Budget 2022: This Is How...

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced the Budget 2022, and there has been mixed reactions to it.

We covered the budget announcements via live blog, and highlighted the top 5 announcements that every entrepreneur should be aware of.

Let’s find out how India’s top entrepreneurs & CEOs have reacted to the budget announcements, right here!

Mr. Dinesh Khara, Chairman, SBI

“The budget continues to strike a balance between the challenges posed by the recurring COVID-19 waves and the need to contain the economic damage due to pandemic. The budget achieves this delicate balance quite well. The emphasis going forward is on seven parallel tracks – PM GatiShakti, Inclusive Development, Productivity Enhancement & Investment, Sunrise Opportunities, Energy Transition and Climate Action and Financing of Investments. On the banking and finance side the announcements are significant. The budget proposes to set up 75 Digital Banking Units (DBUs) in 75 districts of the country by Scheduled Commercial Banks. This proposal is in sync with our ongoing digital banking initiatives. The most significant announcement of the budget are higher allocation to Capital expenditure and extension of ECLGS – particularly the specific support to hospitality & related sectors. The Budget is a very well-crafted statement of intent, drawing from the experience and enhances growth prospects of India in post COVID world.”

Mr. Rajesh Gopinathan, CEO, TCS

“The union budget presented by Hon Finance Minister, Shri Nirmala Sitharaman, has magnified the digital India vision and importance of technology in all focus areas like infrastructure, inclusive development, sustainability, sunrise industries, and skilling. This budget provides many opportunities for growth for the technology industry by bringing world class solutions and best practices for railways, healthcare, education, financial services, and regulatory bodies to accelerate India’s growth. The decision to introduce E-Passport will further streamline the overall citizen experience, enhance security, and facilitate smoother international travel. The initiative to introduce a Digital Rupee in the form of a Central Bank issued Digital Currency (CBDC) is an extremely futuristic decision.It creates an opportunity for India to leapfrog in the Digital currency world and be a global leader in providing a Digital currency option to its citizens.”

Ms. Shalini Warrier, Executive Director, Federal Bank

We are delighted with the key announcements made in the Budget presented by the Hon’ble Finance Minister that are designed to enhance the pace of digital transformation in the country. Setting up 75 Digital Banking Units in 75 Districts, introduction of Digital Rupee by the Reserve Bank of India on the back of blockchain technology are just two examples of what we can expect in the coming days. Our mantra of “Digital at the fore, Human at the core” remains at the core of our customer offering and announcements such as these will go a long way, we believe, in making digital a way of life for our customers.

CP Gurnani, MD & CEO, Tech Mahindra

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.

Nikhil Sahni, Country Corporate Officer, India & Division President, South Asia, Mastercard.

Mastercard welcomes the continued focus on digital and financial inclusion in the Finance Minister’s Budget 2022 speech. Setting up Digital Banking Units (DBUs) and bringing post offices into the core banking system, will help expand the reach of financial services to the last mile. The extension of Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) will boost MSME recovery and growth by providing them with liquidity and helping them meet working capital requirements. Start-ups will benefit from tax benefits that will spur further innovation and boost employment in the country.

Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, MD & CEO, Bandhan Bank:

The Union Budget for 2022-23 seeks to support the recent economic growth momentum India has seen, and help it sustain over the long-term. The substantial rise in planned capital expenditure for creation of infrastructure, focus on affordable housing, welfare & development of MSMEs, and the farm economy will prepare India for the next phase of growth. This can lead to creation of millions of new jobs, helping India leverage its young demographic dividend. The new business opportunities and enterprises that will come up due to these projects will also benefit the banking sector.

The extension in timeline and increased outlay towards ECLGS and additional infusion of funds in the Credit Guarantee Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises will provide relief to MSMEs, especially those engaged in contact-intensive sectors, who have been adversely impacted due to the pandemic. The significant additional allocation towards PM Awas Yojana will boost demand for affordable housing, and in turn demand for housing finance. It was also heartening to hear about the Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for the North East Region find special mention in the Budget, in line with the capex projects planned for the rest of the country”.-

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. Dhiraj Relli, MD & CEO, HDFC Securities

“The Budget is growth-inducing and does the heavy lifting by sharply increasing capital expenditure. The focus on boosting manufacturing as well as an underlined emphasis on areas such as startups, modern mobility and clean energy, shows the FM has prioritised long-term growth. Individual taxpayers may feel a bit disappointed with the lack of direct tax cuts but this Budget lays the ground for a multi-year growth boom. The FY23 fiscal deficit has come in higher than expectations. Let’s hope the interest rates and inflation do not remain high for long.”

Mr. Rajeev Sharma, Chief Strategy Officer, Mitsubishi Electric India Pvt. Ltd.

“This is a growth-oriented Budget, I am sure that stepping up the capital expenditure sharply by 35.4% will have an incremental effect on the overall growth of the economy. It is good that the policy makers understand that nearly half of our population is likely to be living in urban areas by 2047, when India is at 100. The announcement for urban capacity building like mass transit, planning help, etc. would act as a good principle for development of the country. The budget has demonstrated a good balance between today’s needs and the future’s demand.”

Amit Shah, CEO at A3 Tech :

The finance minister has announced spending of ?200 billion for road and 400 new trains in addition to a slew of initiatives in infrastructure, manufacturing and logistics. We know that capex in infrastructure is key govt policy in fueling economic growth. China has proved that in the past and US is in the process of approving big infrastructure spending. I believe infrastructure initiatives announced in the budget is going to be major reason that, we will not only emerge out of pandemic but grow GDP by 8% or more.

Rupesh Jain – Founder and CEO Candere by Kalyan Jewellers

The decrease of Customs Duty from 7.5% to 5% might help remove the blockages and tie-ups in the legalized channels of diamond imports. The decrease in customs duties will help Indian e-commerce brands expand to overseas markets and cater to the vast and growing demand. Furthermore, the positive uptake to this is the development and maintenance of transport infrastructure which will allow e-commerce businesses to improve access and reach out to the interior sectors of the Indian market. This development decision gives us a broader audience base and prospective markets. Not just that, it will create a ripple effect, as with the recent changes to accessibility, more people will become used to digitization with the use of online shopping and online payments. As one of the objectives of Budget 2022 is to increase digital penetration and adaption in India.

Adetee Agarwaal, Founder – PinkAprons

I will say, this is a neutral Budget announced by the Honorable Finance Minister.. We thank the Govt for extending the tax holiday for startups and announcing a new Rs 6000 cr fund to boost MSMEs and startups across India. By not changing the tax slabs, middle-class Indians and salaried employees will be able to plan their expenses and investments accordingly.

We are also happy to note that the capital gains exemption for investments in startups has been extended, which will enable more investments in this sector, and encourage more venture capitalists to expand their portfolios.

However, the lack of any GST reform, especially for food tech and the online food delivery sector was disappointing. We were expecting some sort of relief in the high GST slabs for restaurants and food entrepreneurs. Besides, the push for drone deliveries is a welcome step, but it may take some years to get the infrastructure ready. The current state of deliveries for the ecommerce and food sector needed some major incentives, push to ensure seamless delivery of online orders.

But we are optimistic, and positive that India’s growth story will be further enhanced with this Budget 2022, and it will empower more entrepreneurs to script a long-term success story.

Dilip Modi, Founder, Spice Money

It is extremely heartening to see the digital economy and fintech technology-enabled development being a key focus area for Budget 2022-23. The government’s proposal of setting up 75 Digital Banking units in 75 districts of the country and providing online fund transfer between post office accounts and bank accounts will help in adding further tailwinds to expand necessary banking services to the last mile and enable us to take a step further towards our goal of financial inclusion through rural empowerment. The government’s continuous focus on the digital payments ecosystem has paved the way for digital adoption amongst the unbanked and underbanked population of the country especially post the outbreak of the pandemic. We are hoping to see a much higher traction this year that will address the current challenges faced by the citizens and create a #AtmaNirbharBharat. Additionally, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s announcement on the allotment of funds through NABARD to finance start-ups for agriculture & rural enterprises along with the plans to launch delivery of hi-tech services for farmers including the use of Kisan Drones is a great move towards the development of the agri sector as well as for supporting nanopreneurs. We are hopeful that the government’s strong support and initiatives including the introduction of digital rupee by RBI will help in accelerating the growth for the fintech sector and will create multiple avenues for the underserved parts of the country.

Tarun Gupta, Co-founder, LISSUN

As a result of the pandemic, a lot of entrepreneurs had stepped forward to address the challenge of rising mental health issues in India. The cases of depression and anxiety disorders witnessed an increase of about 25% globally, and by 35% in India alone. The National Mental Health Programme and Health and Wellness Centres alone could not have reached every individual in the crisis that they might face struggling in a moment. The easy access was the primary point of concern for everyone trying to help towards the issue. The government has recognised this, and addressed the same by launching Tele mental health service. The budget inculcating the fact that focussing mental and emotional wellness is the need of the hour, itself talks about how progressive we are becoming in our approach as a nation.

Ms. Aarthi Ramakrishnan, Country Head – India and Middle East, Kristal.AI

“It is satisfying to see that the FM has presented a growth oriented budget – the 35% increase in capital expenditure will support growth and have a multiplier effect on the economy, besides generating employment which is long term positive for India. Besides supporting the India growth story, the focus on the digital economy and fintech enabled businesses, was heartening, as Kristal.AI is at the front and centre of this transformation. Also worth mentioning, are the launch of Ease of Doing Business 2.0 initiative and the setting up of a regulatory body to review and scale up investments from VCs and Private Equity Funds. This is significant positive for businesses like ours. Moreover, Gift City becoming a focus to attract global investment is a recognition of the fact that Indians will be given access to global opportunities across the spectrum. Directionally, a very progressive budget.”

Dr Preet Pal Thakur, Co-founder GlamyoHealth

The primary challenge in delivering fine health services was the lack of awareness and access. A person sitting in tier 2 city might not even know about the presence of a probable medical facility to his current challenge. With the launch of the open platform for the National Digital Health Ecosystem this particular gap will be filled in a single go. As the Budget mentioned, the platform will consist of digital registries of health providers and health facilities, which will serve the purpose of access and availability of information.

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 (GIS & Drone Player)

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.

Kyle Fernandes, CEO & Co-Founder of MemeChat

“The Indian Start-up ecosystem is the third largest in the world and has notched up record investment of nearly $ 36 billion in privately held companies this year as demand for digitisation grew manifold amid the Covid-19 pandemic. One major factor contributing to this is the various hand-holding measures provided by the government. The 30% taxation on virtual digital assets along with the 1% TDS on transfer of virtual assets above a threshold is a strong endorsement by the Indian government. We are grateful for the regulatory clarity which supports our firm belief in the same being a legitimate business activity. The extension on the tax incentives for startups is a welcomed move.The government has yet again simplified regulations, which proves helpful for early stage start-ups. This support from the government will encourage an increasing number of students and young citizens to get aboard the start-up journey and in turn create more employment and create wealth.”

Harsh Shah, a co-founder of Fynd

“I am happy that it is not a populist budget, which shows that the government is prioritizing structural growth. An increase in capex spending is also in the right direction.Tax on virtual goods is indirectly good as it now brings digital currency under regulatory supervision, a very positive push for cryptocurrency and Web 3.0. This would incentivize startups to create more products & services in the blockchain ecosystem.High GST collection is also a good sign, it gives the govt appropriate resources to boost this long-term plan. The cap on surcharge on capital gains on any asset is a great thing especially for startup ESOP holders”

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.

Mr 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.

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.”

Vishwakumara Kayargadde, Co-Founder and COO, Saankhya Labs

5G in India is soon going to be a reality, as one of the major highlights in the Union Budget was the government’s assurance to conduct the required spectrum auction in 2022. This will help facilitate the rollout of 5G mobile services within 2022-23. We welcome the Finance Ministry’s intent to launch a design-led manufacturing scheme that will help build a strong ecosystem for 5G in the country. In addition to this, the government’s measures towards promoting a semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem will attract young talent, and make the industry more efficient and competitive. This will further boost fabless companies such as ours and other MSMEs working in the deep tech space, helping them engage in product R&D and design. Another laudable move by the government is to promote R&D and commercialization of technologies and solutions by enabling affordable broadband and mobile service proliferation in rural and remote areas.”

Mr. Nitish Jain, President – S P Jain School of Global Management.

“From the standpoint of higher education, the budget is headed in the correct path by focusing on improving the digital infrastructure in the country. Moving ahead, the execution, and how quickly these things move will be the most important factors to watch. Education is what propels the economy and the country forward, and I am confident that Budget 2022 will go a long way toward ensuring that education remains at the top of our country’s priorities.”

Vidit Aatrey, Founder and CEO of Meesho

“The 2022 Union Budget is forward looking and inclusive and lays down the roadmap for an aspirational India. Overall the government’s growth capex announcement will prime the wheels for the entire economy and will have a multiplier impact. Investment led growth which has been adopted by the government of India will result in higher quality growth versus a merely consumption led growth. We are happy about the government’s intent to continue supporting the new age tech ecosystem by forward looking initiatives such as introduction of digital rupee, extending the existing tax benefits of startups by one more year and reduction of overlapping compliances which will improve the ease of doing business in India.

From our perspective, we have been keenly watching the developments that impact our sellers and their ecosystem and we see positive moves on those aspects. Emergency credit guarantee scheme (ECLGS) extension upto March 2023 will be helpful for the MSMEs to regain their business above the pre-pandemic levels. Further the revamp of CGTMSE will also help the banks extend lending to the credit starved MSMEs. Finally, duty concessions to promote electronics manufacturing, wearables and hearables devices and mobile phones will boost Indian manufacturing and there by reduce imports in these critical sectors”

Mr. Parimal Heda, Chief Investment Office, Digit Insurance

“This year’s Union Budget was more focused on offering the much-needed relaxation for MSMEs and start-ups. Extending the tax incentive for start-ups by one more year due to the pandemic will surely give a boost to the start-up ecosystem. Taking note of the pandemic-induced mental health issues, the government’s decision to launch a National Tele Mental Health Programme will immensely help people who are dealing with anxiety and stress-related issues. This will also nudge insurers to create comprehensive products which include mental health benefits, further promoting health and wellness more holistically. The government realises that India is at the cusp of an electronic vehicle (EV) revolution and its decision to introduce Battery Swapping Policy with a focus on enhancing charging infrastructure and improving inter-operability standards will surely make EVs more attractive and in turn, accelerate growth in the segment. This will also likely aid in improving EV adoption among Indians and as a result give insurers more data for better underwriting of EV insurance products.”

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.

Ashish Nayyar, Co-Head of India, OakNorth

Budget 2022 sets an ambitious blueprint for steering us towards [email protected] We particularly welcome the strong push to develop the country’s infrastructure through the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan which will be a game changer not just in spurring economic activity but also for human capital development and employment generation in some of the most critical sectors of the economy.We believe the Budget provides for continued policy thrust on enhancing the digital payment ecosystem is a clear positive for the FinTech sector. Specifically, the introduction of the Digital Rupee based on blockchain by the RBI will be an interesting catalyst in powering Digital India 2.0.

The extension and enhanced allocation towards the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) till March 2023 will provide much needed relief to the MSME sector which are a core engine for employment generation and economic growth. Budget 2022 also proposes to extend the existing tax benefits for startups by 1 more year – a promising and welcome move that will support the startup ecosystem in the country. We also welcome the government’s funding support to sunrise sectors such as climate action, deep tech, digital economy and agri tech. We also welcome the strong focus on skill development by aligning the National Skill Qualification Framework with dynamic industry needs and promoting skilling programmes in partnership with the industry to promote upskilling and employability. This is an important but often overlooked area, which is critical in ensuring the upward economic mobility of the masses.

Dr. Vijay Patil, Chancellor of DY Patil University, Navi Mumbai said,

“The government’s ‘equal education for all’ approach can positively change the dynamics of the education sector and can transform the country into a centre of education excellence.The newly announced formation of a digital university to provide access to world-class education to Indian students will go a long way in making education accessible and student-friendly. The inclusiveness of digital learning citing the prolonged closure of schools will also play a catalyst in the academic development of the students in the country and speed up academic recovery caused due to the pandemic. Additionally, the proposed ‘hub and spoke’ model will diminish any gaps in the system caused due to language barriers and the regional language syllabus will make education a home-coming experience for students especially in rural India. Also, collaboration of the university with central universities in the country will not just provide the required digital infrastructure and training but will be able to forge deeper connections with students through customized and local experiences.

Furthermore, the roll out of 5G services by 2022-23 is likely to boost connectivity especially in the rural areas and most crucially will assist in flexible learning infrastructure. The expansion of SWAYAM PRABHA TV under the PM e-vidya scheme from 12 channels to 200 will enable states to provide supplementary education and empower them to build youth with ‘future-ready’ skills, the nucleus of economic growth and development. New skill development courses will also help in bridging the skill gap in the country while equipping human resources with the knowledge and expertise to fulfil ‘jobs of tomorrow.’Also the implementation of the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme will encourage the formation and growth of more indigenous brands necessitating the need for talent that can propel the speed of development by minimizing time on ‘on-the-job’ learning.”

Mr. George Sam, Business Head & Co-Founder at Mindgate Solutions Pvt. Ltd

“We applaud the government’s conviction in digital banking and welcome the move to set up 75 Digital Banking Units in 75 districts in the country. This will be a step towards ensuring the citizens of the country, especially in the rural setting, are empowered and benefitted through digital banking systems. This was something quite visible in urban areas so far. Thus, the nation-wide transformative potential of the FinTech sector is well poised to be realized. Furthermore, the introduction of Digital Rupee is a landmark decision. We expect this will potentially be more disruptive like UPI. While it will enable efficient currency management as an immediate benefit, it will also accelerate the target of a digital and financially inclusive India.”

Mr. Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO, Flipkart Group

“Today’s Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman is an inclusive and growth-oriented balanced budget with a clear focus on strengthening physical and digital infrastructure, boosting the ‘Make in India’ start-up ecosystem and providing a strong digital push. The various initiatives will significantly contribute to the Indian dream of creating a 5 trillion dollar economy.

The creation of the technology and innovation-based Unified Logistics Interface platform, and the development of cargo terminals will further boost an efficient supply chain ecosystem in India and create millions of new livelihood opportunities.”

Mr. Mahesh Gupta, Chairman Kent RO Systems Ltd

“Union budget 2016 aims to strengthen India’s foundation by uplifting rural population through financial reforms and empowering measures like Digital Literacy scheme. This budget addresses the structural transformation amidst a very challenging global scenario due to pandemic. The Government’s thrust to manufacturing and rural education along with employment generation is commendable.

The budget has all the right keywords. What makes me particularly happy is the impetus being given to job creation and domestic manufacturing with ease of business. These steps assure the creation of a developed ecosystem.”

Mr. Vikesh Agrawal CEO of AjvaFintech

There has been concentrated efforts in the budget to fill the much-needed credit gap for the stressed sector – ELCGS extension specially for the struggling hospitality sector was much needed, the sector however, will take some more time to revive, unlike other sectors. The proposed CGTMSE revamp will help the micro sector, which could not avail ECLGS earlier because they did not have existing credit outstanding, which was the basic requirement for availing ECLGS. PLI extension to more sectors and increased fund allocation shall boost the MSME being backward linked. Payment delays have been a big challenge for MSME for government procurement, 75% bill payment within 10 days is a welcome step. Also steps on going paperless, digital acceptance of invoices are good steps in digitizing the value chain.

