainable progress across all industries. The Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 4.0, Make AI in India, and increased focus on 5G continuum will prove to be a big push to bridge the talent gap and prepare country’s youth for Industry 4.0 by empowering them with new-age technology skills needed to make India one of the world’s preferred innovation hubs. These initiatives will level the playing field to enable MSMEs to invest in and improve their digital talent, enhance employee value proposition, and drive better business outcomes.
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Sachin Sharma, Chief Brand/ Creative Officer, Mobilla
Exciting news for the AI industry in India! The Union Budget 2023 has just announced big plans for the integration and development of Artificial Intelligence. With a focus on ‘Making AI work for India’, the government aims to promote innovation, research and development in AI, machine learning and related technologies. This will not only provide new opportunities for businesses and individuals, but also have a major impact on various sectors including healthcare, education, agriculture, and more.
As we move towards a more AI-driven world, India has the potential to become a leader in this space, creating new opportunities for businesses, individuals and communities. The impact of AI on sectors such as healthcare, education, agriculture, and more will be significant, improving the quality of life for millions of people. The future is bright for AI in India and I am eager to see how this will shape the industry.
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Arvind Bali, CEO, Telecom Sector Skill Council
The government’s focus on the skill development of India’s potential youth talent through initiatives like NEP, PMKVY 4.0 for skilling in niche new-age technologies like 5G, AI, 3D printing, drones, coding, mechatronics, robotics, and IoT draws further impetus to the ongoing efforts. Blue and grey-collar job demand in India grew by up to four-fold in 2022. Annual demand in telecommunications and 5G have increased by 33.7 per cent in September 2022. There was a demand for 1.3 million workers in FY22-23 which is growing each year and. We believe the initiatives will be beneficial to close country’s growing demand supply gap of technical talent workforce. With the government’s push to establish 30 Skill India international centres, 100 premier labs for developing applications to use 5G services, and centres of excellence for AI, India has the potential to deliver talent not only across domestic markets but also to the international market. The initiative like the Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) is also a progressive move by the government to uplift the tribal population and empower the students to take up new job opportunities.
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Mainak Sarkar, Co-founder & CEO, Explorex
The Union Budget 2023, is a well-balanced and growth focused effort by the Government of India to ensure greater emphasis on various sectors such as social sector schemes, infrastructure creation, bringing in a great deal of relief to the middle class. It will assist India’s economy in moving closer to the goal of reaching $5 trillion in GDP by 2025–2026 and growing at 7% in the current year. The allocation of funds to bolster the growth of start-ups is a noteworthy decision undertaken in the 2023 budget.
The introduction of the National Data Governance Policy to unleash innovation by start-ups in the country will prove beneficial to many new age start-ups. Further, the government digital certificate depository Digilocker services for the MSMEs and fintech sector will hasten the germination of more innovative fintech services and further allow fintech solutions in India to function smoothly using India’s digital public infrastructure, including Aadhaar, PM Jandhan Yojna, video KYC, India Stack, and UPI. The budget will prove to be of immense help with regard to the start-up ecosystem through the proposal of the extension of the date of incorporation for income tax benefits from 31st March, 2023 to 31st March, 2024. Overall, Budget 2023 has successfully addressed the need of the hour by bringing in policies and regulations that are crucial for the growth of the country. We applaud Union Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman for taking all factors into account and presenting a budget focused on growth and the future in these trying times.
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Aarul Malviya, Founder, of Zamit
Union budget 2023-24 reflects that the government is profoundly interested in bringing a digital revolution in the education sector and promoting the use of artificial intelligence in education. We are glad that the government’s new budget is in line with India’s ed-tech sector. With the government’s announcement of establishing a National Digital Library for children and adolescents, the ed-tech sector will definitely get a boost; it will create a digital ecosystem in the education sector and encourage digital education. It will largely benefit the students who are lagging behind due to the pandemic. This budget has also highlighted the importance of artificial intelligence in the education sector by announcing the establishment of 3 ‘Centres of Excellence’ for artificial intelligence to enable ‘Make AI for India’ and ‘Make AI work for India’. This step is going to encourage ed-tech companies and start-ups on an enormous scale. The government have introduced the National Data Governance policy which will enable access to anonymized data. The decision of the government to set up 100 labs in engineering institutes for developing apps using 5G services will bring new opportunities in enhancing the concept of smart classrooms and enabling extensive reach of education. However, even as we still wait for the fine print to come out, perhaps the government could have also announced a reduction of taxes on online learning programs as well as incentives for those providing digital education and skilling programs in the private sector.
