Industry leaders welcome FM Nirmala Sitharaman’s Budget 2022-23

Team L&M

Reactions from various industries on the Budget presented by FM Nirmala Sitharaman today.

Vikas Singhania, CEO, TradeSmart

A short and sweet budget by the finance minister with no tweaks on taxes but a lot of measures to promote overall economic activity. The budgetary capex has been increased by 19% while at the same time providing impetus to EVs, solar power and renewable energy, agriculture, blending of fuels, startups, the introduction of digital currency, giving legitimacy to cryptocurrencies and green bonds all point towards the government sticking to the growth path.”

Prabhdeep Singh, Founder-CEO, StanPlus
The upcoming launch of an open platform for the National Digital Health Ecosystem is exciting news for us. It will include digital registries of health providers and facilities, a unique health identity, and universal access to health facilities, all of which will aid us in saving lives by allowing us access to contextual health information in quick time, enabling faster and better medical response in emergencies.

Neeraj Jain, CFO, Cosmo Films Ltd
We welcome the comprehensive budget announced by the Honorable Finance Minister to support the Indian economy. The Union Budget 2022 comes with a promise for the overall growth and revival of the economy. This year’s budget demonstrates the commitment by the government to strengthen infrastructure and employment creation. An increase in CAPEX expenditure to 7.5 lakhs cr from Rs 5.54 lakhs will boost economic growth and is very positive. Target fiscal deficit for FY 22-23 at 6.4% of GDP is also aligned with the larger goal of economic growth without much impacting the financials. We are also eagerly looking forward to new legislation on SEZ units to simplify the SEZ operations.

Abhishek Bansal, Executive Director, Pacific Group
We congratulate the FM for coming up with a Budget with a focus on overall economic health; the announcement will lead to better-earning opportunities for people directly impacting the retail sector. We can see the retail and commercial segment moving to more Indian cities as infrastructure will improve after various announcements in the Budget. Though there was not much in terms of tax savings for people, overall economic growth will lead to increased income that will support retail consumption.

Ashok Maheshwari, Managing Director, Rajkamal Prakashan Group
We had high hopes that there would be some concession for the book publishing industry in this budget, but like the previous budget, publishing industry was once again ignored. Like any other fields, the publishing industry was severely affected during the pandemic. The cost of light paper used in the publication of books has increased by more than 30 percent. The prices of essential raw materials related to printing and binding of books have also increased by more than 25 percent. All this increase has happened only in the Corona period. Despite these difficulties, the publishing world played the role of a dedicated corona warrior in keeping people connected to books during the pandemic and keeping them away from loneliness and mental stress. It is still playing its role to its full potential. But it urgently needs concessions and cooperation. We request the government to make provision for concession in the budget for the publishing world also. Book publishing is a business related to education and knowledge, which needs to be strengthened. Therefore, we request that the government should immediately address the difficulties of the publishing industry.

Sahil Dharia, Founder and CEO, Soothe Healthcare
The Union Budget 2022-23 is a ‘Practical Budget’ giving a runway to long term growth. The finance minister has incorporated the much-needed inclusions that will give pace to businesses and hope to build USD 10 trillion economy. The encouraging parameters in the Union Budget 2022 are:
Jobs / MSME / Make in India It is encouraging to see the focus on promoting the start-up ecosystem and offering a tax holiday for another year.  Enhancement in the digital ecosystem for skilling and livelihood through online training programs will also enable more upskilled and employable ready people to enter the workforce. Infrastructure and capacity building of India in Roads, Highways will put the money in the hands of the working class & serve to boost the consumption economy. Increased scope of CGTMSE and ECLGS which is a positive move for MSMEs, will give cash in the hands of entrepreneurs whose business is impacted owing to Covid19.  It’s a shot in the arm for MSMEs.
Ease of business/ Simplification The masterstroke was the next phase of Ease of Doing Business EODB 2.0 that has eliminated unneeded compliances and repealed primitive laws. In addition, the Government-backed funds via SIDBI will further help scale businesses faster and attract more investments. It will also be interesting to see the digital currency and assets implementation and the policies around that. Integrating networking of roads and railways under PM Gatishakti will again serve to boost ease of business. A Digital Rupee & Digital banking at all the post offices will facilitate trade and grow consumption at grassroot level.
Health e were expecting a healthcare focused budget with some specific interventions to the Make in India program. However, digitalization of mental health under Tele Mental Health program is a big thumbs up to the government for recognizing this need.