Sarosh Amaria, Managing Director, Tata Capital Financial Services Limited

“The Government has continued its support to MSME sector with measures announced in the Budget like extension of ECLGS scheme and integration of digital portals. Higher allocation towards capital expenditure at Rs. 7.5 lac crores will aid the industry in sustaining recovery after the pandemic”.

Nischal Shetty, CEO at WazirX

India is finally on the path to legitimising the crypto sector in India. It’s phenomenal news that India launching a blockchain powered Digital Rupee is phenomenal news. This move will pave the way for crypto adoption and put India in the front seat of innovation.

It’s also interesting to note how our government is beginning to recognise crypto as an emerging asset class given how our FM was referring to it as a virtual digital asset. The biggest development today, however, was a clarity on crypto taxation. This will add the much needed recognition to the crypto ecosystem of India. We also hope this development removes any ambiguity for banks, and they can provide financial services to the crypto industry.

Overall, it’s good news for us, and we will need to go through the detailed version of the budget to understand the finer details.

The tax clarity is a welcome move. Overall, it’s a huge relief to see that our government is adopting the progressive stance of going ahead in the direction of innovation. By bringing in taxation, the government legitimises the industry to a large extent. The majority of people, especially corporates, who have been sitting on the sidelines because of uncertainties will now be able to participate in crypto. Overall, it’s a positive move for the industry.

Mr. Vaibhav Dange, Founding Member, Federation of Electronic Sports Associations India on Announcement of Government of India setting up a task force for Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, and Comics (AVGC) promotion.

“Federation of Electronic Sports Association of India (FEAI) welcomes the move of the Government of India to set up a task force for Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, and Comics (AVGC) promotion. FEAI has been recommending policy intervention towards the promotion of AVGC at the national level as well as placing a strong emphasis on development across states through regional chapters. We are enthused that the Government is focused on building domestic capacity for serving our markets along with the global demand. We firmly believe that the AVGC sector offers immense potential to employ youth and this move will lead to further strengthening the growing segment of Electronic Sports in India. The recent inauguration of ABAI AVGC Center of Excellence was also a progressive step in this direction and we are happy that things are moving ahead rapidly towards an Atmanirbhar Esports Ecosystem for India.”

Dr. Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Co-Founder & President, Venture Catalysts & Managing Director of 9Unicorns Accelerator Fund.

The government’s policies announced in the Budget to support the startup ecosystem and promote a culture of entrepreneurship in the country is a boon for the startups as well as the economy. The landscape has the scope for significant job creations across industries. The Finance Minister announced a reduction in the surcharge on unlisted shares from 28.5% to 23%, which will make it easier for entrepreneurs and unicorns to exit, thereby impacting the investment churn.

The Budget brought forth a big relief for all the small and medium business as the government extended the ECLGS till March 2023. This will go a long way toward assisting small businesses and reviving industrial activity. This provides a huge potential to boost demand in the storage and logistics sectors. About 1,490 labour restrictions were eliminated by the government, paving the path for increased ease of doing business.

Raghunandan G, Founder & CEO, Zolve

‘With this budget, investors at large were hoping to see an update on Crypto and other digital assets. The introduction of ‘Digital Rupee’ goes on to show the acceptance of digital currency and digital assets nation-wide, and provides a pathway for India to play a more proactive role in the international financial arena. With clarity on the taxation implications on digital assets, it is now set to go mainstream. Coupled with the Government’s efforts to boost the overall fintech ecosystem in this Budget by promoting economical and user-friendly payment platforms, this will definitely provide a fillip to making India a fintech powerhouse.”

Mr. Dibyendu Bindal, Founder & CEO – MIGHTY Foods

“It’s very heartening to see the government’s focus towards a sustainable future, EV segment etc. The push the government is giving towards new startups will motivate new and young entrepreneurs. I was hoping the government will cut down taxes on Plant based food to bring it at par with the Farm and meat industry.”

Sunil Yadav – CEO, PlayerzPot

“The Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, and Comics (AVGC) sector is one of the fastest growing sectors in India, and attracts a huge interest from a large cross section of the population. The announcement of the new AVGC task force is a welcome one, as we expect it will help to build domestic capacity and also serve the global demand. The task force has come at the right time, for those pursuing a career in gaming as the sector is booming right now and needs more talented youngsters to grow. With the government introducing digital rupee and a visible trend in crypto adoption, NFT’s will grow significantly. 5G services auction within FY 22-23 across the country will play an important role in the growth by further penetrating in the markets and also enhancing the gaming experience.

As the honourable minister mentioned in her budget presentation, the gaming sector has the potential to become the torchbearer of ‘Create in India’ & ‘Brand India’, on the same lines we were hoping for transparent and progressive regulation that will help differentiate games of skill from those of chance, because this is a key area of concern for the industry as a whole.

Ankit Maggu, Co-Founder, Geekster

The biggest challenge that our youth face is the lack of in-demand skills, the reason for this is that our higher education has not been able to adapt as per the changing Industry requirements. The new age entrepreneurs are trying to address this gap through different models making skill based education accessible to the masses but a lot more needs to be done. The launch of digital university is a great step, as it will increase the penetration of quality education even in the remotest areas at affordable price points.

Additionally, Digital DESH e-portal will help further refine the skills of the youth making them more employable and will reduce the skill gap, benefiting both – jobseekers, and employers.Mr. Himanshu Tyagi, CEO & Founder of Digikull

The long prevailing skill gap in the market was a challenge for both- the recruiters, and youth of the nation too. With the launch of Digital DESH e-portal we can expect to fill in this gap to a certain extent. The interesting part is, that following the lockdown, adoption of digital medium had increased. The budget has leveraged this shift in behaviour to add to the ultimate aim of digital India. If the execution is right, we can gradullary expect digital learning to become the primary education system 5 years down the line,

Karanvir Singh, Founder & CEO Pariksha- Vernacular Edtech Platform

“Digital education became the familiar way of new-age learning following the lockdown. The new trend has been well accepted by the government as the way forward for upskilling, widening access to education, and strengthening the higher education system in the country. Additionally, the budget too circumscribed the fact that in a diverse nation like India, education can only be delivered by understanding the vernacular requirements of every region. The expansion of ‘One Class One TV Channel’ to provide supplementary education in regional languages for classes 1-12 will boost the early and secondary education in the country. And the proposed launch of the digital university will simultaneously cater to the requirements of higher education. Thus, the budget has served, end-to-end, to raise the education system in the country in a holistic manner,”

Piyush Bhartiya, AdmitKard- Edtech

The budget has been very much in line with the latest trends and changing paradigm in the education system. We are glad that the government is promoting digital education in India. The budget mentioned the launch of a nationwide digital university, which might be the answer to the long prevailing gaps in the higher education system. What initially started as a result of the global lockdown, has now been acknowledged as the probable solution to the difficulty of accessing higher education in the country where 65% of the population resides in the rural region. Simultaneously, stressing on Higher education will reflect in the next generation’s culture and quality of skill-set in the employment market.

Mr. Avinash Shekhar, CEO, ZebPay

“Tax has always been applicable to gains on virtual digital currencies, but the ecosystem did not have clarity on it. The move to tax virtual digital assets gives the entire ecosystem including investors and exchanges transparency on the road ahead. 30% tax on income from virtual digital assets, while high, is a positive step as it legitimizes crypto and hints at an optimistic sentiment towards further acceptance of crypto and NFTs across stakeholders in the country. The government has come a long way in its stance towards crypto from last Feb to today and we are confident that this will herald a new era of growth and innovation for India in a Web 3.0 world.

Additionally, the announcement on the launch of a Digital Rupee using blockchain issued by the RBI will familiarise Indians with the benefits and efficiency of virtual currency, building an appetite for the crypto, blockchain and the multitudes of innovations and employment opportunities that these technologies are capable of fostering.

The Budget focused heavily on integrating technology across sectors, and the gradual acceptance of a digital currency, blockchain and virtual digital assets has the potential to make India a leader in this new paradigm of blockchain-enabled revolution.

Mr. Abheek Barua, Chief Economist, HDFC Bank

“The 2022-23 budget finely balanced fiscal retreat with supporting economic recovery. The budget focussed on a familiar strategy of driving capital expenditure to drive growth, with the intention of crowding in private investment through higher public spending. Although markets could be disappointed with a higher fiscal deficit of 6.4% of GDP for FY23 than expected, it is perhaps prudent to not undertake aggressive fiscal consolidation at this nascent stage of recovery. While elevated market borrowings are likely to pressurise bond yields, inclusion of green bonds in the borrowing plan are an interesting innovation. In terms of specific policy announcements, the move towards self-reliance through protection for domestic manufacturers (change in custom and import duties) aligns with the long-term goal of Atmanirbhar Bharat. Moreover, there is an effort to weave in short term capital spending with the long term 25-year investment plan for India. Specific moves on education and mental health issues are critical and well-recognised in the budget. Lastly, Central Bank Digital Currency is likely to have an impact on banks, but the implications of the same will have to be thought through further”.

Mr. Amit Pamnani, Chief Investment Officer, Swastika Investmart Ltd.

The budget focuses on nurturing business & encourage digitalization in all sectors

The union budget 2022-23 is very exhilarating for businesses & startups since most of the announcements are with the objective to nurture them & create a sustainable environment. Since the startup ecosystem is emerging in India and was expecting support from the government, FM has brought smiles to entrepreneurs’ faces by announcing schemes that will boost the Startups. We are confident if these policies are implemented in a timely manner they will bolster startups in all sectors especially – EV, Agri, fintech, Deeptech, defense.

For Venture capital investors also it is an exciting budget on two aspects – one, there is a thrust given to startups for their growth, and second, the government to allocates the capital contribution to VC funds for investing in startups.

India has over 61k startups recognized under the Startup India program. We expect Startup registration to increase by 20% this year and startup funding to augment since funds from the UK, US, UAE, Singapore are chasing Indian Startups .

Anshuman Khanna, Director, ValPro

This budget has continued the trend of the government to roll out major reforms and initiatives rather than just being an announcement of tweaks in the taxation regime. We are very happy with the announcements as these cast a light on the India we will be living in by 2035. One with digital land records and e-registrations, greener energy with reduced dependence on foreign fuels, inclusive e-learning for children, connected logistics and digital portals for freight and passenger movement, digitized passports and currency, stability in tax regime and hopefully a continuous reduction of direct tax rates to sub-20% levels with ever increasing collections under GST. The increasing GDP and GST collections (already above 1.4 trillion monthly) will enable the government to continuously increase capital spending way beyond 10 trillion rupees projected for FY22-23 while bringing the fiscal deficit below 3% levels by 2030 while reducing its dependence on direct tax collections.

Mr Avneet Singh Marwah, CEO at SPPL, Exclusive Brand Licensee of Blaupunkt in India

The retail and consumer durables sector contribute a lot to India’s economy. Considering the fact that these sectors have been hit hard in the pandemic, we were surprised to see there were no relaxations or amendments provided to the manufacturers. I would rate this budget on an average.

Despite the overachieving GST collection from the past 4 months, the tax on smart TVs above 81 cm remains at 28%, which is the highest in any developing economy. We were expecting it to be reduced to 18% so that people could get TVs at a cheaper rate.

There was also a talk that television would be included in the PLA scheme, which was also missing. A few things that interest us in the budget is that the announcement of the launch of 5G this year will help consumers adopt better Smart TVs and content quality. The Government has spoken about adding 80 lakhs affordable homes, which will benefit the consumer electronics industry. Apart from that we were expecting big announcements on inflation, income tax, manufacturing sector etc which could have improved market sentiments.

Retail and Manufacturing Sector Ms. Pallavi Singh, Vice President, Super Plastronics PVT LTD (SPPL), India brand licensee of Westinghouse TV

The FM announced no change to the current tax structure or tax relief has been provided in any form for the existing manufacturing industry and no reduction has been announced on GST rates, which is a disappointment. We hope that the FM’s announcement of carrying on the legacy of SEZ’s and replacing it with a new legislation is a welcome move and as mentioned, existing manufacturing units will be allowed to participate in the same to promote export of goods. The current budget has focused on building the infrastructure in India which is a welcome approach to make India at par with global infrastructure which will also help us in the long run.

Saurabh Soni, Co-Founder, Digisparsh

“I welcome the Government’s decision to set up 75 banking units in 75 districts. This is a strong move to penetrate digital financial services in our rural market which has 40 cr+ Jan Dhan customers. This will not just help to bring the unbanked population under the financial ecosystem but also enable them to receive timely financial aid to fulfil their education, business and health needs. Especially post pandemic when out of pocket expenses to meet medical emergencies have shot up drastically, forcing people to resort to unorganised debt markets consisting of loan sharks. So while more details are awaited, I hope this also paves way for PPP (Private Public Partnerships) to emerge and provide specialized, low cost, targeted financial services, because rural banking needs are starkly different from urban needs.”

He further added, “at Digisparsh, we are at the conjunction of health, technology and finance. We work with consumers to provide 0% interest loans to meet their healthcare needs and help hospitals across the country to meet their working capital requirements. We are keen to work with banking institutions, government and healthcare ecosystem to ensure no one is deprived of financial support when their loved ones are ailing.”

Gurjodhpal Singh, CEO, Tide (IN),

The financial support for the digital payments ecosystem is a welcome move and further reaffirms the Government of India’s digital banking push. This push on digitisation will make way for more inclusion in the ecosystem. The focus on ‘Ease of doing business’ is a great step, as it will further promote entrepreneurship in the economy. Fintechs will continue to play the role that we have been playing for the past couple of years now, and these policies will further strengthen our role in the ecosystem. Moreover, the decision to interlink MSME portals and added corpus is the much-needed support at this hour.

Mr. Puneet Gupta, Managing Director & Vice President, NetApp India

“I am excited to see the government’s focus on technology sector, as a whole. The incentives towards creating digital infrastructure, education, and skilling, spell out the intent on developing the country’s human capital. The emphasis of digitised skilling will help make our country’s youth future-ready. Additionally, the announcement on RBI introducing digital currency and the government providing infrastructure status to data centers, will help create a framework for emerging technologies making the digital India Inc better and stronger.”

Arpit Agarwaal – Founder, FoodGinie

I believe this budget mirrors the centre’s strategy to prepare the country for an organic and robust growth in the next 5 years. The allotment of 7.5lac crore to boost the manufacturing sector, 30% tax on gains from Digital assets, reduction of surcharge from unlisted shares and the 1 year extension of tax benefits for start-ups are proofs that Bharat is preparing for formidable global impact while maintaining solid consumption fundamentals at home.

The newfound focus on Deep tech and Solar will not only help create more jobs, but also contribute significantly to the self dependence objective, government shared last in 2021. While the budget touches around the burning issues of businesses being hit by the pandemic, I believe some kind of reduction in income tax for the commoner, could have been a welcome move amidst the soaring utility prices.

Sunil Sharma, managing director – sales, Sophos India & SAARC

“The Union Budget 2022 presented by the Government of India is built on the foundation of introducing new technologies across sectors. From education to finance, logistics, and healthcare, the bedrock of change will be driven by tech.The Government has further proposed the introduction of the digital rupee. While this will definitely enhance efficiency and promote growth, increased digital penetration also brings with it additional cyber risks that one should be vary of. As a step towards mitigating cyberattacks, the Government plans to set up broadband in villages as well as the Digital DESH e-portal. This will help equip youth with the right skills, including cybersecurity skill sets, needed to operate safely in today’s tech-driven world.”

Dinesh Chauhan, CEO, CORE Diagnostics

“We congratulate the government for presenting a dynamic budget with a major focus on strengthening the healthcare sector. Budget 22 is visionary and focused on implementing major steps to revitalize the healthcare industry including driving healthcare penetration underpinned by technology thrust and access. The national digital health ecosystem is a strong move to enable equitable access to healthcare services as well as towards creating a robust healthcare ecosystem. The introduction of National Tele Mental health to access quality mental health services is a much-appreciated move, considering the rise of pandemic accentuated mental health problems in India. While there has been no significant announcement related to the Diagnostics sector, it is encouraging to see the government focusing on the PPP model and digital health which will further ensure accessibility and availability of quality healthcare services in remote locations. We will continue to bring significant change in the diagnostics space with our continued investments in developing sophisticated diagnostics for early detection and outcome-based line of treatment for patients.”

Kunal Nagarkatti, CEO, Clover Infotech

“The Government’s focus on creating a strong digital ecosystem to enhance banking and financial inclusion is a step in the right direction. Bringing all post office banks under the core banking ambit will enable seamlessness in digital payments and online transfer of funds and accelerate financial inclusion. The setting up of the Digital DESH e-portal for skilling initiatives is the need of the hour as it will bridge the gap between the supply and demand for digitally skilled and technically strong resources.”

Dhruvil Sanghvi, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, LogiNext

“We welcome the move by the Government of India to boost logistics as a means towards ensuring economic growth. The proposal to set up a Unified Logistics Interface Platform is a welcome move. Leveraging technology to complement the development of infrastructure will help bring in better efficiency. Furthermore, with real-time tracking, and inventory management as a part of the platform, this will go a long way in bringing India at par with global supply chain networks. LogiNext has always been an advocate for digitisation of supply chains, and it is reassuring to see the Government work towards this. The decision taken to extend the tax incentives provided to startups till March 31, 2023 is a reflection of the Government’s commitment towards ease of doing business in India.”

Niraj Hutheesing, Founder and Managing Director, Cygnet Infotech.

“The advancement in enhanced transparency of payments is a huge stride forward for India in terms of fintech innovation. The proposed end-to-end online e-Bill system will enable increased productivity for industries that go completely paperless. This will prove to be extremely fruitful for digitization. Furthermore, the acknowledgement that India’s GST collection stands at Rs.1.4 lakh crore for the month of January 2022, exemplifies the growing need for digital taxation solutions that promise to take the Indian economy to the next level.”

Mr. Aashit Shah, Partner, J Sagar Associates (JSA)

“The Budget has proposed that amendments will be brought into the IBC to make it more effective and also facilitate cross border insolvencies. The IBC has significantly changed the insolvency landscape over the past few years and improved recovery rates for lenders. However, the judicial infrastructure needs to be beefed up so that the timelines for admission and resolution can be crunched. The ambiguities in the IBC on rights and priority of secured creditors as well as dissenting creditors need to be clarified. The resolution process is a bit prescriptive in certain situations such as limiting the number of amendments to the resolution plan. Changes or clarification in some of these areas will help make the IBC more effective. An IT based accelerated system for voluntary winding up will assist companies to exit operations and help to significantly reduce the present delays in winding up.”

