Mixed reaction of IT partners on Budget

Mixed reactions of IT partners on union budgets 2013-14

Sunil Grewal, sales director, India, Gigabyte Technology

Since we never had great expectations from the Union Budget, the proposals made therein look positive. Overall it seems to be a balanced one, and should benefit players in the IT industry. We welcome restraint in fiscal deficit. The government's commitment to ensure that the fiscal deficit is in control, augurs well for the Indian market place.

T M Ramakrishnan, CEO, devices, S Mobility

The handsets industry is facing difficult times with increased competition and price wars at large. With the proposed increase in tax for handsets above Rs 2,000, we do not see a decrease in demand but definitely, there will be pressure on the margins. This decision will surely impact the industry's focus on making smartphones more affordable.

Jagdish Mahapatra, MD, McAfee India and Saarc

From an IT standpoint, this is a marginally encouraging budget. We were hoping for the discontinuation of MAT on SEZs and apportionment more grants to ensure secure data access which hasn't been considered. The other disappointing aspect is the surcharge for MNCs in India has increased from 2-5%, if the taxable income exceeds 10 crore.

Rajesh Janey, president, EMC India and Saarc

We believe a lot of the key initiatives outlined will leverage technology at the core whether banking norms compliance or ATM expansion or transforming post offices and the textile sector or rolling out Aadhaar enabled payments for various government schemes among others.

Manufacturers' Association for Information Technology

It is disappointing in terms of IT manufacturing. On one hand, the government is talking about the National Manufacturing Policy with an objective of raising the share of manufacturing in GDP to 25% within a decade, and creating 10 crore job opportunities and on the other hand it has failed to rectify the anomaly in the tax by not addressing the inverted duty structure.

Rajat Jain, MD, Xerox India

The announcement of a GST law that will be drafted by the State Finance Ministers and the GST Council and allocation of a sum of Rs 9,000 crore towards the first installment of the balance of CST compensation for States is a welcome step towards much-awaited fiscal consolidation

Sridhar, Triangle Technologies

Service tax anomalies still exist. With additional powers wrested with the service tax authorities we can expect unreasonable enforcement. Inflation will continue and the margins will be squeezed for IT dealers.

Harsh Chitale, whole time director, HCL Infosystems

There was not much spotlight on IT and technology as such but, it is good to see the serious intent of the government to pass a GST law. Moreover, the government's move to modernize and develop infrastructure will be much appreciated by the industry.

Sanjay Deshmukh, Area VP, India Subcontinent, Citrix

Incentivising the semiconductor wafer fab manufacturing facilities along with provisioning zero customs duty for plant and machinery is a move in the right direction.

Ramesh Loganathan, VP, products and center head, Progress Software

"Directly relating to the IT industry, the strong support provided for semi conductor segment is a good thing. The incentives for the industry, including zero customs duty on plants and machineries, and the 15% investment deduction allowance introduced for investments of Rs 100 crore or more in plant and machinery, is appreciative. A slight disappointment to the IT industry is the lack of any new stipulations clarifying the transfer-pricing computation. Overall, I am quite happy with the budget this year. It reflects in many ways the maturity of our economy and the policy framework."

 

Kailash Gupta, president, RCTA

It is neutral budget for IT trade, with no changes in excise and service tax rates, hence there are no likely impact of budget in IT industry.

Harinder Salwan, Tricom Multimedia

On a rating of 1 to 5, I would rate the budget at number 2. There is nothing for the software reseller community. Disallowing computer and computer software as assets in new projects is a surprise observation.

Saurabh Grover, director, monitor business, AOC India

Union budget is all and only about rationalizing and channelizing expenditure. It totally ignores any desired impetus for the growth and development of the IT and consumer electronic sector.

Alok Gupta, MD, Unistal

This is the worst budget for IT industry and nothing has been done for the IT community or for a common man.