Ms. Sonali Khan, Managing Director  at Sesame Workshop India
I think it’s a great step to extend “One class One tv”  to 200 channels. It will reduce the inequity in access to education for children without the internet and digital infrastructure while also making the content available to them in their local language. A National tele mental health program to support the mental wellbeing of families and revamp of 2 lakh Aanganwadi centers also holds strong relevance considering the impact the closure of schools and the pandemic has had on the lives of people. It will be good to link this back to the operationalization of NEP 2020’s compulsory education for children starting 3 years of age as part of the budget, who have been severely impacted by the pandemic in the most crucial way.

Tara Singh Vachani – Managing Trustees – Max India Foundation 2.0
Extremely pleased to hear about the increased budget allocation in the education sector from Rs. 88,002 crores to Rs. 1.04 lakh crores. It’s a much awaited and welcome move. Initiatives like the ‘One class, one TV channel’ program of PM eVIDYA to expand from currently 12 to 200 TV channels will be a path-breaking step in bridging the digital divide and the learning loss that the pandemic has caused. On the other hand, providing supplementary education in regional languages for classes 1 to 12 will be fruitful in ensuring inclusive learning for the children of the country.

Dhuwarakha Sriram, Chief of Generation Unlimited (YuWaah) and Youth Development and Partnerships at UNICEF
India is one the youngest countries in the world. The Union budget’s focus on imparting supplementary education and building a resilient system for imparting education and skills is commendable. Skilling programs will be done in partnership with the industry, and the National skills qualification framework will be aligned with the dynamic needs of society. We applaud this step and propose a case for engaging with young people as indispensable partners from the conceptualization and planning stage, putting them at the centre for developing policies aimed at them.
The government’s focus on digital equality, particularly for the most marginalized young people, such as young women, people with disabilities, and young people in rural and remote areas, is a welcome move, given the learning loss we witnessed post-pandemic.
Initiatives of setting up Digital DESH ePortal, ‘One Class, One Channel’ under eVIDYA, and a Digital University will help young people access future skills and economic opportunities (jobs and entrepreneurship), contributing to nation-building and societies’ collective wellbeing. Additionally, the focus on providing access to these initiatives in Indian languages will lead to a wider, more inclusive impact.
The National Tele Mental Health Programme is another step towards helping young people thrive in the 21st century by developing emotional wellness and resilience.

Vivek K Singh, Co-founder, and CEO, Careerera
The education budget for 2022 emphasizes upskilling and digital learning, which would be a beneficial move. The announcement to launch a digital university in keeping with the current scenario could be a wonderful foresight move to expand education’s reach. The push for regional education is commendable because it will allow individuals in rural areas to get high-quality education in their own languages. Virtual labs and e-labs, which would provide skill training online, could be a benefit for learners in a vast country like ours which lacks access to adequate physical lab facilities.

Sanjeev Dahiwadkar, Founder & CEO of Cognota Healthcare
The Union Budget 2022 has taken many steps in putting healthcare at the centre of India’s approach to power its future growth. The proposal of launching a National Tele Mental Health Programme is a move in the right direction to provide better access to quality mental health counselling and care services. Proposal to create an open platform for the National Digital Health Ecosystem is also a welcome move. However, with the non-reduction of the GST on medical devices and the lack of tax rationalisation of healthcare services, the government has missed an opportunity to make healthcare affordable for billions of citizens. The pandemic has put healthcare at a pivotal position and the government should provide the right policy environment in the form of tax concessions, investment-friendly regulations till the society develops collective skills to deal with the new normal.