Himanshu Pujara, Regional MD, APAC, Euronet Worldwide

“Money has changed forms over centuries. From salt & cattle to now paper money which lasted the longest time. This is a historic budget that has defined the future of money i.e Digital Currency. A landmark step that will improve the economy and reduce Its dependence on paper money. We welcome the introduction of the Digital Rupee using block chain technology by RBI.”-

Akash Gupta, Co-founder & CEO, Zypp Electric:

“The formulation of battery swapping standards and interoperability is a much-needed step in the right direction. There’s been a lot of confusion in the swapping companies, which has dampened EV adoption. Seamless and widespread charging infrastructure is the need of the hour to accelerate the EV revolution in the country. The focus and thought towards the EV sector by the honorable finance minister reflects the government’s poise towards accelerating EV adoption. This will also help us achieve our vision of expanding our battery-swapping network across 100 cities in the next three years I would have loved if GST in battery and spare parts had also been reduced to 5% like it’s there for E-vehicles purchases; this would also help the entire electric vehicle ecosystem.”

Harish Prasad, Head Of Banking, India, FIS

“The formal announcement of the Honble. Finance Minister on launch of India’s CBDC, the Digital Rupee, during 2022-23 is a much awaited and positive move.

This will trigger a wave of preparatory activity amongst retail payments providers and apps to offer payment mechanisms using the Digital Rupee, along the lines as been seen in China with major Digital payments players and apps offering Digital Yuan payments via their apps. There will likely be a similar model that will be seen in India to support adoption and use of the Digital Rupee, which is paramount for its success.

Another effect of this in the slightly longer term could be that the dependence on UPI for small value payments could potentially reduce with the Digital Rupee gaining traction in time. Given the level of growth being seen on UPI and the associated stress on technology infrastructures of issuers and banks, this may be a good thing after all.

What will be keenly awaited though is clarity on digital currency owner identification and any associated reporting requirements for payments apps, and whether the anonymity that physical currency enables is an attribute that will be supported in the Digital Rupee.

Hardika Shah, Founder and CEO, Kinara Capital

“Union Budget 2022-23 has presented a comprehensive package of policy announcements aimed at supporting the recovery of MSME. Aside from the critical announcements about the extension of the ECLGS scheme and the revamp of the CGTMSE program, along with the infusion of additional funds, the government’s focus on RAMP is also commendable, as it will define the path to sustainable and responsible development for the sector.

We also look forward to the interlinking of MSMEs formalization and compliance platforms, as this stands to facilitate operability, therefore improving entrepreneurial opportunities in the sector. The digital focus of the Budget, with support for the digital ecosystem and payment platforms, also bodes well for small businesses, as we foresee the future of the sector being tech-led.”

Mr. Ajay Bijli, Chairman and Managing Director, PVR Ltd.

“Budget 2022 is a consistent, balancedand growth-oriented budget with Capex spend allocation rising by 35% which will certainly aid economic recovery. Having said that it is disappointing that there are no specific support provided to the movie exhibition sector which has been the worst impacted sector from Covid – 19. I continue to hope that Government will look into our demands which are essential for cinema business to reach pre-Covid levels”

Mr. Sagar Agarvwal, cofounder and Partner, Beams Fintech

Fintech plays a critical role in giving small enterprises and individuals in rural places with access to organized credit. We appreciate the government’s decision to reduce the TDS rate for Fintech businesses to 1%. This has freed up much-needed working capital. A tax system that is friendly to capital gains will encourages simple access to capital and result in increased job creation.

The extension of the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLG) by the FM has helped to boost lending to the MSME sector. The Union Budget for the year 2022-23 has a comprehensive set of policy initiatives focused at assisting MSME recovery. Apart from the extension of the ECLGS scheme and the reform of the CGTMSE programs, and the infusion of additional funds, the government’s focus on Raising and Accelerating MSME Performance (RAMP) is noteworthy, as it will define the sector’s path to sustainable and responsible development. According to the Finance Minister, RAMP will boost MSMEs’ competitiveness and productivity.

Mr. Rajiv Mukherjee, CEO Incubatehub.com

There seems to be a genuine attempt from the government towards promoting the ‘Start in India’ campaign by allowing Start-ups’ incorporation period extended till March 31, 2023, to claim tax incentives. I also fell the “Drone Shakti” programme for start-ups on drone technology will open up collaboration opportunities between government, Corporates & drone startups.

There is a visible thrust for a digital solution and emerging technologies such as AI, machine learning and data analytics, with the budget highlighting that India’s new economy is based on innovation.

Mr. Mrinal Singh, CEO- InCred AMC

The Union Budget lays down a consolidation path on existing reforms and priorities. With robust tax receipts and worst of covid behind, government is ready to take bold steps of investing into public infrastructure and incentivizing private Capex. Job generation, Green & Capex are clear highlights of the budget.

Anuj Golecha, Co founder of Venture Catalysts & 9Unicorns

A very sound and revenue optimisation and startup friendly budget, where the goverment has opened itself to new avenues of taxes (Digital Assets and launch of Digital Rupee) and optimised on existing revenue stream (LTCG Surcharge capping). The government has also stressed on the importance of agriculture and tech being the major growth drivers of economy and has some good outlays for integrating Agri, defence, finance and technology to make a truly Digital India. We are also awaiting details on the special expert committee on PE and VC industry that have been the backbone of startup ecosystem and hope it would be a big booster to the entire ecosystem that will not only drive the Indian economy going ahead but would be a major employment generator.”

Sambit Chakraborty, Board of Advisor, Indigrid Technology,

“The policies should take a holistic approach to ensure that there is a proper and adequate supply network of swappable packs and swap stations so that it works as if someone is fuelling theirvehicle and is able to “swap” in 2-3 minutes. Ground charging does not really work except at home (not for commercial purposes) because of the load it will exert on the grid and the time it takes. Convenience especially for the last mile operators, gig economy players and home tests/collections is key. Second, there is a proliferation of low quality Chinese players who are “cheap”. There are substantial safety and dependency issues being built into the system. If the policy can build in a structure to raise the safety and “atmanirbhar” aspects and the made in india aspects – that will be a boon for india in the long run. There are many Indian manufacturers of safe batteries and swap stations who would then not have to choose to lower quality and safety standards.”

Vineet Tyagi, Global CTO, Biz2X

The Government’s aim to spread digital banking services to remote areas in India is a welcoming move. The Finance Minister proposes the inclusion of Post Offices in the core banking system customers. With this, Post Office account holders will be able to make online transactions and even transfer money to other bank accounts through net banking. This will be beneficial especially for farmers, senior citizens and SMEs in rural areas, enabling interoperability, and financial inclusion. He further added, “Acknowledging Digital rupee is a great acknowledgement by Government and is a massive digital boost. It will promote fintech and technology-based development which is a much needed push. The use of technology in every important project is the key highlight of this year’s budget and an epitome of “Naya Bharat.”

Anuj Kumbhat, Founder and CEO, WRMS

The Union Budget 2022 has opened new ways of farm and grain procurement for FY23 with an allocation of Rs 2.37 trillion. It also promotes chemical free natural farming to boost sustainable agriculture productivity and income of farmers that will help WRMS align its services better and explore our utmost potential while providing farmers with high-end sustainable agriculture services progressively throughout the country. The budget also brings in picture a comprehensive package of participation of state governments and MSMEs to help farmers adopt natural farming practices; tremendously helpful for us to promote sustainable agriculture at a better pace.

Punit Sindhwani, CEO, Paxcom

This year’s budget is quite optimistic for the startup sector. Their contribution to economic growth has been recognised, and the tax incentive period for startups has been extended to four years from the date of incorporation.

The retail and e-commerce sectors encompass a sizable startup community, and the allocation of INR 6,000 crore in the 2022 Union budget to rate MSMEs over a five-year period is a commendable move to further encourage and cultivate this community, particularly small and medium-sized entrepreneurs.

Furthermore, the emphasis placed on Deep Tech is greatly appreciated by growth enablers such as ourselves, as our focus has been on the software application layer, which provides real solutions to a plethora of problems and business opportunities. This year’s budget includes a significant emphasis on deep technology, which will provide strategic depth to emerging businesses in times to come.

Mr. Arvind Singhatiya,Founder & CEO, LegalKart

As per the union budget 2022, there have been no specific inclusions having a direct impact on the legal services but as far as the MSMEs are concerned, the central government has announced many concessions and schemes formulations to enhance the operation of legal services indirectly. The contracts for laying optical fibre in villages including remote areas will be awarded under Bharat net. This will increase the users of digital platforms and thereby, legal services operating digitally will have an indirect as well as a direct impact on its workings. Similarly, blending udyam, e-sharam, NCS & Aseem portals will help in enhancing entrepreneurialism and opportunities for small businesses.

For startups fraternity specifically, the budget was in favour ofincentivising funding of the startups. It’s heartening to see thecapital gains exemption extended by another year.

Mr. Kapil Bhatia, Founder & CEO, UNIREC

By setting a perspective for the coming year, Union budget 2022 focuses on rallying the economy by ‘minimum governament and maximum governance.’ Providing more attention towards the support of MSME, government has announced the stimulus package in course of loans, long term funds and better cash flow for the ease of doing business and similarly, extension of fiscal and credit support will encourage this sector. For start-ups the tax concession period has been extended by one more year, Likewise, a 15% tax has been decided for the newly incorporated manufacturing units. This way MSMEs and startup’s will have an opportunity to withstand in prolonged period of uncertainty.Ecommerce & Retail

Vanduta Khurana, MD, Daks India Industries“Renewable energy & sustainability was on agenda. So is the Green & circular economy, this augurs well for the Textile made ups sector too.We were very hopeful about bringing down on cotton prices. That we didn’t see. However Bringing down duty on imports of buttons & zippers may help in some measure.“

RCM Reddy, MD & CEO, Schoolnet India Ltd

“The government’s enhanced focus on education in this year’s Union Budget signals a welcome shift in policy priorities, backed by a substantial increase of almost 12% in allocations from last year. This is an acknowledgement of the large-scale impact of the pandemic on schools. A focus on digital learning, as well as the provision of enhanced learning aids through the PM e-Vidya scheme, will give a new impetus to strengthening the school education system. Schoolnet believes that this can be translated into positive impact on the ground by following an ecosystem approach which includes creating adequate digital infrastructure in schools, improved teacher training, and making available world-class pedagogical aids for those in the middle and bottom of the pyramid to enhance learning outcomes. Affordable Private Schools, which cater to nearly half the schoolgoing population, also need to be included in the scope of activities to achieve meaningful outcomes. I welcome the announcements for the education sector, which are aligned with Schoolnet’s vision of providing all students, particularly in the middle and bottom of the pyramid, with equal access to world class education.”

Mr. Rakesh Kaul’s(CEO and Whole-Time Director, Somany Home Innovation Limited)

“Budget 2022 brings a sense of optimism and reflects the government’s continued focus on ‘Make in India’, decreasing the dependency on imports. Duty concessions to promote electronic manufacturing will help the industry sustain itself while recovering from the challenges of the pandemic. Hon’ble Finance Minister’s commitment to establishing a strong 5G ecosystem will lead to product innovations across multiple categories including IoT-enabled appliances. We also welcome the push towards housing infrastructure as this is likely to create positive demand for consumer goods and home appliances, enabling businesses to grow.”

Mr. Milind Borate, Co- founder and Chief Development Officer, Druva

“The government recognizes that as it puts its thrust on digital transformation to usher in economic growth the human capital of the nation needs to be modernized, digitally empowered and rightly skilled, and this is a very welcome move. The DESH- Stack eportal and the formation of a digital university are all steps in the right direction and a major push towards upskilling & reskilling that should go a long way in addressing skill gaps and employability issues of the industry.”

Mr. Kunal Lakhara, CFO, Pocket Aces

“This budget has paved the path towards reviving the economy with the decision to keep the fiscal deficit pegged at 6.4% of GDP in 2022-23. The tax benefits offered for startups, by extending tax redemption for another year is much appreciated and will further encourage the start-up ecosystem of the country to grow and sustain their businesses while recovering from the pandemic. The startup sector growth coupled with the promotion of AVGC is bound to create a multiplier effect for the economy through the creation of jobs and overall increase in GDP. Launching our own digital currency using blockchain and other technologies is a welcomed move. Providing support under the PLI scheme for 5G is another step in the right direction and will help enhance the content consumption experience. Overall, the Union Budget 2022- 23 is clearly a step towards a successful future and a significant milestone in the growth story of the country.”

Mr. Shreegopal Kabra – Managing Director & Group President, RR Global

“The 2022 budget has a remarkable approach towards growth orientation. With a substantial focus on housing and infrastructure development, it provides a promising outlook that will provide a much needed boost to the economy. The provision of chemical free agriculture is good move towards health improvement and it will also help in increasing exports. The #PMGatiShakti master plan will definitely aid in reducing logistics costs in the long term. The support for urban capacity is going to improve efficiency and will also provide some relief in reducing the cost of real estate which is the need of the hour in order to afford a good living.”

Ms. Kirti Kabra, Director, RR Global:

“The Budget 2022 has a strong futuristic approach with considerable focus on education, sustainability, agricultural growth and women empowerment. It promotes overall economic development including the non-metro cities as well and an overall improvement in the standard of living. The affordable housing scheme is a huge step by the government that will impact the lives of 80 lakh families aspiring them to have their own houses in future. This will boost economic growth and will improve the overall living standards of the people. The support for urban capacity building will open up new possibilities for the citizens in non-metros thereby encouraging people to settle in these cities with a better quality of life. The expansion of National Highway network will help smoothen transportation and reduce the logistic costs thereby also providing opportunities for growth to the smaller towns nearby. The Green Energy & Clean Mobility provision will certainly promote better health, ease of living and reduce mobility cost.”

Harsh Pokharna, Co-Founder and CEO of OkCredit

Government’s recognition of the need for further improving the business environment and the resultant measure of Ease of Doing business 2.0 is a good move. While compliances have been reduced, we need to make it easier for small businesses to start and operate a business and I hope that will be addressed through EODB 2.0.

On the MSME front, extending the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Fund will take care of the funding woes for the MSME sector to some extent. However,the Rs 6000 crore allocated towards RAMPto enhance MSME performance is inadequate and the government might want to re-look at the allocation for 5 years.

Interlinking Udyam, e-Shram, NCS and ASEEM portals will help government, banks and small businesses get a true picture of the available workforce and will also help in mapping skill requirements based on demand in the market.

On digital payments, the government has reiterated its commitment to continue with last year’s measures. We will be looking forward to RBI’s intent of UPI on feature phones, which will be a game changer. It was not in the budget, but could give a huge push to the digital payments ecosystem.

Govt’s recognition of startups being a growth driver for the economy and the tax incentive for three years will be immensely beneficial to the startups. It will give them another year to reach newer levels of growth..

Mr Pranav Dangi, Founder of HostellerThe FM has announced a forward looking budget with an impact horizon of 3-4 years. Already struggling travel sector has still not come to pre Covid levels and hence a boost to small players in the sector through extension of ECLG scheme from 50k cr to 5 lakh cr shall help the small operators stay afloat and in turn keep the industry’s base strong and intact.

Mr. Ameen Khwaja, Founder & CEO, pTron

The Union Budget has ushered in positive measures for the electronics sector which will give a boost to the sector, especially in the context of Make in India. The #AatmanirbharBharatkabudget with a huge boost to “Make in India” shall generate 6 million jobs and further create competent and skilled manpower that shall compete globally in terms of the quality of goods manufactured.

The electronics manufacturing industry is expected to see 30 percent growth in the coming fiscal and to be worth nearly ?7 lakh crore. It is heartening to see that the Government of India has acknowledged the exponential potential of this sector.There has been an increase in prices of electronics, smartphones especially, owing to the ongoing chip shortage and other COVID-19 induced factors. With duty concessions and domestic manufacturing boost, prices of electronics are expected to decrease which will further boost the demand in the coming days.

Mr Roshan Farhan- Founder and CEO, Gobillion

“Start-ups are the next high impact growth drivers for the Indian economy and will promote an Atmanirbhar Bharat.

The proposed extension of tax incentives for one more year will help startups at the early stage attract more funding and optimize their working capital.

The proposed fund for promoting agri-tech startups and rural enterprises will boost the rural economy.

We are excited for India’s economic growth this year and looking forward to startups playing a pivotal role”

Mr Greg Moran, CEO & Co-Founder, Zoomcar

In this year’s budget, the Finance Minister made a couple of announcements around the auto industry that will boost the industry overall, and will also enable us to deliver better. With the reforms coming in play in the automobile industry in India the Battery Swapping Policy on being implemented efficiently will benefit the entire EV ecosystem including manufacturers and charging infrastructure players. As a result of this policy and its appropriate execution, the adoption of EV will see a significant boost in India. The government will also encourage private players to become a part of this new development and its process in setting up adequate infrastructure. While this policy will enable wide-scale adoption of electric vehicles, it will also contribute to achieving net-zero goals of the country.

Zafar Imam, CEO, FinShell

In order to promote digital footprints We appreciate the intiatives announced in the budget by the honorable FM. 75 digital banking units by scheduled commercial bank in different districts will enhance banking penetration to the last mile. E passports using embedded chips, futuristic technology is another digital intiative which Govt plans to complete by 2023. Allocation of 48000 cr to PMAY scheme to complete 80 lakh homes will boost affordable housing sector. Govt also proposed to expand E vidya to 400 channels and establish digital universities. Credit linked guarantee scheme extended till March 2023 will support the MSME sector during these pandemic time. Overall seems to be a futuristic budget where a lot of thrust is given to more digital expansion and to promote start ups and fintech.

Dhruv Sawhney, Business Head and COO, nurture.farm

As a part of the agri-tech industry, I firmly believe that the budget should not only focus on economic but also enable sustainable development to secure future generations. Putting climate action as one of the focus areas of the budget is a mega move from the government. The AgTech sector plays an important role in educating farmers on sustainable modes of agriculture, scaling the operations, and reducing the carbon footprint that are an outcome of the agricultural practices. The announcement towards launch of sovereign green bonds for projects signals India’s strong commitment towards a low carbon economy. It will help to bring down the cost of capital for green projects by attracting new investors and mobilising private capital towards sustainable development. This will further boost our efforts to make agriculture sustainable by helping farmers earn more through adopting sustainable agricultural practices.

Another key point is the adoption of technology-enabled models of agriculture. The need of the hour is to make the sector more efficient, sustainable, profitable, and the farmers more resilient. Revision of agriculture syllabus to include modern agricultural methods; use of Kisan drones for crop assessment, digitisation of land records and spraying of insect pesticides; boosting financial inclusion of farmers through digital modes of payments – all these steps taken by the government will go a long way in agriculture sector achieving its maximum potential while encouraging Indian AgTech startups to strengthen the agri ecosystem from the grassroots level.

Mr. Josh Foulger, Managing Director, Bharat FIH Ltd.

“The Union Budget presented by Hon’ble Finance Minister is a welcome one that covered and addressed all sectors, laying a path for inclusive growth; particularly, the encouragement given to the private sector to create sustainable and innovative business models . “

From the Electronic Industry’s perspective there are positive takeaways

“The Government’s acknowledgement of the positive impact of the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Schemes, in the form of job creation and increased production in the next 5 years is very encouraging. Duty concessions to promote electronics manufacturing such as wearables, hearables, mobile phones parts including camera modules etc. is a significant step towards an Atmanirbhar Bharat and will help to promote electronics manufacturing.

