Budget 2022 Expectations from the IT Industry Leaders

Several IT industry leaders have expressed their expectations from the coming Budget 2022 which is going to be tabled on 1st of Feb this year.

”Schoolnet India looks forward to the Budget 2022-23, as the past year has been very challenging for school education. In keeping with the National Education Policy 2020, we hope that the Government of India announces measures to strengthen the digital capability of each school, owing to the great digital divide that still exists, on a mission mode. Such a digital initiative should be holistic including access to the internet, affordable & appropriate devices, projectors, teacher training in digital pedagogy, curriculum centric multimedia content, adaptive assessments, and analytics to track progress. Given the considerable expertise of private sector in Edutech, PPP models could be explored to execute such a mission. This will set the foundation on which the effectiveness of teaching and learning will improve and pave the path to democratise access to education.”

--RCM Reddy, MD & CEO, Schoolnet India 

"The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated India’s mental health crisis by unimaginable proportions. The 86,000 calls that we have received on the BMC-Mpower 1on1 Helpline clearly indicate that social distancing, isolation from family and friends, loneliness, financial hardships and other difficulties have given exponential rise to stress, depression, anxiety, alcohol and substance abuse, domestic violence and suicidal tendencies in people. Pre-existing conditions have gotten aggravated for so many.

The pandemic has changed the world as we knew it. In the aftermath of the contagion and the negative impact it has had on all our lives, we need to rethink how we look at mental health. The Union Budget 2022-23 needs to put focus not only on India’s overall healthcare but also categorically on India’s mental healthcare. A substantial budgetary allocation can pave the way for infrastructure to be rapidly developed and comprehensive mental healthcare made accessible everywhere, especially in the rural areas, so that all those who need help can get it in timely manner.

India’s mental health issues have remained neglected for far too long. It is time we take concrete steps and start caring for those who are suffering silently.”

--Neerja Birla, Founder and Chairperson, Aditya Birla Education Trust (ABET)

“As the country awaits Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to present the Union Budget for 2022-23, under the ominous time of a potential third wave, we expect the budget to be a very pragmatic one. We hope additional incentives to businesses, particularly manufacturing companies, can be a part of the budget proposals. 

We hope the government will use the 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' and 'Make in India' programmes to attract foreign investments, implementing cutting-edge technologies, and increasing exports in order to make India a global manufacturing powerhouse. This will also inturn help increase job prospects, which is necessary for a post-pandemic future. 

From a future perspective, we hope our government would place a greater focus on employing emerging technologies to emphasize the importance of using energy-efficient solutions. We hope the government continues to support manufacturers to expand projects on innovative lighting products and other solutions which are environment friendly. These steps may also aid in defining a route toward meeting the net-zero target by 2070.”

--Kishan Jain, Director, Goldmedal Electricals

“The wires & cables industry in India has always been an essential part of the manufacturing industry. With the upcoming Union Budget, we would like to see the government’s increased focus on sectors such as infrastructure, healthcare and affordable housing as this encourages the demands for manufacturing and thereby wires and cables significantly. 

In an effort to continue the economic growth of the country, we hope the Government will lower the interest rates and make higher capital availability to MSMEs as they are the backbone of the Indian business market and ultimately help generate employment. 

Additionally, since we are looking at robust housing demand in 2022, we are expecting the Government to look at having the GST input credit reinstated as this will help reduce the cost of housing in major cities and make buying a home more accessible in larger cities. We also look forward for the Union Budget to boost affordable and mid-income housing by extending the cost bracket and expanding the tax benefit for first time buyers while introducing tax holidays and SOPs for developers engaged in affordable and rental housing projects. The real estate contributes around 8% to the overall GDP and this consequently creates the majority share of demand and opportunities for wires & cables in the country.”

--Shreegopal Kabra, MD & Group President, RR Global

“Over the last few years, we have seen exponential growth in cyberattacks. The ongoing pandemic and work from anywhere models have further increased the attack landscape for cybercriminals. In addition to this, organizations are facing cybersecurity resource crunch and stringent budgets. Our expectation from the Union Budget is on two aspects: cybersecurity skill gap and cybersecurity awareness. We are hopeful of the Government increasing spends on cybersecurity awareness and training initiatives to empower cybersecurity resources. Eventually, this focus will help to create employment as well as good defense against cybercriminals.”

--Sunil Sharma, MD Sales, Sophos India & SAARC

"The Union Budget in India is always eagerly awaited by everyone, from corporates to taxpayers, with all hopes attached to having simplified compliances. In the wake of the third Covid wave, there is a certain expectation in terms of rebates and relief from the Finance Ministry on Indirect and Direct taxes. Stimulus packages and tax exemption policies designed for the COVID impacted era would help revitalise the economy. Moreover, the duration of compensation cess ends in June 2022, hence it would be great if the government could look at providing an extension on this by six months or a year. The Ministry of Finance may have some surprises in their bags for the GST regime specifically from a sectoral perspective, hence as a leading industry player we are looking forward to this. In order to provide a fillip to business growth the government is also expected to introduce financial aid to build a strong digital infrastructure for MSMEs and startups. This will help further strengthen organisations, enabling them to grow and thrive in today's remote work environment."

--Niraj Hutheesing, Founder and MD, Cygnet Infotech

“India saw a euphoric rise in the number of unicorns in 2021, adding 33 in a year making it one of the fastest growing technology startup ecosystems globally. This growth has been on the back of overall improvement in ease of doing business, and this should continue to remain an ongoing focus and priority. Within the logistics space, there has been a massive disruption led by a major increase in last mile deliveries. Additionally, as Make-in-India along with the national freight corridors gains momentum, this is going to further increase demand for logistics. All of this necessitates building infrastructure capabilities that are future ready. We can achieve this with the right focus on digitizing processes and making international trade easier, which would go a long way in elevating India's position in the global technology and logistics arena.”

--Dhruvil Sanghvi, Founder & CEO, LogiNext

These comments show that the IT industry is eagerly looking forward to the Budget presentation and is hoping for a positive Budget.

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