Union Budget 2022-23 Expectations: What NDs, Vendors and Partners say

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2022-23 and the key highlights of the speech include Digital Rupee currency, imposition of 30% tax on cryptocurrency assets and transactions, 5G auction will be conducted in 2022, capital expenditure is being stepped up to Rs 7.5 lakh crore, prominence to Make in India in terms of budget allocation for defence arms procurement, the launch of ePassports in 2022-23, new Battery Swapping policy for electric vehicle sector, 'One Nation, One Registration' will be established for anywhere registration to facilitate ease of living & doing business and more.

Union Budget 2022-23 invoked a positive reaction from the IT industry and praised the PM Modi led government. Here’s we have some reactions from Leading IT Distributors, Vendors and prominent partners of India.

 Prabhakar Iyer, Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer, Ingram Micro India.

• FM has presented a splendid Growth-oriented budget. The budget has the thrust on infrastructure development, digitization, skilling, and ease of doing business.
• It is a forward-looking budget and will have an impact in the years to come. Infra spending will generate millions of jobs and propel the growth of the economy.
• The government has embraced technology and digitization in all sectors of the economy viz. defense, agriculture, health, education.  It is very interesting to note the way Government is adapting the digitization - by increasing faceless engagement with government and also between the private sector through government platforms, creation of unified logistics platform, Delivery of digital and Hi-tech services to farmers, use of Kisan drones to aid farmers, establishing Digital university,  e labs, e skilling are a very modern and contemporary governance process.
• The tax was always applicable to gains on virtual assets. The current budget gives more clarity on the same. It is a welcoming measure. The introduction of digital currency is one of the great steps in the right direction. It shows that we as a country are ready to embrace and adapt to the virtual currency dynamics and grow the economy in a modern way.
• Digital money, Digital banking, and digital platform in dealing with the government are the key drivers of the government.
• Overall, a very consistent and simple budget with 100% directional alignment to last year's budget focuses on building trust. This shows the long-term focus of the government versus too many changes whilst keeping the option of announcing reforms throughout the year.

Rajesh Goenka, Director, Sales & Marketing, RP tech India

“This is a very progressive budget focused on giving a boost to the infrastructural development and attracting global investments in form of FDIs. The government has been consistent in giving emphasis on the overall growth and development of industries rather than offering sector-specific incentives. The budget will create employment opportunities across the industry verticals and accelerate GDP growth. We hail the government for its strategic decisions and futuristic approach for self-reliant India”.

Ashok Kumar, MD, RAH Infotech

"This clearly is a futuristic and technology-driven budget presented by the honourable Finance Minister. Almost every key project announced by her talks about leveraging information technology to the fullest in bringing out the best outcome. Giving data centers infrastructure status is a welcome move. It will help in getting easy financing for the datacenter players and attract more investments. Other areas like 5G spectrum auction in 2022, PLI in 5G, optic fibre network in all villages by 2025, e-passports and emphasis on digital content development and delivery, and digitalization of education are some great moves announced in this budget. Bringing in Digital currency using Blockchain is another huge step," said Ashok Kumar, MD RAH Infotech.

Kulmeet Bawa, President and Managing Director, SAP Indian Subcontinent.

“The budget announcement deserves applause as it takes a stance to address the two biggest needs of the hour: inclusive digital development and climate action. This monumental decision will help drive the country towards a self-reliant future, by prioritizing positive economic growth and an optimistic outlook towards sustainability. Overall, India is setting itself up for a digital-first approach by focusing on the much needed digital push that results in holistic job creation, skilling and overall improvement of the population’s livelihood as the nation recovers from the impact of the pandemic.

Vishal Agrawal, MD, India and SAARC, Avaya

“We appreciate the government’s continuous focus on the technology sector with the Budget 2022-23. With the ongoing pandemic, the National Digital Health Ecosystem will act as a boon to the healthcare workers as it will entail digital registries of health providers, health facilities, unique health identity and universal access to health facilities making their processes digitised and hence, seamless and simplified. At Avaya, we have been contributing to the industry in form of ‘remote healthcare’ for patient care. With social distancing becoming the new norm, frontline responders and healthcare institutions have swiftly adopted collaborative tools and cloud-based solutions to ensure continuity in providing quality healthcare. We look forward to assisting the government with this initiative.

We also welcome the announcements on the 5G rollout and PLI scheme as it will boost R&D, generate job opportunities, and enable enhanced connectivity across the country. In the last 2 years, Avaya has helped over 2 million people work remotely without disruptions and ensure business continuity and resilience for various organizations across verticals. Therefore, we appreciate the government moving towards a direction that will enhance hybrid work which indeed is the future of the workplace.

The Government has also allocated INR 50,000 crore equity infusion in MSMEs which will further strengthen their digital transformation journey. With Avaya being one of the leading global companies in the communications space, we look forward to helping MSMEs create unique customer experiences and scale up with the help of our robust and collaborative solutions.

We are also thrilled about the government’s announcement around data centers and digital infrastructure boost, and look forward to collectively contributing to the goal of a 5 trillion economy.”

The Government has also allocated INR 50,000 crore equity infusion in MSMEs which will further strengthen their digital transformation journey. With Avaya being one of the leading global companies in the communications space, we look forward to helping MSMEs create unique customer experiences and scale up with the help of our robust and collaborative solutions.

We are also thrilled about the government’s announcement around data centres and digital infrastructure boost, and look forward to collectively contributing to the goal of a 5 trillion economy.”

Saket Kapoor, MD, Green Vision

There will be lots of opportunities in the IT segment through IT infrastructure projects like 5G rollouts and Broadband through fibre to every village.

Pankaj Shah, CEO, Techno Plus Systems

Union Budget seems positive for the economy. More funds for infra as higher Govt. expenditure which will fuel the growth. Fibre cable laying in all districts, PLI schemes and BharatNet infra will promote Data access plans at attractive prices.