The announcement of auction of 5G spectrum will boost the demand for 5G smartphones and will enable more consumer to be included in the next level of the digital economy.

Also the announcement made towards using of clean technology will enable the industry to take a step forward towards zero fossil fuel policy in turn boosting demand for EVs where electronics contributes to it significantly.”

Tarusha Mittal- COO & Co-Founder, UniFarm- a group staking platform

“Digital currency seems to have finally caught the government’s attention. This signifies a good step and it is a welcome step towards the sentiments regarding cryptocurrencies as there are considerably fewer chances of a ‘ban’ or ‘prohibition’ of it, which is untenable anyway. According to our Finance Minister, Income from the transfer of digital assets is to be charged 30% tax, plus 1% tax on the transaction. So, we now at least know what the retail users can expect this year. At the same time, the tax bracket is a bit concerning as it is on the higher end and individuals might have wanted lower LTCG taxes and carry forward of losses similar to equity or housing. I believe the overall outcome will revolve around how the tax regime will be implemented. We would like to see the finer print to really understand the implications for asset classes- corporates and retail users.But this is at least a start. The introduction of digital rupee using blockchain technology will further help in reducing financial and physical efforts required for money management and increase the awareness around the technology.”

Anurag Sinha, Co-founder & CEO, OneScore & OneCard

Considering we have not yet emerged out of the shadows of the pandemic; I believe the Finance Minister has done an excellent job in striking a fine balance in being fiscally prudent and growth supportive. The budget has laid out a host of top-notch measures offering a huge push for infrastructure besides incentivising manufacturing and addressing key growth driving cohorts such as MSMEs, youth and even the startup community.

The budget has laid considerable focus on public investment and capital expenditure; however, on the other side it is quite conservative in its tax growth estimates. The budget however, contains several significant reform measures and fiscal initiatives that will boost social and economic development.

Promoting digitization across sectors and levels is indeed a welcoming move which would not only speed up the processes but also bring much-needed transparency and uniformity to the system. Introducing digital currency is a dynamic decision taken by the government and would really help the economy in coming at par with developed economies. It would also streamline the current financial infrastructure, making it cheaper and faster to conduct monetary transactions. Further to promoting digital currency, the move of introducing 75 digital banking units in 75 districts will significantly strengthen the financial infrastructure across the country. All in all, with an outlay from India at 75 to India at 100, I believe this Budget is futuristic and focuses well on economic revival while ushering the next era of growth for India.

Sudarshan Lodha, Founder & CEO, Strata

Considering the importance laid on digitization of technologies and sectors, I would like to congratulate FM for promoting of use of deep tech and online interface across sectors to drive digitisation and ensure greater transparency. As real estate is the second largest contributor in employment generation and contributes over 10% of the total GDP, it is extremely encouraging to see budget laying policies for boosting infrastructure and introducing taxation benefits for real estate investments.

With real-estate encompassing a huge chunk of LTCG, capping long term capital gains surcharges to 15 percent would encourage real estate investors to lock in their investments for a longer period, helping them maximize their gains. This will go a long way toward accelerating pandemic-slowed real estate investments. Additionally, introducing state partnerships in SEZ development hubs and scraping of SEZ Act would encourage businesses to stay longer, driving growth and stability. Also, extending tax concessions for the startup community would help them revive their operations from the aftershocks of the pandemic.

The budget has laid out a host of measures offering huge push to the infrastructure segment, which will play a catalytic role in driving consumption, urbanization, creating employment opportunities and thereby reviving growth in the aftermath of the pandemic. All in all, it is an extremely futuristic budget with an adequate focus on economic revival and growth.

Mandar Agashe, Founder & Vice-Chairman, Sarvatra Technologies ltd.

It is a digital budget. It has been an overall balanced budget with many positive announcements relating to digitization. We appreciate the government for taking a step forward with its ‘Digital India’ initiative by proposing 75 Digital Banking units in 75 districts by scheduled commercial banks. The measure will ensure the acceleration of digital payments across the country. Further, introducing an online e-bill system will reduce payment delays and be wholly paperless and end-to-end encrypted. Given the rapid rise of digital banking, digital payments, and FinTech innovation, it was critical to develop a digital infrastructure to support digital banking, which has enormous potential. Another excellent initiative of bringing in a blockchain-based digital rupee will lead to instantaneous financial transactions instead of the current digital payment system. We foresee that the digital rupee will be a game-changer and might outperform other digital currencies which are currently available.

Bhavin Patel, Co-founder & CEO, LenDenClub

Union Budget 2022-23 started on a positive note with a vision for [email protected] The measures announced have huge potential to pave a robust growth path for the next 25 years which can make India truly progressive, technologically advanced, and financially strong. Laying substantial focus on MSMEs who account for more than 30% of India’s GDP is extremely encouraging which will go a long way in driving economic growth and employment. The 6,000-crore programme to rate MSMEs to be rolled out over the next five years and the extension of the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) till March 2023 are huge strides towards enhancing capital access to MSMEs’ and making them more resilient and competitive.Although few tax slabs were anticipated, especially if returns from Peer-to-Peer (P2P) lending investments may have been exempted under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act or a different provision could be carved out to minimize tax rates, it would have encouraged investors to invest more. Extending the time of incorporation of the eligible start-up for tax incentives by one more year is hugely encouraging for aspiring entrepreneurs and the startup ecosystem.Overall it is a growth-oriented budget offering a slew of measures to drive consumption, investment, and economic revival in the aftermath of the pandemic.

Anand Kumar Bajaj, Founder, MD & CEO, PayNearby

The Ministry of Finance has presented a well-rounded, futuristic and optimistic Union Budget 2022 to propel the digital economy and boost the MSME sector. Given that ‘inclusive development’ and ‘financing of investments’ were two of the seven pillars of the Budget, it laid the foundation for faster financial inclusion and expansion of the credit ecosystem. In a bid to make MSMEs more resilient and competitive, the extension of the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) till March 2023 is a critical step. This measure will ensure the continued handholding of MSMEs, which accounts for more than 30% of India’s GDP and remains an important engine of economic growth, job creation, income generation and livelihood support. In addition, the proposal to skill both entrepreneurs and students with the help of technology will empower and enhance the productivity of the country altogether.

For India to become a digital economy, all villages should have the same access to digital resources as urban areas. To augment this, the setting up of 75 digital banking units in 75 districts of the country is a commitment to taking high-end tech to the bottom of the pyramid. This step will ensure that the benefits of digital banking reach every nook and corner of the country in a consumer-friendly manner. The objective of citizen empowerment with digital growth and supporting fintech will directionally encourage delivering of digitization to India in its 100th year well ahead of time.

Dr Harshit Jain, Founder and Global CEO Doceree

”The high point of the budget is its focus on mental health. It shows the government’s commitment towards creating a holistic health environment. The pandemic has had a visibly damaging impact on the mental well-being of people. The situation got compounded as there was another epidemic we were facing simultaneously – the mental health epidemic which was global in nature. The proposed national tele-mental health programme will create a supportive environment for people to talk about emotional issues they counter on a day-to-day basis and help remove the stigma that we have around mental and emotional problems. Also, the decision to create an open platform for the National Digital Health Ecosystem is yet another move to digitize healthcare in the country which surely has a far-reaching impact on making quality healthcare accessible to all”.

Amit Relan, Co-Producer, Woot Factor Events“‘The budget is focused towards wealth creation in the long term, as well as adapting technology in forums that weren’t identified or are newly introduced even at rural levels. The newly announced emphasis on entrepreneurship and digital skilling will help us proliferate our nexus to make operations more connected and hassle-free. It will also lead to job employment opportunities and will create ‘work-ready’ taskforce for speedy development. It will eliminate labour costs in labour intensive sectors and will drastically bring down logistic costs.The RAMP programme can revitalize the MSME sector although we are not sure if 6,000 crore can suffice the ecosystem whole-meal. This is the encouraging story that emerges but we would have expected the entertainment and events industry to get some breathing room from the Govt which is lacking in this budget. While the Union Budget 2022 has shown some degree of consideration towards the MSMEs, it has missed emphasis on immediate relief measures to the sectors that were decelerated because of the lockdown.Having said that, we believe that opportunities with this magnitude of investments in a developing India definitely has the potential to reorient future endeavours to our businesses and the increased focus on digitalization and broadband connectivity has the power to open us to an enormous untapped audience base.”

Sachin Agrawal, Co-founder & COO, Bizongo said

The Budget Speech has given a strong policy impetus to boost India’s exports and start-up culture. First, the recognition of the logistics infrastructure as one of the seven engines of economic transformation is an important and exciting development. The PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan is a bold and much needed move to achieve coordination, modernization, and adoption of sustainable practices in the Indian economy. There is a combined focus on enhancing the physical infrastructure of roads and transportation, as well as promoting digital technologies. Currently, the fragmented logistics infrastructure costs our economy an estimated 14% of GDP. The National Logistics Policy estimates to bring this cost down to 10% over the next few years. Integrating digital technologies into the logistics infrastructure has become an industry-wide priority to achieve faster and safer mobility of goods.

Second, increasing collaboration among private and public stakeholders using the Unified Logistics Interface Platform. By inculcating the practice of data-exchange, groups ranging from Government to start-ups, and MSMEs will have better access to data. Removing information asymmetries is vital to ensuring a competitive and modernized industry. An important decision has been the extension of the ECLGS by another year, with an addition of a corpus of ?50,000. To sustain the benefits of such schemes, it is important to explore methods of digitizing finance for MSMEs. This will help in coming up with resilient business models.

Third, customs have a vital role to play in the faster mobility of goods. A key component of boosting exports are customs reforms, which have been highlighted by the Finance Minister today. We believe, that the integration of customs reforms into the overall logistics plan will further accelerate economic transformation. By lowering the barriers to mobility, MSMEs will be able to avoid costs caused due to delays in the movement of goods, and ensure better capacity management. We are optimistic and hopeful about the future of the logistics and supply chain industry in India.

Finally, the decision to cap the surcharge on long-term capital gains from shares of unlisted companies is important for start-ups from an overall acceleration perspective. 2021 saw a record number of VC deals. This shows the growing faith of global investors in Indian start-ups. The surcharge cap of 15% will propel investments from venture capitalists and high-net-worth individuals and promote the use of ESOP by new-age companies for retaining and rewarding employees.

Ajay Lakhotia, Founder, StockGro

“The government of India & the finance ministry has taken the exemplary initiative to launch digital currencies, making India truly digital. This will reduce the cost of physical currency management and build accountability and traceability. The much talked about 30% tax on income from digital assets, i.e. cryptocurrency resolves the sector’s regulatory overhang to quite an extent through plugging tax leakage.”

Anshul Srivastava, Product Head, Keka Technologies:

“Infra, and Rural are the only sectors that were the main focus in this budget. In the Banking sector, introduction of CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency) using blockchain tech, and terming crypto assets as Virtual Digital Asset (although being taxed at 30%), is a step towards recognising Crypto. This would finally put an end to speculations around banning crypto assets. More focus is on economic growth, but nothing changes much for the working class. This much needed shift in perspective around crypto and digital assets is also expected to open up a whole new avenue of jobs and employment in the country. We’re already seeing career opportunities popping up in blockchain just like we’re noticing crypto businesses spiraling its way into the layman’s economy albeit it being popular in select niches at the moment. Our economy- jobs, employment, business and everything in between – might’ve been bogged down by the pandemic, but we see an upward graph charting from here on. The country’s economy seems to be stabilising to counter the pandemic’s effects. “Raushn Jha, Founder & CEO, PDP Media :

“Budget 2022-23 has been in favour of startups. As our honorable FM has announced that due to Covid 19 pandemic Tax incentives will be provided for one more year to startups that had already been extended through 2023. As we fall under the same category and most of our clients are emerging startups it will be very considerate for us. As the startup sector has been playing a very crucial role for continuous growth in India’ economy for the past few years and with such support from the government, we hope in the coming time innovative startups will get recognised for their hard work and dedication. Also, promotion of startups to facilitate ‘Drone Shakti’ through varied applications is a great initiative by our government.”—————————————Sumit Ghosh, CEO, Co-founder, Chingari:

“We welcome the budget 2022. It is apromising budget to fulfill the dreams of thousands of crypto startups in India by opening various avenues of crypto assets. The announcements done by hon’ble finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to introduce a 30% crypto tax is an encouraging development indicating the legalization of cryptocurrency in India. Further, the adoption of the digital rupee based on blockchain is a sign of the growth of making digital assets more accessible to the larger masses. The budget is a gratitude towards the startup ecosystem by giving and accepting the new-age technologies and extension of tax incentives for startups respectively.In the near future, we expect the government will continue to support and encourage digital currencies.”

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,” said Sanjeev Dahiwadkar, Founder & CEO of Cognota Healthcare

MR. Vicky Jain , Founder , Uknowva :

Budget 2022-23 opens up opportunities for startups across health, clean air, hygiene, water, sanitation, etc. Indian startups have a great opportunity to innovate and help to sustain the economy. The budget was clearly pro-growth, pro-technology, pro-infrastructure, and also had an earmarked place for improving healthcare in our country. The initiatives announced by the honourable finance minister will certainly aid economic recovery, whether that’s through capital infusion, change in taxation norms, programs for promoting domestic manufacturing, or development of relevant infrastructure. The Gati Shakti masterplan will lead to world-class infra and the PLI scheme to create at least 60 lakh new jobs in 5 years. It is also an encouraging move from the government to enhance credit guarantee trust for micro and small enterprises which will be revamped with required infusion of funds. With INR 2 lakh crore more for MSMEs, it would provide the much needed boost to the sector.

Mr Layak Singh, Founder & CEO, Artivatic.AI:

FM Nirmala Sitharaman’s Union Budget 2022-23 is a rock-solid budget that takes a future-ready strong pro-start-up, pro-technology and green energy stand. No wonder it estimates India’s GDP to grow at about 9.27%. The Budget takes the strong position the nation is poised in despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic due to a successful vaccination campaign, and takes it that much ahead at the macro level. The Gati Shakti masterplan shows a constructive plan for world-class infrastructure and the PLI Scheme to generate at least 60 lakh new jobs over a 5-year period is another welcome move.The initiatives announced by the honourable finance minister will aid economic recovery as it strongly promotes & supports technology and startups, this will definitely boost InsurTech Startups which is still a niche industry and open development opportunities for the sector.The ramp-up of capital expenditure by 35.40% to Rs. 7.50 lakh crore from the earlier Rs. 5.54 lakh crore slab as well as upgrade to the credit guarantee trust for micro and small enterprises with the necessary fund injection, adding approximately an additional Rs. 2 lakh crore in MSME’s bounty, are signs of the government loosening their purse strings for the needy sector and would help SMEs & MSMEs to go for business insurance. The promise of the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme to extend up to March 2023 with a revamped guaranteed cover of the scheme has been expanded by Rs 50,000 crore is also encouraging. Setting up a fund through NABARD that comprises blended capital with the aim to facilitate finance start-ups in the sectors of agriculture and rural enterprises, is another interesting welcome move.

Joginder Rana, Vice Chairman & MD – CASHe

“The budget is growth-orientedand virtually touches all sectors and lays down path for a future-ready digital India. The monetary support for the digital payment ecosystem is a welcome move and also appreciable is the introduction of the blockchain aided ‘Digital Rupee’. It certainly sends a strong message that India is at the forefront of technology adoption. Finally, the extension of ECLGS scheme will be of immense help for the MSMEs as it will give the much needed impetus for new businesses to come to the fore.”

Bhavin Patel, Co-founder & CEO, LenDenClub

“Union Budget 2022-23 started on a positive note with a vision for [email protected] The measures announced have huge potential to pave a robust growth path for the next 25 years which can make India truly progressive, technologically advanced, and financially strong. Laying substantial focus on MSMEs who account for more than 30% of India’s GDP is extremely encouraging which will go a long way in driving economic growth and employment. The 6,000-crore programme to rate MSMEs to be rolled out over the next five years and the extension of the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) till March 2023 are huge strides towards enhancing capital access to MSMEs’ and making them more resilient and competitive.

Although few tax slabs were anticipated, especially if returns from Peer-to-Peer (P2P) lending investments may have been exempted under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act or a different provision could be carved out to minimize tax rates, it would have encouraged investors to invest more.

Extending the time of incorporation of the eligible start-up for tax incentives by one more year is hugely encouraging for aspiring entrepreneurs and the startup ecosystem.

Overall it is a growth-oriented budget offering a slew of measures to drive consumption, investment, and economic revival in the aftermath of the pandemic.”

Mr. Vidhu Nautiyal, Chief Revenue Officer, CloudConnect

“India’s huge start-up potential, especially in the technology sector will get a boost from the newly announced tax redemption for another one year. In lieu of the global pandemic, the introduced tax benefits will help foster new businesses and attract further investment in the sector. Additionally, with 5G technology being promised in the coming year, the IT sector will invite lucrative offers in terms of innovation, manufacturing and employment opportunities. It’s important to note that the promised amount of Rs. 6,000 crore for the MSMEs in India will prove to be a significant growth factor for the span of next five years. The union budget has very positively taken note of all economic aspects and ensures an upward growth. We are hopeful that the profits will be on the higher end of the spectrum.”

Co-founder of Incluzon, Mr. Naveen Jangir

A push for start-ups and MSMEs, along with a focus on job creation across sectors, were prevalent themes in this year’s Union Budget announcement. We applaud the thought leadership that the government has showcased in encouraging digitization and offering tax incentives and schemes that will benefit start-up owners at large. Our country has a legacy of producing some of the world’s sharpest minds, and a large section of our youth today is brimming with an entrepreneurial mindset. Hence, the government’s interest in scaling investments for start-ups across sectors is credible. Furthermore, while the projections are promising from a job creation perspective, analysing how these opportunities reach the masses will be essential.

SANJAY CHATRATH, MANAGING PARTNER – INDIA AT INCUSPAZE SOLUTIONS PRIVATE LIMITED

“ Our country has been a land that nurtures start-ups and the entrepreneurial spirit, and this is evident from the fact India’s start-up Unicorns were valued at $277.7 billion as of mid-January 2022, and VCs and private equity poured in Rs.5.5 lakh crore into the startup ecosystem last year alone. Economic recovery after the setback due to the pandemic has been a common theme. While projections showcase that India’s economic growth could be the highest amongst large economies, the Union budget has rightly addressed the need to push and support start-ups and MSMEs in critical sectors. I believe extending the ECLGS to March 2023 could benefit MSMEs that have been stressed, given the current economic predicament. We are, however, hoping for commercial real estate tax relaxation and other encouraging incentives that will bring operating costs down for start-ups.”Prof Pramod Kumar Jain, Director, IIT BHU (Varanasi)

“We welcome the move taken for the education sector in the budget 2022. As the pandemic had a large impact on the education sector, technology adoption showcases a positive move towards its development. Aiming to boost quality education in India, the government has announced developing a Digital University and catering towards e-content and e-Vidya initiatives. The government is also inclined to focus on supplementary education available in regional languages and telecasted in radio, TV, and digital platforms, hence targeting wider outreach of quality education in rural and village areas. Lastly, this big announcement is in sync with the National Education Policy giving the use of technology to enhance learning, assessment, and planning both for school and higher education.”