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Nikhil Mathur, Managing Director India & Head of Data Partnership & Innovation-APAC at GfK
“The budget for 2023-24 has struck the right chords and is balanced. The massive push for capital investment and spending augurs well across industries as it shall lead to increased job creation. With the new tax slabs, there is an expectation of increased disposable income and consumer purchasing power which will have a positive impact on the retail sector. The reduction in customs duties for mobile phone manufacturing inputs and television along with the continuation of existing import sops will build more momentum in domestic manufacturing capacity. Going forward, we expect companies in the consumer tech sector to benefit from the progressive measures announced today. Overall, a budget focused on delivery.”
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Jagdish Mitra, Chief Strategy Officer & Head of Growth, Tech Mahindra
It is a very positive budget from a technology sector perspective, as it sets the right message about 5G labs, setting up AI centre of excellence and the focus around skilling, which is absolutely the key need for the country as we live through the Prime Minister’s vision on TechAde and technology being the core enabler. From a business perspective, steps around ease of doing business have been taken and I think that’s commendable. I would like to congratulate the Finance Minister and the government for taking these steps.
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Matthew Foxton, India Regional President & Executive Vice-President, Branding & Communications · IDEMIA
I am pleased to see the focus in Union Budget to strengthen the Digital ecosystem, India’s digital advancements in this decade have been remarkable, especially the integration of digital infrastructure and identity framework. Establishing a strong national identity system is crucial as it boosts security, drives economic growth, and strengthens social unity. The adoption of a unified KYC process, utilizing Digilocker and Aadhaar as the primary means of identity verification, is a positive step forward and will increase financial accessibility for marginalized communities.
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S Durgaprasad, Co-Founder, Director, and Group CEO, Bahwan CyberTek
The political will to invest in people and research for technology-driven growth is clear. The announcement of three centers of Artificial Intelligence and 100 labs for 5G apps to nurture R&D in India with the vision to Make AI in India and Make AI work for India will further strengthen India’s position vis-à-vis global counterparts. The 30 Skill India international centers focused on emerging technologies, with a strong focus on, on-the-job training, will contribute to the country’s expanding knowledge capital, positioning India as a strong digital contender.
The reduction of compliances to improve ease of doing business, the 33% hike in capital expenditure, along with the continuation of interest-free loans to state government will catalyse economic growth providing job opportunities. Budget 2023 is a progressive step towards building a stronger digital and green India.
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Kapil Bardeja, CEO & Co Founder- Vehant Technologies.
“Setting up of three centres of excellence for artificial intelligence in top educational institutions of India is a very positive step in boosting the relationship between industry and academia. As an industry participant, we believe that this will lead to path breaking research in Artificial Intelligence. Industry will be able to work on new technologies together with the upcoming talent from institutions and boost the technology quotient of the country in AI.”
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Sarvagya Mishra, Co-founder & Director of SuperBot (PinnacleWorks)
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.
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Karan Shaha, Co-founder and CEO, Vahak
A commendable Budget by the Hon’ble Finance Minister. In line with our expectations, #Budget2023 has focused on incentivising state governments for infrastructure development. The Centre’s support with enhanced outlay of Rs. 1.3 lakh crore will definitely act as the accelerator toward logistics policy creation at the state level. With this in place, we are hoping to see good traction in transportation infra creation, especially related to top freight routes, logistics parks and highways development. Additionally, opening opportunities for private investments in infra will pump in efforts toward roads, urban infrastructure and power sector developments, which are critical for efficient transportation and transition to green mobility.
We also welcome the decision to extend the income tax benefits for start-ups and the formation of the National Data Governance Policy. These were much needed given the market dynamics and the fast-emerging start-up ecosystem.
