Budget 2022 | Quotes from IT/Tech, Real Estate, Geospatial, Sports & Startup

Tech/Telecom

CP Gurnani, MD & CEO, Tech Mahindra, said, “The budget truly echoes India’s vision towards inclusive development and building a truly ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ by providing a blueprint for the economy over ‘Amrit Kal’ from India at 75 to India at 100. FM’s key announcements on blockchain and setting up e-passports with futuristic technologies are a step in the right direction to help India emerge as a global technology leader. The focus on innovation and R&D (Research and Development) with an emphasis on strengthening talent capacity through STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) universities and skilling courses in IIT’s will enable India to become a global hub for skilled talent. Overall, Budget 2022 promises to provide the much-needed impetus to sustain India’s economic and digital growth.”

Rajiv Bhalla, MD, Barco India – The emphasis on growth, digitization and being future ready outlines the government’s commitment to cohesive development and ‘Make in India’. Focus on Gati Shakti masterplan, youth, women, job creation, technology and infrastructure development among others will drive India’s Amrit Kal, journey from 75 to 100 years as a democracy. India has the potential to be a world-class infrastructure centre, and the Budget has provided enough impetus to propel the same. In addition, we expect the digital ecosystem for skilling will boost human capital and empower industries significantly.

Mr. A Gururaj, MD, Optiemus Electronics Ltd – “ The industry has been completely galvanized under the pioneering initiative of PLI scheme, with Hon’ble FM today stating that it has potential to create 60 Lakh new jobs and additional production of 30 lakh crores. This is also a clarion call to the industry to work much harder in the years to come to make it a reality.  On a macro level, the scheme around design-led manufacturing as part of the PLI scheme would fasten the development of the ecosystem, and also changes in customs duty will drive greater domestic value addition in Electronics manufacturing in the country, which has grown rapidly in the last few years.”

Agendra Kumar, Managing Director, Esri India, (Geospatial) said, “Union Budget 2022 has announced the PM Gati Shakti program as one of the priority areas of the government. Seven engines of the PM Gati Shakti initiative are roads, railways, airports, ports, mass transport, waterways and logistics infra. As the Indian economy moves towards strengthening these initiatives, geospatial technology will gain more prominence in the process. As shared by the Hon’ble Finance Minister, the Gati Shakti program would involve huge investments in construction of about 25,000 Kms of highways, multimodal transport, and modernization of land records. These are welcome steps, and GIS and other geospatial technologies will facilitate efficient implementation of these schemes. With the launch of Jal Jeevan Mission (Urban), the government is aiming at universal water supply in all 4,378 Urban Local Bodies with 2.86 crores household tap connections, as well as liquid waste management in 500 AMRUT cities. GIS based water distribution network planning, execution and operations will go a long way in bringing these plans to fruition more quickly and efficiently.”

Sports

Arun Pandey, Chairman and MD, Rhiti Sports said “With major tournaments such as the Commonwealth Games & the Asian Games on the horizon, the highest ever sports budget allocation of INR 3062.60 crore by Hon’ble FM and Hon’ble PM accompanied by increased impetus on the Khelo India programme will play a critical role in strengthening India’s presence as a dominant force in the global sporting arena and nurturing home-grown talent. The establishment of the AVGC promotion task force will play a critical role in realising the true potential of Gaming & Esports also in India.

 

Skilling

Vikram Kumar, Co-founder, MyTat (Skilling Startup) – “Budget 2022 gave a major and much needed thrust to digital skilling with initiatives like Digital DESH. Emphasis on a digital ecosystem for skilling and livelihood points to the much-needed market oriented digital skills development”.

Arvind Bali, CEO, Telecom Sector Skill Council said “In line with the current reality, this budget has pushed a major thrust on Digital Skilling at different levels with new channels for school education, Digital DESH e-portal for skilling, upskilling & reskilling of our youth and Digital University, etc. This is probably the first time so many initiatives related to Skilling has been talked. Also for Telecom sector announcement of Spectrum auction in 2022 for the rollout of 5G and Scheme for design-led manufacturing for 5G ecosystem is likely to uplift human resource requirements significantly and also need to train the existing and new workforce. Rural OFC  in villages through BharatNet is also a great opportunity for Skilling the rural youth. We are proud to be part of Skilling under KAVACH and also connecting our Telcojob portal with ASEEM. TSSC is constantly adapting to the changing dynamics and looking forward to contributing to telecom industry developments.”

Real Estate

 

Prashant Solomon, MD, Chintels India & Hon. Treasurer, CREDAI NCR – The governments focus on increased urbanisation, planning and governance along with comprehensive sector development is a step in the right direction. Affordable housing also gets a major boost with housing projects being allotted Rs 48,000 Cr for FY23 and 80 lakh homes under PMAY. The budget’s impetus on creating a sustainable urban development policy is also commendable. The Long-Term Capital Gain capping at 15% across assets classes is a welcome move for property buyers.

 

NFT Player

Arun Pandey, Co-founder, Beyondlife.club – “ It has been the industry’s request for some time to bring digital assets and currency in the regulatory framework and it is heartening to note that the Hon’ble FM and Hon’ble PM have recognised the sector. Taxation and TDS on Digital Assets have come as a sudden move for the industry. It might hit user sentiments in the short term; however, we shall see how the ecosystem evolves in the country and are committed to work as per the rule of the land.”

Suraj Malik, Partner, BDO India (M&A) – Budget has laid out foundation for the pillars of growth without too much tinkering in the tax laws. FM has focused on digital and tech enabled macro growth with micro participation backed by incentives and targeted policy reforms to support MSME, startups, innovation and domestic manufacturing.  Reduction in surcharge rates and stability in tax policy will boost investor sentiment.

Sharad Malhotra, President – Automotive Refinishes and Wood Coatings, Nippon Paint India – “Focusing on road infrastructure development and an efficient multi-modal transport system under PM Gati initiative, the Union Budget 2020 has emphasized on inclusive growth. With impetus on 15 key sectors like infrastructure, agriculture and skill development among others, it has stressed on the need to upgrade technology to research and develop. It has rightly focused on strengthening MSMEs and start-ups through measures like the extension of emergency credit line, revamp of GGTSME and extension of incentives. I welcome the initiatives around green technologies like EV battery swapping and attention to 10 sectors involving electronic waste disposal and automotive ELV. Highlighting efforts to create 60 lakh jobs in the next five years, the Budget has emphasised on Atmanirbhar Bharat through localisation of technologies coupled with private industry participation and sustainable urban development”.