Spokesperson- Prakriti Sethi,Cheif India Representative, Methanol Institute

“The Budget 2022 reflects GoI’s commitment to alternative fuels that can pave the way for India’s energy transition. The government has taken an important step in encouraging and allocating resources for energy efficiency, sustainability, and carbon neutrality. This is a positive measure with the government’s affirmation to transition to the 2070 carbon neutrality target while bolstering the country’s energy security with indigenous resources along the lines of Atmanirbhar Bharat. The reduction in import duties for methanol is a welcomed move for the methanol industry that supports building the methanol value chain which will create more economic opportunities in India’s energy transition. GoI’s affirmation that blended fuels will not face additional tariffs will be strategic in supporting the role of blended fuels and their ability to reduce tranport emissions and comply with COP26 commitments. This promotion of alternative fuels fosters a supportive landscape for methanol’s inclusion in the country’s fuel mix in support of GoI’s targets for climate mitigation and energy security.”

MAYUR MISRA, Co-Founder and CEO of Corrit Electric

“The Union Budget announcement for 2022-23 by finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has brought forward necessary incentives for the mobility and electric vehicle sector, which have been at the forefront of innovation. There is no doubt that these initiatives will accelerate employment in the industry. In addition, a pervasive and ubiquitous battery-swapping infrastructure will reduce range anxiety for the 3-wheelers and taxi segments, limiting home charging and encouraging electric vehicle adoption. Given that batteries account for 50% of an electric vehicle (EV) cost, standardizing battery swapping infrastructure will accelerate economies of scale and reduce hurdles regarding EV adoption amongst the masses.”

Founder & CEO, Tushar Aggarwal, StashFin.

The Finance Minister has announced support for digital payment and banking in the Union Budget 2022-2023, which will be welcomed by the sector. The measures include introducing a Digital Rupee that is to be issued by the RBI, prioritizing digital economy and fintech industries. We, at Stashfin, are grateful to the Government of India for this decision of extending support towards neo-banking start-ups.

The government is taking steps to ensure that digital services reach even remote areas in the country. India’s digital payment and banking industry has shown stellar growth, and Stashfin along with the government would like to bridge the gap between financial institutions and users across the country.

Building awareness of digital payments and promoting financial literacy is critical to India achieving the vision of a $1-trillion digital economy. We look forward to strengthening the payment ecosystem and go along with the government vision for financial inclusion via digitalization

Kunal Varma Co-Founder and CEO Freo

“This year’s budget is quite interesting given the times that we are living in and the challenges that we face, like inflation and growth. We can see a clear mention of, and push towards digitization across sectors.

An overall focus on digitization of infrastructure, particularly in banking and transactions, is very exciting to observe. All our post offices (which have a tremendous physical network) are to come on to the core banking system. This will create massive distribution in the banking ecosystem. What we didn’t see happen through the Payments Bank license in its original avatar, might happen now with this new push.

Although this is a totally new concept and details are yet to be discovered, the setting up of 75 digital banking units through SCB’s is an interesting one to look forward to. This makes one thing very clear – the government acknowledges that Fintech is critical and the future of banking is digital.

It was heartening to see that the exchequer saw the biggest month ever in terms of the largest GST collections since GST was actually launched. This certainly helps us in the right direction towards our growth target of over 9%, and also tells us that the number of taxpayers is increasing, which is good for the country. With a move to digital, we can expect to see more growth in revenue from taxes.

Overall, it’s visible that this budget is quite positive. While a few details remain to be understood and implementation is yet to be seen, I think we’re moving fast in the right direction, through a combination of Fintech, strong digital push in healthcare and education sectors, leading to innovation, deeper access, and higher revenue for the government.”

Kashyap Mahavadi, Founder/CEO, Dinero

“Hon’ble Finance Minister’s excellent proposal to set up 75 digital banks in 75 districts by scheduled commercial banks is truly the best gift to the country on the occasion of Azadi ka Amritmahotsav. The proposal not only reflects the digital-first approach of the Government but will also truly shape new-age banking in India. The proposal also will boost financial inclusivity to help rural India transition into formal economy. After JAM, UPI to now a leap forward to digital banking, India is standing as an example globally on Banking revolution. It is also important for the government to build necessary safeguards, redressal mechanisms, and community awareness programs to curb fraudulent activities by digital bank operators given the low digital literacy levels of people in such areas

Digital Virtual Assets have been finally provided legitimacy by allowing them under a tax regime. All virtual/digital assets will now be taxed at 30%. This is a sigh of relief for the crypto industry – and a booster for innovation. Coupled with a proposal for digital rupee to be issued by RBI (CBDC), India is now bringing out a revolution in financial systems. This is the beginning of a new India”

Mr. Sandeep Aggarwal, Chairman & CEO, Droom

“In terms of the overall budget, I think the budget was very balanced for the masses. India talking about close to Rs 11 lakh crore going for capital expenditure and this is a very exceptional policy and hopefully will not only improve the infrastructure for the country but also create a significant amount of jobs. There were many announcements like putting a limit to the surcharge on a capital gain coming from the sale of stocks. There was a lot of mention of acknowledging the contribution of Startup companies. For automobile companies, the battery swapping policy for the electric vehicle once they are used for public transportation. This will indeed increase the adaption of an electric vehicle for the transportation industry. Finally, this is consistent with the prior announcement of vehicle scrappage and now on EV and focus on developing a 25,000 km of road infrastructure in the fiscal yr 2022-23 that will ultimately contribute to the higher adoption of automobiles in the country.”

Sunil Gupta, MD and CEO, Avis India

The demand for electric vehicles continues to surge ahead as we are witnessing consumers’ preferences are changing. To stay up with consumer demand and accelerate the adoption of EVs, the government has implemented a special policy. In today’s Union Budget for FY2023, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has given a special push to electric vehicles, increasing EV battery production and development will give the private sector special benefits. The EV ecosystem will benefit from a battery-swapping strategy that will be implemented alongside interoperability standards.

Mr. Gaurav Jalan, CEO & Founder, mPokket.

“The numbers presented in the 2022-23 Union Budget indicate that the Indian economy is proving its resilience yet again. The estimated GDP growth at 9.2% in FY2021-22 and the January 2022 GST collections of INR141,000 crore have come about despite the pandemic’s widespread third wave.

The decision to launch a digital rupee by leveraging blockchain technology in FY2022-23 is a welcome move. Extending the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme for SMEs to March 2023 will benefit small entrepreneurs and is a positive step. Increasing the period of incorporation for startups by a year to benefit from tax incentives till 31 March 2023, the allocation of INR48,000 crore for urban housing and creating 75 Digital Banking Units across 75 Districts through scheduled commercial banks to drive a countrywide reach are also commendable.

The cap on long-term capital gains tax at 15% will also benefit the industry at large. Some of the above steps should benefit all sectors, including fintech firms. All in all, one believes the Budget will help keep the economic engine revving despite the ongoing pandemic.”

Anshuman Narain, Vice-President, Cashbean (P.C.Financial Services Pvt. Ltd.)

“Another stable budget by the Central Govt keeping tech impetus in mind. The big takeaway for me is the fact that 5G spectrum action will take place soon which will benefit the digital economy greatly as long as it is implemented timely. The fact that ePassports will also be deployed now is consistent with the digital transformation theme of this government. Furthermore, by taxing highly speculative assets such as cryptocurrencies I believe the govt has given greater credence to economic stability which is always a good environment for FinTech industry to grow within; we will have to see how the market reacts to the RBI backed digital currency. Overall a good first step for the financial year and probably needs more follow up measures to further enhance FinTech’s integration into the economy.”

Aravind Sanka, Co-founder, Rapido

Two major takeaways from the budget first are the importance of multimodel public transportation experience with the first mile & last mile as well. As a two-wheeler & three-wheeler ride-sharing company Rapido will play its role encourage multimodel and connecting to public transportation as much as we can. The second one is to increase the EV adoption coming up with the policy and battery swapping I think it’s a great move.

Mr. Kishan Jain, Director at Goldmedal Electricals

“We welcome the measures announced by the honourable Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and the Government of India in the Union Budget towards boosting electronic manufacturing in the country. The Union Budget 2022 has announced the easing of policies and has pledged to allocate INR. 19,500 crore for PLI for manufacturing of high-efficiency modules. PLI in 14 sectors will help in generating 60 lakh new jobs and additional production of Rs 30 lakh crore in the next five years which is laudable. Today, India’s manufacturing industry has incredible potential to place the country on the global manufacturing map, concurrently boosting several employment opportunities for India’s youth. Further to this, the Finance Minister also announced duty concession for electronic items, this will in return further boost the sector, and enable domestic manufacturing of high growth electronic items. The budget features a vigorous, expansionary attitude toward the manufacturing industry, as seen by the government’s incentives and enhancement of the PLI schemes. As a brand, Goldmedal Electricals has always been at the forefront of introducing ground-breaking and sustainable solutions that make our planet not only smarter but also sustainable for generations to come and support the government’s vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat.”

Ms. Surabhi Goel, CEO, Aditya Birla Education Academy, Aditya Birla World Academy

“The Union Budget 2022 has provided an impetus on increasing ‘One Class One TV Channel’, PM e-Vidya from 12 to 200 TV Channels thereby providing to strengthen supplementary education in regional languages for classes 1-12. With a theme of digitisation, the budget has laid emphasis on the importance of continuing to train teachers to improve hybrid learning outcomes especially since the students have faced huge learning gaps due to the pandemic. We are in-line with the announcement as Aditya Birla Education Academy is at the forefront of designing courses to help the country’s educators enhance their skills and bridge gaps as students return to school in 2022.”

Nitin Misra, Co-founder, indiagold

Overall a positive budget with clear attention to digital currencies & assets. In our opinion, income from the transfer of digital assets to be charged 30% tax is a better outcome that puts to rest the ambiguity around crypto-assets. Also surcharge on capital gains including unlisted shares such as ESOPs to be capped at 15% is positive, as earlier it was limited to listed shares.

Gaurav Singh, Co-founder, JPIN

We were looking forward to policies and support mechanisms for boosting the startup sector in India and the Budget has been a good indication! We welcome the forward-looking approach that the Government has shown towards the sectors such as AgriTech, EdTech, HealthTech, and Fintech, as well as the support ecosystem being fostered to drive growth. The crypto-tax and the introduction of digital rupee based on blockchain signifies the growing interest of the Government as well as the investors in this asset class. We are looking to invest $100Bn+ in the startup ecosystem in India over the decade and the growth-oriented Budget has fortified our faith in the Indian economy.

Ujjwal Singh, CEO and President, Infinity Learn

The Budget 2022-23 has an inclusive approach. We are pleased that the Government has recognized the importance of digital learning provided by the EdTech companies in India. The extension of the PM eVIDYA initiative 12 to 200 TV channels will give the segment the requisite boost. Further, the availability of regional language educational modules from Class 1 to 12 will enhance the literacy rates in India’s hinterlands, over and above the metro cities. This will serve as the driver of socio-economic change, enabled through technology. Education specifically has taken a new direction that has made technology-based learning, whether online or blended, indispensable for our education systems. Digital learning holds the potential to empower the country’s grassroots level population through democratized access to education, thereby facilitating continued learning sans infrastructural challenges, pan-India.

Harsha Solanki, Managing Director – India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, Infobip“

We feel it’s a growth-oriented and promising budget focusing on the key industries that will drive the country’s overall economic growth. Particularly, the Indian startup ecosystem and digital economy have got a solid thrust from this 2022-23 budget, which includes extending tax incentives to facilitating funding for agricultural startups. It is very evident that the government wants to help entrepreneurs with policies and support mechanism that would speed up the digital revolution, open vast domestic prospects for new startups, and, as a result, help the industry grow even more. Furthermore, the proposal to launch a 5G spectrum auction this year could generate significant value and new possibilities for all stakeholders across industries, as well as improve communication channels and usher in a new wave of digital experiences for end users.”

Jay Hao, CEO of OKX.com

If we look at the global scenario, central banks around the globe have already launched or are about to launch their digital currency. India is slightly lagging in the digital currency race mainly due to the regulatory hurdles and reluctance in accepting the growing popularity of digital assets/digital currency around the world. I hope the announcement made by Finance Minister regarding CBDC is implemented without any further delay as it will give a much needed push to the blockchain industry in India.

The taxation of profit from crypto assets at 30% may not receive equal appreciation from all the stakeholders. The higher taxes may discourage investors from choosing crypto as an investment avenue and delay the mass adoption of crypto assets in India.

Arman Ali, Executive Director, NCPEDP

It is disheartening to note that persons with disabilities once again find no substantive mention in the Budget Speech of the FM, 2022-23. The disability sector had been demanding for an insurance scheme for all persons with disabilities and the FM’s announcement of payment of annuity/lumpsum amount to persons with disabilities during the lifetime of parent/guardian attaining 60years doesn’t add much relief to persons with disabilities.

Prof (Dr.) Sanjiv Marwah, Director, JK Business School.

“When the balance sheet of the country is expanded,can capes be far behind”It is a growth oriented budget with emphasis on ‘Make in India’.

The budget 2022 is revolutionary budget , with digitalization, deep-tech, entrepreneurship as the key economic drivers. The budget 2022 holds potential to give necessary push to the vision of Naya Bharat.

Mr. Harsh Vaidya, Founder, WareIQ said,

“It’s commendable to note the emphasis on Logistics Industry in the 2022 Union Budget.We welcome the PM Gati Shakti program to strengthen the logistics infrastructure. We also look forward to the Unified Logistics Interface Platform to enable the efficient movement of goods, reduce logistics costs and time, assist Just-In-Time inventory management and eliminate tedious documentation. This will help brace the Logistics and other related infrastructure in various economic zones thereby helping reduce logistics cost and time, improving productivity and economy.”

Mr. Dominic Prabhu Co-Founder, Papaya LITE said

“Budget 2022 is advancing our education system. With the expansion of PM e-Vidya to 200 TV channels, high-quality education content to broadcast on all media, and introducing digital teachers & establishment of the digital university across the country are all beneficial steps in order to provide ease to access quality education at the doorsteps of the students across the entire country.”

Mr. Ashwani Rawat, Founder, Transerve Technologies said,

“We appreciate honorable FM briefly acknowledging AI and Location Intelligence as the economy enabler. Definitely, Research & development in these sectors will help in guiding Government’s approach. We look forward to the Government’s contribution to R&D in these sunrise opportunities, in addition to efforts of collaboration among academia, industry, and public institutions.”

Mr. Mandeep Arora, Managing Director, UBON said,

“The Union Budget has tweaked duty on electronics and phone parts in the Union Budget 2022. Revision of customs duties on components or sub-parts of consumer electronics items is a seemingly encouraging step to promote local manufacturing and increase local sourcing of components. This may lead to a reduction in cost prices of Mobile phones and chargers.”

He further added, “Another noteworthy point was on how using smartphones to carry on transactions will bring in more transparency in the system.”

Mr. Lalit Arora, Co – Founder, VingaJoy said,

“We welcome the UNION Budget 2022. Concessions in customs duty will be given to promote electronics manufacturing, wearables and hearables devices including concessions on parts of mobile phones including camera modules etc. This will be an encouraging step for companies operating in consumer durables manufacturing. Since mobile phones constitute a major chunk of the country’s electronics exports, the step by the Government is a positive move. The initiative to boost startups and make the market value and position of existing players more promising is well received”.Candes (Consumer Electronics)

Mr. Vipin Agarwal, Co – Founder, Candes said, “While there was no change in the current tax structure, it was still heartening to note some relief offered for custom duty. Growing urbanization and the quest for better lifestyles and convenience are driving interest in smart home appliances while also increasing disposable income levels. The Union Budget 2022’s focus on Atma Nirbhar Bharat will definitely have a huge impact on the growth potential of the consumer durables category especially in emerging segments such as smart washing machines, dishwashers, and more”.

Ratan Deep Singh, India CEO, SkillUp Online

“This is a bold budget, and I am glad to see emphasis on three particular areas that have long term implications. First, the decision to tax cryptocurrency trade and launch a digital currency. This is good news, as the world is moving to cryptocurrency and this step formally recognizes an important emerging technology. Second, the setting up of DESH e-stack for up-skilling and reskilling. This will go a long way towards helping the common man to take upskilling courses that enable him to reshape his career in our fast-evolving world. And third, the setting up of a digital university and leveraging this via collaborations with educational institutes. These decisions are positive steps forward for universalizing education and skilling across the country.

Overall, therefore, I think the Honorable Finance Minister has put forward a good, long-term growth-oriented budget”.

Mangesh Panditrao, CEO & Co- Founder, Shoptimize

“The Union Budget announced by the Honorable Finance Minister today supports the recent growth momentum India is witnessing. We thank the Govt. for extending the tax incentive for startups and announcing a new Rs. 6000 cr fund to boost MSMEs and startups across India. This will open a new door of opportunities for startups & MSME’s in upscaling their businesses.We are also happy to note that the capital gains exemption for investments in startups has been extended, which will enable more investments in this sector, and encourage more venture capitalists to expand their portfolios.The emphasis on growth, digitization and technology outlines the government’s commitment to cohesive development and long term growth. Digitization and technology are the prime pillars for D2C ecommerce growth in India, which is highlighted in the budget. Overall this is a futuristic and a very well balanced budget. We are optimistic that India’s growth story will be further enhanced with this Budget 2022″.

Sheikh M. Arif, Founder and Managing Director, Famous Medicare.

“Due priority to the healthcare industry is the need of the hour, made abundantly clear amidst the pandemic. The open platform for the National Digital Health Ecosystem being rolled out is a step in the right direction, as it will provide better access to healthcare facilities, and increase efficiency in the healthcare industry as well. The National Tele Mental Health program is also a much awaited move which will increase awareness about mental health, and provide access to mental health services regardless of distance. The budget certainly reaffirms our faith in the government’s commitment to give the utmost priority to the healthcare industry.”

Arpan Srivastava, CMO, Luxury Aesthetics

“It is evident that the government is sincerely committed to its goal of an Atma Nirbhar Bharat as the Budget has accorded due importance to the life blood of the economy- Start Ups. The move to extend the tax benefits that were offered to start ups by another year is a huge win. Moreover, the proposal to cap the surcharge on long term capital gains arising on transfer of any type of assets at 15 per cent will come as a huge relief to start ups, many of which had been negatively impacted due the economic downturn induced by the pandemic.”

Balaji Kandregula, Vice President, MSRvantage,

“A new digital rupee powered by blockchain technology will be issued by the Reserve Bank of India starting 2022-23. This was announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during the Union Budget 2022 today. Blockchain technology also powers cryptocurrency, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and it is a distributed ledger, updated in real-time. In a blockchain, the transaction records cannot be changed at all and the ledger is transparent and authentic, which is why it is used in cryptocurrency as well.According to us the rapid rise of crypto is changing the global financial landscape forever, creating both risks and opportunities for new and existing players. Underpinned by blockchain or “distributed ledger” technology, crypto disrupts traditional business models by removing the need for trusted intermediaries. As a result, the explosive expansion in crypto applications now underway marks the start of a revolution that no organization can afford to ignore and Collaborative technology, such as blockchain, promises the ability to improve the business processes that occur between companies, radically lowering the “cost of trust.” For this reason, it may offer significantly higher returns for each investment dollar spent than most traditional internal investments.”