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Pankit Desai, CEO & Co-founder Sequretek on AI in India and Data governance policy
AI Machine Learning (AI ML) is a big area and future of every single industry. The big challenge with AIML however is access to data, for you to be able to run algorithms and validate the outcomes, you need humongous amounts of data, be it in the medical field, cybersecurity or banking.
For startups in this space you do not have wherewithal to get access to data. Ability to have access to anonymised data will be a phenomenal capability that really should help overall AIML research, outcomes, solutions, companies, everything becomes significantly better. This is how some of our neighbouring and developed economies have been able to do and having a formal policy in place now will ensure that you are not running afoul of data privacy norms.
We have a problem of talent. ML & data science is what you need even to understand AI and the traditional courses do not do justice to the requirements of the industry. We really hope that you with these institutions as incubators will not only give access to the right pool of talent but all have carried out research as part of the curriculum so that we get industry ready talent.
Data governance policy – it is high time that we had it while the data privacy act is waiting for the parliamentary approval, there is a need to have an overall Data Governance policy framework defining the do’s and don’ts of data consumption for research, education and commercial needs. Again in the context what is needed in the ML without a proper data governance policy it will be very difficult to create a viable business proposition. Just like we liberalised services export regime by SEZs and the telecom policy for communication, we see a proper data governance plocyt to be an enabler to mass utilization and consumption if AI in various fields.
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Kuldeep Malhotra, Dy. Managing Director, Konica Minolta Business Solutions India Pvt Ltd
“We are delighted to have a Union Budget that focuses on introducing new technologies on a wide scale. Since our youth is the backbone of our economy, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman talked about training millions of youth within a period of the next three years under the government’s Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 4.0. The scheme will also cover new-age courses for Industry 4.0, like coding, AI, robotics, mechatronics, IOT, 3D printing, drones, and soft skills. These are the technologies that will assist businesses across multiple fields to function smoothly. Additionally, the decision to set up 30 Skill India International Centres will open the doors of international markets to Indian youth.
Furthermore, with Budget 2023, the government is taking its sustainability initiatives to new heights. Programs that promote green fuel, green energy, green farming, green mobility, green buildings, and green equipment, are the need of the hour. These green growth efforts help cut down the carbon intensity of the economy and provide large-scale green job opportunities.”
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Deepak Shenoy, CFO, Wolken Software
“A balanced budget with a focus on economic growth, positive measures for sectors agriculture, MSME, entrepreneurs, infrastructure, upskilling for employability, unexpected bonus on personal income tax and for deposit limits for senior citizens and salaried employees. Major capex thrust continues from last year combined with an impetus to states to also participate will see very positive catalysts to GDP, during 2023 to 2026/27. Setting-up of Ekalaya Schools, National Digital library and State physical libraries, and Skilling & Upskilling will upgrade the employable population in the country. Increased energy on strengthening the infrastructure and connectivity complemented by increased railway budget and metro setups and focus on Tourism. Green energy boost will help us reduce our carbon footprint and become more sustainable.
All this achieved keeping the fiscal deficit on track at 5.9%, we are well on the way to achieve the target of <4% in 2025-26. I was expecting more thrust for the healthcare sector. All in all most sectors and classes are taken care of, and the economic progress looks promising.”
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Ramanujam Komanduri, Country Manager, Pure Storage India
The Union Budget presented by the Hon’ble Finance Minister is growth-oriented and inclusive. The impetus for the ‘Digital India’ vision is clear from budgetary allocations across sectors like infrastructure, skill development, sustainability, MSME, and entrepreneurship.
This budget provides numerous growth opportunities for the technology industry by bringing digital solutions and innovation in legacy sectors like infrastructure, manufacturing, education, railways, healthcare, financial services, and regulatory bodies to turn India into a technology-driven, knowledge-based economy. Also commendable is a clear intent and investment in making India a net zero carbon emission country by 2070 through National Green Hydrogen Mission.
Overall, the budget 2023 promises to sustain and catalyze India’s economic and digital growth with a strong role played by technology.
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Srividya Kannan, Founder and Director, 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.
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