Vedavyas Komara, CEO, TrackEx

“During the pandemic, domestic travel and tourism industry saw a spike due to factors like international travel restrictions, increasing disposable incomes, revenge travel, etc. The industry feels that the Union Budget 2022 offers the government a significant opportunity to create a stimulus towards revival. The last two years have highlighted the power of the domestic market and towards unlocking the full potential of domestic tourism, we look forward to budgetary focus on infrastructure development, technology and health-safety across airports/aviation, road, rail and waterways.We are seeing the true bounce-back potential of domestic tourism which saw a sharp rise in tourist flow in 2021 due to pent-up demand, vaccine roll-out, and revenge tourism. . We have noticed the rise of domestic air travel from tier 2 and 3 towns and budgetary focus on the development of infrastructure, technology, and safety measures of existing and new airports in Tier 2 & 3 cities will help boost tourism by improving connectivity with those cities where trains or buses may be the only connectivity today.The pandemic has created awareness about the digital world among the masses and people started using contactless modes for almost every activity, from payment to e- boarding. The budget has focused on using the maximum benefits from the new age technologies.”

Mr. SivaGopal M, Founder of MSRcosmos,

“The purpose of creating a digital currency is to provide significant benefits, such as reduced dependency on cash, higher seigniorage due to lower transaction costs and reduced settlement risk. Countries are looking towards CBDCs for a few key advantages — reduced printing costs, decreased settlement risks, avoidance of time zone issues, and cost-effective globalization of payment systems. Another important factor about the growing interest of central banks towards CBDCs is to wean away citizens from private virtual currencies that may potentially harm them.For India in particular, another benefit of RBI’s CBDC is that India’s high currency to GDP ratio could be reduced if cash usage is reduced by CBDC introduction. While India has made huge strides in digital payments with UPI, the significant displacement of cash is still a challenge due to the anonymity that cash offers. The new digital currency would also possibly lead to a more robust, efficient, trusted, regulated and legal tender-based payments option. Despite the fact that CBDCs were inspired by bitcoin, they are distinct from decentralized virtual currencies and crypto assets, which are not issued by the government and lack the status of legal tender.Digital Rupee will also provide an opportunity for India to establish the dominance of Digital Rupee as a superior currency for trade with its strategic partners, thereby reducing dependency on the dollar. It would reduce the cost of currency management while enabling real-time payments without any inter-bank settlement.”

Umesh Revankar, VC & MD at Shriram Transport Finance

“The union budget 2022 is a bold and growth-oriented budget which will result into a multiplier effect on the economy and benefit the Aam Aadmi, despite no direct benefit transfers. We believe the FM has presented an investment led budget and this will propel sectors like cement, steel and construction which will lead to increased movement of goods, boost bulk transportation movement and help in the revival of the transport industry.The government widening the ECLGS scheme & revamping CGTMSE (Credit Guarantee Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises) are steps taken to accelerate growth and reduce stress particularly in the MSME segment. Housing project allocation of Rs 48000 crore is likely to boost growth momentum for the building materials sectors and real estate activities in general. We believe the budget is a very forward looking one with emphasis on digital economy and reducing carbon footprint, which will benefit digital lending and lead to environment friendly policies going ahead for the vehicle sector. Ease of doing business has taken centre stage as the Government has committed to a long-term growth of over 8% for the next 3 years. India’s economy is now well placed and we are optimistic on credit uptake in the economy.”

George Alexander Muthoot, MD at Muthoot Finance

“The 2022-23 budget has laid clear emphasis on prioritizing economic growth with focus on capital spending to generate growth and employment. The announcement relating to MSMEs and thrust on digital banking will further go a long way in supporting the economy. The MSME sector has been one of the most impacted during the pandemic. Focusing on further supporting the MSME sector and reduce stress in this segment, the Government has widened the ECLGS scheme & revamped CGTMSE (Credit Guarantee Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises).The ECLGS will be extended up to March 2023 and its guarantee cover will be expanded by Rs 50,000 crore to total cover of Rs 5 lakh crore. The CGTMSE scheme will be revamped with required infusion of funds. This will facilitate additional credit of Rs 2 lakh crore for MSMEs and expand employment opportunities. We believe that the NBFC sector will also benefit from the allocation of Rs. 48,000 cr (under the PM Awas Yojana) for affordable housing unveiled by the honourable Finance Minister during the budget announcement. This move will accelerate the credit demand in the economy and positively affect the performance of NBFCs catering to the sector.”

Mr. Suresh Sethi, Managing Director and CEO, Protean on Union Budget:

“Truly a growth oriented budget. A strong and inclusive digital India form the bedrock of key initiatives spanning across healthcare, education, skilling and agriculture. There is a strong emphasis on further strengthening the national infrastructure through adoption of advanced technology, clearly setting the stage for the next wave of digital transformation in the country.”

Mr. Rakesh Kaul, CEO, Clix Capital.

“The all-time high GST collections in January 2022 at INR141,000 crore is good news and indicates a steady bounce back in economic activity despite the Omicron wave. The estimated GDP growth of 9.2% in FY2021-22 and the expected reduction in the fiscal deficit from 6.9% in FY2022 to 6.4% of the GDP in FY2023 also augurs well for the economy, presuming these projections hold true.

The other bright spots include the decision of extending the period of incorporation by a year for startups to avail of tax incentives till 31 March 2023, establishing 75 new digital banking units in 75 districts via scheduled commercial banks to help ensure a pan-India reach and allocating INR48,000 crore to boost urban housing, among others. These measures will benefit multiple verticals, including the BFSI segment.

The announcement of a digital rupee using blockchain is exciting per se, but one needs to wait and watch whether there will be any specific benefits for this asset class. But the 30% tax on any income from the transfer of digital assets can act as a dampener on efforts to create a virtual digital economy.

The capping of surcharge on long-term capital gains tax at 15% on transfer of any asset type is another commendable measure. Overall, the Budget should give a boost to the fintech segment.”

Ashish Singhal, Founder and CEO, CoinSwitch and Co-chair Blockchain and Crypto Assets Council (BACC)

“We welcome the government’s decision to introduce central bank digital currency (CBDC) to accelerate digitization. We also believe that various budget measures to improve digital payments adoption will induct more digital-savvy Indians into the financial ecosystem willing to explore newer forms of investing and wealth creation.The regulatory guidance on tax from the government furthers the mainstreaming excitement of this emerging asset class with over $6bn worth of investments in India. It is also the gateway to the future decentralized world, aka Web3.0. Today’s digital-savvy Indians are willing to experiment with this emerging asset class. The budget provides clarity on taxation and shows the government’s intent to take a business-friendly approach while protecting the interest of consumers and the exchequer. We hope to work with the government to help bring crypto-asset taxation at par with other asset classes and participate in the central government’s vision to promote economic growth.’’

Mr. Ram Shriram, Founder, BharatATM

In the run-up to the Budget this year, one of the most popular demands by the startup ecosystem was the extension of the tax holiday, this is important to show the government’s commitment to building a robust startup economy and ecosystem. This is immensely important keeping the number of new start-ups registered in 2021. This is going to be a boost for young startups in the country. The country now has over 61,400 startups recognized with almost 75% of districts having at least one startup each.Also, the Digital rupee to be issued using blockchain and other technologies and will be issued by RBI starting 2022-23. This will give a big boost to the economy. This budget has eliminated the ambiguity of cryptocurrency legislation by bringing out the policy on digital assets tax of 30%, this is obviously a positive move that has brought little confidence in the crypto investors in India, yet the tax bracket of 30% looks higher as compared to the other countries.

Animesh Samuel, Co-founder & CEO, E42

“We at E42 welcome and congratulate the government for a growth-oriented Budget.Being a part of government’s National startup day initiative, we are extremely proud that our government has continued focus to accelerate entrepreneurship.We appreciate government’s focus on AI and Deep Technology. Government laid emphasis on AI will assist in rapid technology development and will generate employment opportunities.”

Dr. Pankaj Sharma , Director, Admission & placements JK Lakshmipat University

It’s quite commendable that our finance minister has given special impetus to the pandemic-affected education sector in the much-awaited presentation of the union budget 2022. Continued closures of schools and colleges for almost two years have had a large impact on the learning outcomes. However, the budget has been quite beneficial for youth of our nation. It has once again highlighted the need of skilling programs and for the same a new portal DESH e-portal will be launched for skilling, upskilling and reskilling of our youth. In order to provide quality and continuous education to the youth, the announcement of the digital university has given fresh hopes to the students to get world class quality universal education that will also give them the benefit of personalised learning. The announcement of setting up virtual labs in science and mathematics will enhance the experiential learning in students, thereby making them more industry-ready. For the same, the budget stressed on the need of quality e content and teachers to be trained so that better e teaching and learning outcomes can be achieved

Dr. Prakriti Poddar, Managing Trustee, Poddar Foundation

The current direct allocations for mental health are grossly insufficient, taking into consideration that 14% of India’s population lives with some form of mental illness, and there exists a treatment gap of 72–92%. The launch of a national tele-mental health program for mental health counselling in collaboration with IIT Bangalore is a much-awaited move from the government. Mental healthcare & well-being are complex & intersectoral in nature, for an effective mental health system, intersectoral linkages must bestrenghtened and this has reflected in the Union Budget 2022-23. Also, the launch of an open platform for the National Digital Health Ecosystem which will consist of digital registries of health providers and health facilities, unique health identity and universal access to health facilities is a testimony of the commitment of the government to building stronger health systems.

Mr. KR Raghunath, Senior Chairman, Jindal Naturecure Institute

We welcome the much-deserved attention on India’s healthcare sector in the Union Budget 2022-23. We are encouraged by the Government’s renewed focus on preventive and curative health as well as the overall wellness and well-being of our citizens. An open platform for the National Digital Health Ecosystem which will consist of digital registries of health providers and health facilities, unique health identity and universal access to health facilities will widen access to health and wellness while driving focus on preventive health. Also, to better the access to quality mental health counselling and care services, a National Tele Mental Health program has been announced that’ll further help in tackling the rising number of mental health disorders in the country. These patient centred initiatives will play a pivotal role in the success of the National Health Mission.

Mr. Avinash Godkhindi, MD and CEO, Zaggle.

“The honourable FM has presented a balanced budget with a strong push for digitalization, financial technology and digital payments specifically. As one of the very few profitable SaaS Fintech players, we believe the biggest news is the issuance of the digital currency by RBI which will open a wide range of options and opportunities. Additionally, the endorsement that digital payments are user friendly and economical is a big boost to the morale of FinTechs and all digital payments ecosystem players, the continued support is most welcome. The aim to take digital banking to every citizen is extremely heartening, positive and a bold statement. The plan to create 75 digital banking units in 75 districts is great. Possibly the best way to execute this would be for scheduled banks to partner with FinTechs to roll out these effectively. The Union Budget 2022 has various encouraging initiatives that will propel aspiring entrepreneurs and boost Fintech and startups. To further ease business environment for startups, the government has announced the existing tax benefits for startups to be extended by one more year up to 31st March 2023. Overall the FM has presented a growth oriented budget focusing on capital expenditure that will go a long way in providing the much needed support for India’s long term growth story and help create employment opportunities for the wider section of the society.”

Lalit Mehta, Co-founder & CEO, Decimal Technologies

“The focus on fintech and technology enabled development right at the outset of the budget speech set an encouraging tone for the industry and the overarching vision of an all-inclusive digital economy.

Starting with the paperless budget, the common thread throughout the Finance Minister’s speech was the focus on promoting digital and technological innovations across sectors, which will spell accelerated growth for technology led development, energy transition and climate action, while ensuring an inclusive welfare society. It is heartening to see a sustained push towards making the benefits of digital banking reach every corner of our country with an initiative that marks the 75th year of independence by establishing 75 digital banking units across 75 districts. Core banking across hundred percent of the 1.5 lakh post offices by 2022, financial support for digital payments ecosystem, and a 6,000 crore rupees programme to rate MSMEs to be rolled out over 5 years, are some much needed steps in this direction.”

Amit Das, Co-founder and CEO of Think360.ai, a data science, and analytics company

“Overall, this budget has been quite underwhelming for a mid-size technology company like us and fell short of our expectations.

There were occasional glimmers of positive change:– the core banking system modernization of post offices, thereby creating transfer and interoperability between post office accounts and bank accounts;-set up of 75 Digital Banking Units in 75 districts;-NGDRS (National Generic Document Registration System) aiming to drive Unique Land Parcel Identification Number

These initiatives should tangibly impact financial inclusion and digital financial literacy at the grass-root level. The expansion of corpus for CGSTME and ECLGS should also provide a certain boost to MSME segments. We would have liked to see a lot more specificity in progressive AI adoption initiatives, startup benefit schemes (for fundraising, taxation, infrastructure, EODB, setting up of innovation zones that allow startups with vetted ideas access to free workspaces and infrastructure, etc.), and a progress report on how various government departments have adopted start-up innovations in their day to day initiatives.”

Anubhav Jain, CEO and Co-Founder of Rupifi

With COVID-19 playing a significant role over the past couple of years, the Union Budget announced today by Hon’ble FM laid a conscious focus for neutralising its effects and proposed a slew of measure to aid the recovery of an economy hit by the pandemic. As a platform that aims to simplify payments and create financial products to help solve challenges faced by the long tail MSME’s of India, we have been a first-hand witness to the difficulties faced by MSMEs to continue operation in these trying times. The move to extend ECLGS to MSMEs to cope up with pandemic losses is a welcome step and will have a positive impact in assisting the industry in overcoming its struggles. Additionally, recognition of the fact that start-ups have emerged as a growth driver of the economy and incentivising them through measures such as extending the sunset date for eligibility for tax holiday by one more year, will provide the required thrust to the ecosystem. This concurs to our belief towards the ecosystem’s pivotal role in driving India’s growth story.

Prasanth Madavana, Co-Founder and CEO, Fedo

“It is delightful to see healthcare taking centre stage in the Union Budget today. The open platform for the National Digital Health Ecosystem is a welcome move to accelerate digital health push, especially when predictive and preventive healthcare is needed for the nation. The same will aid the fast-evolving healthcare technology sector leverage digital health data and offering solutions that empower people to take control of their health.”

Rishi Chhabra, Country head & GM India and Sri Lanka, Fiserv

“The Union Budget 2022-23 supports India’s vision to enhance financial inclusion. Motivating organisations to expand and innovate through technology and integration of post offices to banking services, will take digital banking and payment solutions to the last mile. While this will undoubtedly boost the banking and payment ecosystem by enabling easy access to financial products in the country, it will also create room for technological advancements and innovations to offer simplified, user-friendly and secure financial services and payment solutions.”

Mr. Srinivas Kantheti, MD & Co-Founder, Bike Bazaar in lieu of Union Budget 2022;

“We are very excited about the push given in this budget to the entire EV eco system. A battery swapping policy along with encouragement to the private sector to create innovative business models will accelerate EV adoption. We at Bike Bazaar will double down on our investments in the Electric two wheeler ridership-ownership life cycle..”

Akash Sinha, CEO & Co-Founder, Cashfree Payments

Budget 2022 is a reflection of consumers’ trust in digital-first approach to banking & finance. Economic Survey 2022 highlighted that UPI is currently the single most extensive retail payment system by volume, reiterating its wide acceptance. This has contributed immensely towards driving digital transformation in the country. Additionally, the idea of setting up digital banking units in multiple districts will help in the homogenisation of the financial services in rural and semi-urban geographies. The launch of digital currency by RBI is both encouraging and critical in empowering the digital native youth to take a transformational leap from the conventional currency tools. We have witnessed an increasing use of blockchain technology to simplify and secure the consumer’s journey, and this push was required to encourage innovation in this domain. Fintechs and startups must help stakeholders establish connections with remote locations and provide value-added services to the underserved and unbanked segments.

Moreover, the 5G spectrum technology and the scheme for the penetration of fibre optics across villages will boost the growth of rural and gig economies. We also compliment the Hon’ble Finance Minister for the support extended to the startup ecosystem via reforms in taxation, incentives, investments and other benefits that will promote Make in India and Digital India initiatives. We feel that the announcements made during the budget session display the growing importance of startups and their ability to exhibit agility and purpose alike.

Jaya Vaidhyanathan, CEO, BCT Digital

The Union Budget 2022 has lived up to expectations on many fronts. The FM has delivered a budget that addresses holistic measures to take the economy towards the $5 trillion target. Overall finances seem to be in good shape, with fiscal deficit for FY22 at 6.9%, and GST collections at a record Rs.1.4 lakh crore in January. Capex budget has been increased by a steep 35.4%, which is the need of the hour.

The highlight for the year has been the unfaltering focus on complementing macro-economic growth through micro measures, such as all-inclusive welfare, domestic production, tech-aided development, and public infrastructure, while pushing the envelope on the energy and climate agenda – a tall order.

The fintech industry will welcome announcements such as 100% CBS coverage for the post office, liberal regulation for the GIFT IFSC centre, and heightened emphasis on fintech education. All of these acknowledge the government’s efforts to transform India into a global fintech hub. The FM has also announced FY23 as the timeline for the much-awaited RBI CBDC – the digital Rupee. Crypto enthusiasts will appreciate the clarified stance on cryptocurrency, although gains will be taxed at 30% with 1% TDS.

Madhusudan Ekambaram, Co-Founder & CEO, KreditBee and Co-Founder, FACE

Union Budget 2022-23 had special emphasis on Financial Inclusion, technology adoption and entrepreneurship in the Union Budget 2022 -23, which is highly appreciable. Initiatives like Desh stack e-portal and interlinking of Udyam, e-shram, NCS and Aseem portals will surely contribute to the Digital Infrastructure and entrepreneurial push. Introduction of Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), leveraging blockchain technology will influence the digital transactions and hence its implementation process will be something to pay attention to. Government’s recognition of startups as the drivers of economic growth is heartening. Measures like setting up an expert committee to suggest measures to help attract investment and extension of tax incentives period for startups incorporation by 1 year, will certainly aid in creating a healthy startup ecosystem. Equally encouraging is the Government’s bid to boost digital banking and financial inclusion with initiatives like bringing 100% of 1.5 lakh post offices into the core banking system. In a broader sense, the Finance Ministry has presented a distinctive set of measures in Union Budget 2022-23, with a streamlined focus on rapid, holistic and inclusive economic growth.

Shachindra Nath, Executive Chairman and Managing Director, U GRO Capital

Hon’ble Finance Minister today announced an encouraging set of measures, targeted towards rapid growth of MSME sector and the economy. The extension of ECLGS scheme by Rs. 50,000 upto March 2023, with a special focus on ailing hospitality sector is crucial to facilitate its faster recovery. The credit support has also been provided in the form of Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) revamp with credit of Rs 2 lakh crore for micro and small enterprises. These initiatives will help financial institutions to mitigate risk and stimulate credit outreach to MSMEs. The Government also announced inter-linking of Udyam, e-SHRAM, NCS & ASEEM portals and providing services such as credit facilitation and entrepreneurial opportunities. This will certainly aid in the MSME sector’s formalization and growth. The Government has time and again shown distinctive support to the country’s MSME sector and encouraged its contribution to the Atmanirbhar Bharat imperative. The outlay of Rs 6,000 crore for programmes to accelerate MSME performance will surely assist in boosting the sector’s resilience and operational efficiency. Overall, the measures announced in Union Budget 2022-23 will unlock rapid recovery and holistic growth of the MSME sector.

Chitra Ravi – Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Chrysalis, India’s

The pandemic has completely altered the way of learning and has increased the pace of digital adoption in the education sector. With improved digital infrastructure and the new initiatives introduced by the government such as the ‘One class, one TV ‘, strengthening online education, quality education can now be possible.

As Educators we should realize Technology has opened up lots of possibilities to improve the quality of education. Tech can be used for professional development of Teachers and also to get assessment insights from children. We can safely say that Technology has the potential to solve some of the traditional challenges and pandemic related challenges as well.

Ms. Nandini Mansinghka, Co-Founder and CEO – Mumbai Angels.

The budget read more like an overview of the economy and its direction, with very few details. Most submissions for changes in the venture capital and private equity industries have not been addressed, with the promise of an executive committee to be set up for reviewing the rules. The one big announcement of course is the acceptance of digital assets as a reality with a 30% taxation.

This is our first reaction, the devil is in the details.

Key Announcements

Acceptance of Digital CurrencyGovernment has finally put to rest dramatic doomsday voices around banning digital currency.

The budget has introduced a 30% taxation with riders:

No setting off setting from this asset with profits from other asset

One single slab irrespective of the amount

No expenses except for the cost of acquisition can be deducted to calculate profit

Gifting of virtual assets to be taxed at the same rate by the recipient

Platforms and exchanges to charge 1% TDS

Digital Rupee: The government has also announced its own digital currency: Digital Rupee to be introduced by RBI in 2022-23

Long Term Gains surcharge

Long term capital gains capped at 15% for all assets as against graded surcharge. Currently the 15% cap is available only for listed shares and units of mutual funds. This will benefit our investors and founders when they are selling their shares.

Key Sectors mentions relevant for new ventures:

Agritech: Setting up of a blended (FOF) Fund of Funds with NABARD for funding start-ups in the sector. We are seeing an increase in new ventures in agritech, we see this sector to gain momentum this year

Drones: Mention of support for setting up Drones-as-a service for start-ups. Specifics are yet to be floated by the government.

Ed-Tech: Setting up of TV Channels , one channel per Class form Class 1-12, across regional languages. This will open up demand for ventures building video content for education. Setting up of a Digital University with Hub and Spoke Model will also create demand for education content

Electric Vehicles and CleanTech: Battery swapping policy and creating interoperability standards will remove growth obstacles for the ventures in this sector

Defence-Tech: Defence R&D sector opened up for start-ups. We see several companies who are at the cusp of defence and space tech. A robust growth in R&D in this sector will give fillip to both.

Tax Relief

Direct Tax Relief for start-ups: For start-ups registered till 31.3.2022, the last budget had announced a tax relief for 3 out of 10 years. This relief has been extended till 31.03.2023 in this budget

Tax of 15% for manufacturing units: For manufacturing units set up by 31.03.2023 the tax slab rate had earlier been announced at 15%. This deadline has now been extended to 31.03.2024

Mr. Vikram Thaploo, CEO Apollo Telehealth (largest and oldest multi speciality telemedicine network in the world, A unit of Apollo Hospital Group)

The government in its last Union budget had placed health and well-being as the first of its six pillars, and with India into its third year into the Covid-19 pandemic, that focus has reflected in this year’s Union Budget as well. The launch of the National Tele Mental Health Program which will include a network of 23 tele mental health centres of excellence with Nimhans being the nodal centre and IIIT Bangalore providing technology support is a welcome move by the government to augment the use of telemedicine services as well as provide support to people with mental health disorders. Also, an open platform for the National Digital Health Ecosystem will be rolled out and it’ll further help in strengthening the healthcare services within the country. It will consist of digital registries of health providers and health facilities, unique health identity and universal access to health facilities. The increased investment towards Health Infrastructure and focus on a holistic approach to health is seen as a testimony of the commitment to building stronger health systems in the country.”

Nikkhil K Masurkar, Executive Director, ENTOD Pharmaceuticals (Specialises in Opthalmology, dermatology and ENT)

A well structured and a forward looking budget encompassing all sectors and detailed steps for implementation. Healthcare and well-being has received top priority in this budget. The roll out of the the National Digital Health Ecosystem that will consist of digital registries of health providers and health facilities, unique health identity and universal access to health facilities along with the national tele-mental health program shows the government’s committment towards improving and enhancing healthcare in India. As the future of manufacturing is driven with robotics and other automation technologies, we also appreciate the announcement of PLI schemes to create manufacturing global champions under AtmaNirbhar Bharat. I am hopeful and happy about the changes on the healthcare, which is an important area for India. The key is in its implementation.”

Mr. Ashok Patel, CEO and Founder Max Ventilator (India’s leading ventilator manufacturer)

While the government’s announcement in the budget 2022 to accelerate the country’s general infrastructure building including connectivity and logistics through Gatishakti would certainly catalyze the broader domestic manufacturing, it must also have positive spillover effects on the medical device segment. The continued policy support to MSMEs by way of extension of ECLGS scheme would also be beneficial to a large number of medical device makers who fall under the MSME category. At the same time, the budget highlighting the PLI scheme in general should also hold value for the medical device sector. The creation of a national digital health ecosystem with focus on mental health would also lead to enhanced business activities.”

Dr. Gauri Agarwal, Founder & Director, Genestrings Diagnostic and Seeds of Innocence

“We are happy with the decision to make the National Digital Health Ecosystem an open platform that will provide universal access to health care facilities through digital health professionals. The PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan, which aims to improve logistic connections across the country, will assist the health sector immensely since we will be able to get the best treatments across the country. The Plan can be used to provide remote and rural communities with the best healthcare services, including fertility consultations. With the announcement that mobile phones will become cheaper, it will significantly improve the telemedicine sector’s ability to advance even t…

Ms. Sugandh Ahluwalia, Chief of Strategy, Indian Spinal Injuries Centres.

“It’s highly disappointing that the government didn’t mention anything about the spending on healthcare expenditure in the presentation of Union Budget 2022. However, the digital infra push right from health, banking to education has been the major highlight. The announcement of rolling out National Digital Health Ecosystem will give a major push to our nationwide digital registries of health providers and health facilities amidst the pandemic. Even the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman acknowledged the unprecedented crisis and began her budget speech by expressing empathy to those who suffered during the pandemic. The implementation of a national tele-mental health program, which will have tech-support from IIT Bangalore, will give an impetus to mental health issues as the pandemic has accentuated problems of stress and depression in the people. Though it shows the government is responsive to the needs of the nation, the government must also focus on health infrastructure”.

Dr Aashish Chaudhry Managing Director, Aakash Healthcare and Aakash Group of Companies, Dwarka

The Union Budget has built the groundwork and provided a blueprint for the economy over the next 25 years. We are happy with the decision to create an open platform for the National Digital Health Ecosystem. This will include digital registers of health professionals and facilities, a unique health identity, and universal access to health care facilities. The pandemic has brought the subject of mental health to the forefront. For this, the government has announced a national telemental health programme. This would include a network of 23 excellence telemental health centres, with Nimhans serving as the nodal centre and IIIT Bangalore providing technical support. This would undoubtedly improve access to high-quality mental health counselling and treatment services.

Kamalika Bhattacharya, CEO & Co-Founder, QuoDeck Technologies

The move in this year’s Budget to link the Udyam, e-Shram, NCS and ASEEM portals and further widen their scope will help speed up the process of the formalisation of the Indian workforce, and enable skilling. The sharp focus on the MSME sector, which is a big employer of gig workforce and is a huge growth area for us will contribute even further to bringing benefits to India’s informal workforce. The extension of the ECLGS (Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme) by one more year and the infusion of a proposed additional Rs.2 lakh crore for MSMEs under the Credit Guarantee Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) will further expand employment opportunities. The announcement to revamp the National Skill Qualification Framework to align with industry needs, as well as the setting up of DESH-Stack e-portal for skilling will help bridge the demand-supply gap and companies like QuoDeck look forward to contributing to this..

Saurabh Pandey, CEO & Co-founder, Eloelo

We’re elated that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has made a special mention of the gaming sector in this year’s budget. The Honorable minister said that the animation, visual effects, gaming, and comic (AVGC) sector offers immense potential to employ youth. India is home to 420 million gamers, and the companies such as Eloelo provide a safe and trusted method to monetise this passion and help put India on the global gaming stage. The government’s decision to set up an AVGC promotion task force with all stakeholders to build domestic capacity for serving Indian markets as well as global demand will supercharge the growth of the ecosystem.Eloelo is an innovative platform that blends live streaming with social gaming that helps creators monetize their passion.

Akanksha Hazari, CEO and Co-founder, LoveLocal

“We at LoveLocal believe that MSMEs are core to our economy. They are one of the biggest job creators in our country are critical to India’s long term economic success. We support all governments initiative towards an Atmanirbhar Bharat and hope for more in the future.”

Dayapatra Nevatia, COO and President at Infogain

“As expected, thanks to digital tech’s incredible support in helping India Inc. brave the pandemic, this year’s budget takes a ‘digital first’ stance. A significant focus on new initiatives and progressive policy interventions, such as opening defence R&D, promoting drone start-ups, digital university, giving datacentres infra status will propel further adoption of technology across industries.

The budget highlights the Governments’ focus on digital inclusion, quite evident with the introduction of the Digital Rupee. This progressive move will give a big boost to India’s digital economy. This also reaffirms our vision and approach to leverage emerging technologies like blockchain to build future-ready solutions with our team at Nggawe Nirman Technologies (recent acquisition).

I believe digital literacy will be the key to realizing India’s 5 trillion-dollar economy dream. To create a digital ecosystem for skilling and focus on digital inclusion through 5G and investment in technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and infrastructure, the government will continue strengthening the development of entrepreneurship, productivity, and quality of IT talent in the country, thereby scaling the adoption of new-age technologies across industries.”

Kanika Agarrwal, Co-founder of Upside AI:-

“This budget was great because it spoke the language of new India and looks to the future. Plenty of buzzwords – Drones, blockchain, crypto, green energy, startups. But it was more than just lip service as the FM’s speech relays the governments willingness to work with emerging sectors. Moves like addressing crypto uncertainty, digital rupee, investment in green energy, committee for startups, limiting surcharge on LTCG are all positive not just for the policies themselves but also for the signal the government is giving us. Focus on infrastructure, the LIC IPO, updating the IBC are continuing themes from last year. We hope to see more execution on these this year. Overall, budget continued to signal intent and direction for the government which was positive. Negative was the lack of tax cuts or relief for consumers and businesses who have suffered greatly in the last two years.”

Mr. Edul Patel, CEO and Co-founder, Mudrex- A Global Crypto Trading Platform:-

“The Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, has suggested 30% taxation on crypto gains. The losses if any cannot be offset against other income. Additionally, the introduction of TDS on crypto transfers can now monitor the crypto transactions. On sale of digital assets, 1% TDS would be applicable. Besides taxation on digital assets, India will soon have its blockchain power digital rupee. The digital asset classification will consist of crypto, NFT, and the government issued currencies. It is undoubtedly a progressive step towards boosting crypto adoption in the coming years.”

Mr. Milan Ganatra, Founder & CEO, 1SilverBullet:-

“Firstly, I would like to express my appreciation and welcome the Budget presented by the government, which has been tremendously encouraging for India’s startup ecosystem. Bringing in the unlisted equity taxation at par to the listed, will encourage more Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) in India, allowing a substantial quantity of wealth to flow into the pockets of founders and investors, bettering the appeal for investors to invest in unlisted equities or startups in the country. The administration is also proposing to form a committee to develop a framework for attracting more investments and monitoring regulations, which is a wonderful step forward from the eyes of the Fintech startup entrepreneur. Finally, opening various things at the Indian Financial System Code (IFSC) will allow it to become a worldwide financial services centre, fueling a slew of Fintech-related operations. The government has been extremely pro-infrastructure, and they have granted industry data centres status, which is a great move with multiple benefits. Overall, the government has recognised the importance of technology, startups and has assured that there will be adequate and more entrepreneurial opportunities, which will be backed up by government assistance.”

Mr. Sudhanshu Pokhriyal, Chief Operating Officer, Bath Products, Brilloca

“We welcome the initiatives announced by the Hon’ble Finance Minister towards improving the country’s overall housing infrastructure. The announcement of a high-level committee of urban planners and the use of five existing academic institutes as centres of excellence in urban planning showcases the government’s commitment to progress in a planned and sustainable manner. With an emphasis on the need for Indian ‘Mega cities’ to transform into centres for economic growth; we feel there will be unique opportunities for ecosystem members to come together and build economies of scale leading to an increase in overall employment generation.”

Dr Subhashish Gangopadhyay, Dean, UPES School of Liberal Studies

“The budget speech focussed a lot on the creation of public digital infrastructure. Indeed, India is moving fast towards a more digitalised economy. The youth are, and will be, leading this transformation in the years to come. Universities need to take the cue and prepare appropriate curricula and environments where students can learn the skills — both soft and hard — necessary in a digitalised society,”

Trishneet Arora, Founder, Director & CEO at TAC Security

The last few years and more so the pandemic times, has seen India emerge as a global success story on use of digital technologies to transform lives of citizens. The Union Budget announced today further carries forward this resolve and empathetically places digital as the way ahead. The role of Blockchain technology and its leverage to introduce Digital Rupee in the country, reflects the long-term potential of this new-age concept. Though not explicitly mentioned in the budget, cyber security landscape certainly stands to benefit out of this ever-evolving stature of digital technologies in the country.

Charles Tan, Head of Marketing at Coinstore

We were always optimistic about India’s regulatory environment and that’s the reason we decided to launch local operations in India last year. The tax announcement on crypto-related income will not only give legal status to crypto in India but will take out the regulatory fears from the minds of the crypto investors. The digital rupee launch by RBI is a very interesting development as it makes the RBI’s stance on digital assets crystal clear. In India, we are now moving from an unregulated tag to a government-monitored crypto market, which will benefit all the stakeholders of the industry.

Masterchef Extraordinaire and Padma Shri recipient Sanjeev Kapoor

“The extension of the ECLGS scheme by Rs. 5,000 crores for the hospitality and related sectors, announced by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is a welcoming move. It’s good to see the mention of the hospitality and related sector in this year’s budget. The past few years have been tumultuous for the hospitality segment and I am hopeful that this initiative gives the industry a much-needed boost. It would be right to say, that it’s a good start and I look forward to a seamless allocation of the sanctioned amount to the people and segments who need it the most.”

Sriram Subramanian Co-founder and CEO Clever Harvey – a career exploration and acceleration startup

We welcome the government’s move to cap the long-term capital gains surcharge at 15%. It will go a long way towards ensuring investor confidence not just in startups but in equity generally. Also, we appreciate the special focus on creative vocational fields like animation, graphics, and game design in this year’s budget. India has one of the largest talent pools for this, and this initiative will be instrumental in helping us move further up the value chain.

Given the battering and levels of disruption faced by the education system over the last three years, the emphasis given to mental health was another major highlight. It was, in my opinion, more important than ever, especially for students, and the budget does go a long way toward putting in place a mechanism to address it.

Furthermore, one area where the budget fell short of our expectations is the ongoing disparity in GST rates applied to physical and digital learning materials. I suppose the goal of the lower rate policy on physical learning materials was to promote education, and given that the majority of education consumption has shifted to the digital domain in recent years, we expect some sort of parity in the GST treatment between the two.

Ujjwal Singh, CEO and President, Infinity Learn

The Budget 2022-23 has an inclusive approach. We are pleased that the Government has recognized the importance of digital learning provided by the EdTech companies in India. The extension of the PM eVIDYA initiative 12 to 200 TV channels will give the segment the requisite boost. Further, the availability of regional language educational modules from Class 1 to 12 will enhance the literacy rates in India’s hinterlands, over and above the metro cities. This will serve as the driver of socio-economic change, enabled through technology. Education specifically has taken a new direction that has made technology-based learning, whether online or blended, indispensable for our education systems. Digital learning holds the potential to empower the country’s grassroots level population through democratised access to education, thereby facilitating continued learning sans infrastructural challenges, pan-India.Sakshi Vij, Founder & CEO, Myles

“The battery swapping policy that has been announced in the budget is a welcoming effort. It will give a huge boost to the commercial adoption of EVs in a big way. So, vehicles such as taxis, last-mile delivery vehicles, heavy commercial vehicles, and light commercial vehicles will get a boost. It will also improve the Inter-state movement of EVs which will make tremendous difference to the entire EV ecosystem.” – Nitin Misra, Co-founder, indiagold

Overall a positive budget with clear attention to digital currencies & assets. In our opinion, income from transfer of digital assets to be charged 30% tax is a better outcome that puts to rest the ambiguity around crypto assets. Also surcharge on capital gains including unlisted shares such as ESOPs to be capped at 15% is positive, as earlier it was limited to listed shares.

MYRE Capital: Quote by Mr. Aryaman Vir, Founder & CEO, MYRE Capitali

We firm believe that, setting aside ?250 Crore towards a robust urban development plan will boost the growth of real estate sector in the coming year. As the government plans to improve quality of life, Aspirational Districts will continue to attract more commercial developments in these spaces boosting employment and standard of living. We highly appreciate this step taken towards the growth of urban regions. Further, we trust that the implementation of a new legislation in the place of ‘The Special Economic Zones Act’, will certainly help in effective utilisation of available resources in the SEZs. For emerging business, the ‘One nation, One registration’ policy will aid in regularising and easing their set-up by eliminating complex processes. There was a clear push for technology companies across domains indicating that the Government clearly sees startups as growth engines across talent, infrastructure, small businesses.’

Swapnil Bhaskar, Head of Strategy, Niyo – neo-banking Fintech

“The union budget 2022 has set a promising future for the digital banking and startup community with a clear focus on tech-enabled development. The Finance Ministry has acknowledged the growth of fintech innovation by lending its continuous support to ensure the benefits of digital banking through the setup of 75 Digital Banking units to mark the 75 years of independence. The continued support for digital payments from the previous budget will encourage and ramp up the further adoption and promotion of digital payment platforms. However, any support for the business sustainability of such payment companies having zero MDR on UPI is not visible.

The e-passport facility is going to be a game changer as now start-ups like Niyo can further innovate on products customised for such segment and add enormous value and convenience. Skilling programs through the launch of Digital DESH e-portal will help the youth of India and support the development of the gig economy. Implementing courses offered in GIFT city in Financial Management, FinTech Science, Technology will encourage the youth of today to sharpen their financial literacy and usher in a new era of financial entrepreneurs. This will also reduce the shortage of skilled tech engineers. Overall this is a progressive budget and Hon’ble Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has tried to addresses concerns of the industry through various initiatives announced in her speech. We hope these are implemented in a time bound manner so that all stakeholders can gain from it and country can achieve its ambitious growth targets.”

Rupesh Nambiar, Chief Finance Officer, Global PayEX

“This Union Budget’s focus on Fintechs and digital payments platform and ecosystem is a testament to its commitment to realize its vision of an economically self-reliant nation and driving a less-cash economy. Here the initiation of 75 digital banks will be a landmark move that will provide a hybrid model for those who are still experimenting with digital banking and push digital transactions in India.

Further, the completely paperless and online e-Bill System for use by all central ministries for their procurements will not only enable the suppliers and contractors to submit online their digitally signed bills and claims but also bring in greater flexibility, transparency, and obvious cost efficiency to MSMEs and corporates. By eliminating manual efforts and errors accompanying these processes, the real gains from this move will be seen in increased working capital management, enhanced transactional speed across the supply chain, as well as improved cash flow. As the Government of India lays the foundation to steer the economy over the Amrit Kaal of the next 25 years, FinTech will continue to play an important role in the country’s financial ecosystem.”

Prabhtej Bhatia, Co-founder, Falcon –

“We will be eagerly looking to see how this space emerges and will be one of the first to integrate with the ecosystem as the new digital currency will bring traceability, affordability, reach and financial literacy across the payments ecosystem. I think the government has given a great push to boosting digital payments in India – both through fiscal measures to augment the infrastructure and through specific measures like launching Digital Banking Units and bringing Post Offices to offer core banking services. This will definitely widen the scale of digital financial infrastructure in the county and also boost the embedded finance space as there will be faster adoption of Fintech solutions from all players targetingthe semi-rural and rural parts of the country. Also, this budget has identified the growing importance of Fintech in the economy with several measures such as Fintech courses through world class institutions to train the workforce in India. This will go down as a seminal decision taken by the government in proliferating the Fintech ecosystem in the country for years to come.”

Avinash Godkhindi, MD and CEO, Zaggle

“The honourable FM has presented a balanced budget with a strong push for digitalization, financial technology and digital payments specifically. As one of the very few profitable SaaS Fintech players, we believe the biggest news is the issuance of the digital currency by RBI which will open a wide range of options and opportunities. Additionally, the endorsement that digital payments are user friendly and economical is a big boost to the morale of FinTechs and all digital payments ecosystem players, the continued support is most welcome. The aim to take digital banking to every citizen is extremely heartening, positive and a bold statement. The plan to create 75 digital banking units in 75 districts is great. Possibly the best way to execute this would be for scheduled banks to partner with FinTechs to roll out these effectively. The Union Budget 2022 has various encouraging initiatives that will propel aspiring entrepreneurs and boost Fintech and startups. To further ease business environment for startups, the government has announced the existing tax benefits for startups to be extended by one more year up to 31^stMarch 2023. Overall the FM has presented a growth oriented budget focusing on capital expenditure that will go a long way in providing the much needed support for India’s long term growth story and help create employment opportunities for the wider section of the society.”

Baldeep Singh Pahwa, General Manager & Country Head, Constellar India

“Looking at the emphasis given to the fintech industry in today’s union budget, it seems that the government considers fintech sector as the bloodline of the Indian economy. Government’s move to empower post offices with core banking segment will benefit the growth of rural economy, farmers and senior citizens across the country. While digital transfers of funds have grown rapidly in urban India, it is now time for the rural India to grow at 3x speed, which necessitated access to net banking, mobile banking, and other ATM services between post office accounts and bank accounts was needed. 75 Digital Banking units set up by scheduled commercial banks in 75 districts across the country will strengthen the digital ecosystem in those areas that lack financial inclusion. With a boost to start-up and fintech ecosystem, we will see huge investments in the said economy.

The budget has reiterated the importance of the need to accelerate on the growth path. Policy initiatives have been good and we look forward to progress on the implementation front in a time bound manner.”

Priti Rathi Gupta, Founder, LXME

“The focus of this year’s Union Budget was to sustain the economic growth that we have witnessed after the Covid-19 outbreak and to enhance it moving forward. All the amendments and proposals were made keeping in mind the growth of all the sectors of the country where digitalisation acted as a key engine for economic growth. Hefty funds have been allocated for driving these projects at a large scale. Tax deduction limit increased from 10% to 14% on employers contribution to NPS account of state govt employees. This will create a level playing field for the government employees and strengthen the social security benefits.

As the union government hinted earlier to bring cryptocurrencies under the tax net, the government has imposed a 30% tax rate on the transfer of virtual digital assets, regardless of the holding period.There would be no tax relief available to offset the loss of the virtual digital asset against any other income. Gift of cryptocurrencies to be taxed at receiver’s end. Now,the gains from virtual digital assets like cryptocurrency will be reported by the taxpayers as this announcement gives them a sense of clarity from the government. FM announces central bank digital currency, which will be a digital rupee using blockchain and other technologies. It will be issued by the RBI in 2022-23. With an increased digitalisation in the country, this move by the government can act as fuel to the country’s growth by making the systems more transparent and efficient. In fact,the government has proposed to set up 75 digital banking units in 75 different districts by Scheduled commercial banks which will enable users to actively participate in banking transactions. A new provision to allow taxpayers to file an updated return has been announced. Updated returns can be filed within 2 years from the end of the relevant assessment year in case they miss to report any income when the returns were being filed. This will provide convenience to the taxpayer. The surcharge on the long-term capital gains (LTCG) has been capped at 15% irrespective of the asset class. This will benefit the HNI investors as this measure will lead to more disposable income and hence more savings!

Post offices will come under the core banking system, enabling financial inclusion and access to accounts through net banking, mobile banking, ATM, and also providing online transfer of funds between post office accounts and bank accounts. This will help in increasing the accessibility of the services offered by the post office and will contribute towards financial inclusion.In 2022-23, 80 lakh houses will be completed for identified eligible beneficiaries of PM Awas Yojana – both rural and urban. Rs 48,000 crore has been allotted. This will provide affordable housing to the urban poor and will help the government in achieving the objective of providing the basic necessity of shelter. To promote sustainable development, the government is planning to introduce Sovereign Green Bonds in the financial year in 2023, for mobilizing resources in green infra, to reduce the carbon intensity of the economy. To conclude, along with major developments seen across sectors, the infrastructure sector has seen a major allocation of funds from the government. This would lead to economic growth in the real estate investment segment, attracting investors towards REITs and InvITs.”

Snehil Khanor, Co-founder & CEO, TrulyMadly

“The budget’s increased focus on pushing forward the entire startup ecosystem is admirable. With initiatives, such as a tax incentive for three consecutive years out of ten years from incorporation will continue the early-stage acceleration of startups and fuel the entrepreneurial growth in India. Additionally, the surcharge cap of 15 percent on long-term capital gains from shares of unlisted companies will promote investments in the start-up ecosystem by private equity and venture capital firms. We strongly believe that the entire movement towards digitization supported by initiatives, such as the initiation of digital banks and e-bills will be a fillip for startups and achieving the Prime Minister’s dream of $5-trillion economy.”

Susmitha Lakkakula – Founder, Cloud Tailor –

“India is currently in its ‘Startup moment’. Startups are in the limelight and entrepreneurship is beginning to be celebrated. In the current focus on startups and new found interest from private funds, ease of business and angel tax rules will define the next wave of support for our startup ecosystems. In the Budget 2022, there are incentives set aside under CGTMSE and for tax structuring. Focus on making Angel investments and tax holidays for startups will help improve the fledgling growth in this ‘Startup moment’ for India.”

Mr. Sushant Gupta, Founder & CEO of SG Analytics

The Union budget 2022 is certainly growth-oriented & futuristic as it covers different facets of technology and embraces digital adoption widely.Whether it is the introduction of a New Digital Rupee or Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), legitimizing private cryptocurrencies & NFT (with 30% tax imposition on virtual assets), Digital Universities, or Digitization of Post Offices, the list is ambitious and futuristic. The thrust and focus on digital technology are certainly welcomed and appreciated.Also, very timely and heartening is the focus on inclusive development, energy transition, and climate action as three of the four pillars of development. I wholeheartedly welcome the decision regarding the provision of green jobs and the acknowledgment of new-age entrepreneurship and its drivers.

Mr. Suresh Sethi, Managing Director and CEO, Protean eGov (erstwhile NSDL e-Governance)

“Truly a growth oriented budget. A strong and inclusive digital India form the bedrock of key initiatives spanning across healthcare, education, skilling and agriculture. There is a strong emphasis on further strengthening the national infrastructure through adoption of advanced technology, clearly setting the stage for the next wave of digital transformation in the country.”

Mr. Farman Beig, Co-founder & CEO of Wat-a-Burger

“The government has been supportive towards the F & B sector and did announce some steps to help the sector bounce back by shifting the GST compliance onto online food delivery partners on behalf of the restaurants. However, some relief in terms of ITC (Input tax credit) would have further catalysed the recovery of the sector which otherwise is on the bleeding end. Currently, when the industry is struggling to manage the fixed cost with GST, it requires immediate boost, and cutting down ITC would have worked wonders.”Mr. Kushang, Co-founder & CEO of SupplyNote

“Indeed the food & beverage industry in India was bleeding, and it required a lifeline to recover. Though the government certainly announced a number of steps for its resurgence, the Budget announcement of extension ECGL service for the sector will play a significant role to empower the vertical once again and get it up and running. Additionally, a slight consideration on the investors front on funding the F&B startups could have further accelerated the recovery of the industry. We further expect fundamental policies to revive the vertical in the country.”

Mr. Sarvagya Mishra, Co-founder & Director, SuperBot (PinnacleWorks)“The government has insisted on the development of digital infrastructure. Especially, in the education sector, the government has realised the need for a nationwide eVidya programme and digital university. This also opens prospects for new age tech startups to collaborate and contribute in establishing a robust digital infrastructure along with the government. New businesses have been leveraging technologies like AI, machine learning and data analytics, and have presented successful implications which might come handy in enabling the national education projects.”

Prabhtej Bhatia, Co-founder, Falcon

“Falcon will be eagerly looking to see how this space emerges and will be one of the first to integrate with the ecosystem as the new digital currency will bring traceability, affordability, reach and financial literacy across the payments ecosystem. I think the government has given a great push to boosting digital payments in India – both through fiscal measures to augment the infrastructure and through specific measures like launching Digital Banking Units and bringing Post Offices to offer core banking services. This will definitely widen the scale of digital financial infrastructure in the county and also boost the embedded finance space as there will be faster adoption of Fintech solutions from all players targetingthe semi-rural and rural parts of the country. Also, this budget has identified the growing importance of Fintech in the economy with several measures such as Fintech courses through world class institutions to train the workforce in India. This will go down as a seminal decision taken by the government in proliferating the Fintech ecosystem in the country for years to come.”

Dr. Angeli Misra (MD Path), Founder & Director, Lifeline Laboratory

The diagnostics industry has been ignored in the new budget. There is a deep sense of disappointment at no significant allocation of additional funds to boost India’s healthcare infrastructure. The diagnostic equipment manufacturing industry continues to bear a heavy tax burden, as there is no reduction in customs and excise duty and tax exemptions on imports for an industry that is heavily dependent on imports (86%). The launch of an open platform for a National Digital Health Ecosystem, a focus on building domestic capacities by encouraging public-private partnership, and the promotion of R&D to provide universal access to health facilities for all, is however, a welcome move.

Sumeet Mehta, Co-founder and CEO, LEAD, on Budget 2022-23

“Overall, this has been a progressive budget as it accelerates the government’s efforts towards inclusive and sustainable development. As an educator, I welcome the emphasis on creating digital and free-to-air channels of education. However, at the same time, the budget appears to circumvent physical schooling. I sincerely hope that is not the case. While online learning was inevitable due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it would never be as effective as offline learning, which brings out the best in students in terms of learning outcome and performance. Online education can at best only play a supplementary role in education. I would have also loved to see a greater focus on improving the teaching and learning processes in our schools vis-a-vis infrastructure and tech-enabled curriculum. Going forward, I hope there will be policy changes in that direction.”

Mr. Avinash Godkhindi, MD and CEO, Zaggle.

“The honourable FM has presented a balanced budget with a strong push for digitalization, financial technology and digital payments specifically. As one of the very few profitable SaaS Fintech players, we believe the biggest news is the issuance of the digital currency by RBI which will open a wide range of options and opportunities. Additionally, the endorsement that digital payments are user friendly and economical is a big boost to the morale of FinTechs and all digital payments ecosystem players, the continued support is most welcome. The aim to take digital banking to every citizen is extremely heartening, positive and a bold statement. The plan to create 75 digital banking units in 75 districts is great. Possibly the best way to execute this would be for scheduled banks to partner with FinTechs to roll out these effectively. The Union Budget 2022 has various encouraging initiatives that will propel aspiring entrepreneurs and boost Fintech and startups. To further ease business environment for startups, the government has announced the existing tax benefits for startups to be extended by one more year up to 31st March 2023. Overall the FM has presented a growth oriented budget focusing on capital expenditure that will go a long way in providing the much needed support for India’s long term growth story and help create employment opportunities for the wider section of the society.”

S Anand, the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of PaySprint“Overall the budget is short and simple with focus on investment, infrastructure and digital. It is a progressive budget and happy to see the focus on digital payments and continuation of allocation of 1500 crores in this financial year. Startup seems to a flavor and extension of tax incentive for one more year, will surely boost the new ventures. The introduction of Central Bank Digital currency by 2023 is a welcome step towards a digital economy. Just as China has been pushing for the Digital Renminbi, now India too will have its own Digital Rupee. We at PaySprint are empowering millions to transform into Digital banking and welcome the FM announcement of setting up of 75 Digital Banks in 75 districts by the scheduled banks and also enabling the post offices in offering Digital Banking across India. It is indeed a move towards creating a Digital Infrastructure. Must say that the amazing Indian Growth story continues!”

Mr. Ashish Jain, CFO, LoanTap“The budget is progressive and addresses all the major expectations from various sectors including Fintechs, EVs, MSMEs, Start-ups, etc. Allowing an extension of tax incentive by another year will hugely benefit the newly started ventures and will motivate the players to contribute to the macro-economic growth. The FM has suggested to setting up an expert committee to monitor mobilization of funds to start-ups through VCs and Private equities which is a major welcome step. The introduction of central bank digital currency will further boost the digital economy and will hugely benefit the Fintech ecosystem. With setting up of 75 digital banking units in next two years India is set to become a robust digital economy.”

Mr. Sasidhar Thmuluri, MD & CEO of Sub-KThe Budget is a well-marked one in many senses. It rightly strikes a reasonable balance between addressing the key pillars of Health & Well-being, Inclusive Development, Human Capital, Innovation and R&D, apart from laying the path for a robust economy. India’s growth is highest among all major economies; we are now in a strong position to withstand challenges. India is now on a path of making the national growth inclusive and the budget 2022 will act as a catalyst for financial inclusion in India. Setting up 75 digital banks, an integrated portal for MSMEs, 100% digitization of post offices and central bank digital currency are welcome moves in this direction. It is financial inclusion that we at SubK not only strongly believe in but are also implementing at the grassroots by leveraging digital technologies, and are glad to see this as a key component of the budget as it is important for the overall balanced economic growth of the country.

Mr. Ashutosh Mishra- Head of Research – Institutional Equity at Ashika Stock Broking

The union budget of 2022 is a very capital-intensive budget and bodes well towards the government’s vision of pushing infrastructure and manufacturing as twoof the key sectors to be intensified. The greater emphasis on commitments for ‘Made in India’ is revenue generating as well as creating employment opportunities all over the country. With progressive measures being taken towards bolstering the digital transformation in the country, there will be positive effects in sectors of education, healthcare, fintech, banking, and upskilling. The fiscal deficit is estimated at 6.8% of GDP in FY22 (vs 9.5% in FY21). The government intends to narrow this to below 4.5% of GDP by FY26. With the setting up of a DFI with initial capital of INR 200bn, to finance capex, and continuing the PLI schemes, the government is committing itself to a growth manifesto and a holistic budget that is futuristic and not just limited to a fiscal year. With concerted efforts towards boosting infrastructure, logistics, digital transformation, and introduction of digital money, the government intends to reach out to the unbanked and unserved populace of the country. It is a universal budget and an inclusive budget. While it may not be a populist one, but it is a long term, growth-oriented budget and that itself is a positive place to start off with. There is also an added importance to support faster debt resolution and deepen the corporate bond market by the proposal of a permanent institutional framework to purchase IG bonds during stress scenarios.

Mr. Viraj Vyas- Technical & Derivatives analyst, Ashika:

The union budget overall looks positive and is focusses on an economic recovery mindset, with the pandemic and its repercussions as its premise. However, the budget looks quite moderate, over what was anticipated. Nifty Index has been undergoing price and time correction since October 2021 and while the Budget is usually a strong event, this year’s budget was on a tepid note. The major theme seems positioned in favour of the infrastructure development in India. What particularly stood out was the gusto with which the intraday dip was bought into might signal a change in stance from market participants. Going forward, I would continue to be skeptical on the Index if 18,300-18,500 level is not taken out with a price intense move. Having said that, few pockets in the market look attractive like the Cement, Capital Goods and specialty chemicals space and I would continue to watch stocks in this space. Also, on a positive note, there has been no tax increase, which also comes as a relief. Fiscal austerity overall has been masked by economic growth. The seven engines on which the budget has been outlined as a vision budget are roads, railways, airports, mass transport, ports, waterways, and logistics infrastructure which will be supported by energy transmission, IT, water, sewerage and social infrastructure. These are the areas to look forward to and we will expect to see the government’s commitments tothese sectors.

Mr.Amit Jain- CEO and Co-Founder of Ashika Wealth Management:

“This budget looks to be very pragmatic , conservative & growth oriented for the Indian Economy. Apparently, it looks like that government is trying to under commit & over deliver on both Economic & Fiscal front. If I summarise the budget 2022-23 theme, then I will say it is a “ Green-tech “ budget with “ self-sufficiency”as the underlying theme. In my view , in this era of Deglobalisation & re-emerging Geo-political power game between Western World on one side & Russia, China on other side, India has to be a self-reliant Economy by 2040. This budget takes a step further in that direction along with Long term directional move for the Green Energy Economy & making India a manufacturing hub in the medium to long term. From here on Capital Goods, Infrastructure& Defence sector should be in focus. We appreciate the government’s move for raising funds through Green Energy funds, which may be a Game Changer for selected PSU’s , as there are a lot of Global Funds who invest in these ESG bonds & re-engineer the old Economy fossil fuel base business models to new age green Energy business models across the Globe. We welcome the government’s move to digitalise 1.5 lacs post offices across India & creating 75 digital bank units, which will merge the rural informal Economy into the mainstream Economy. Also, blockchain based digital INR is going to be a pride for India as a country. It will place India at par with the elite stature of Western World.

In our view, this ongoing decade of 2030 is going to be decade of capital Expenditure by Indian Corporates, as we are at the verge ofbeginning new bull run of Indian Economy & this beginning can not be better than this budget as Government itself has surprised by increasing proposed capital expenditure to Rs.7.5 lacs crores, which is an increment of almost 40% compare to last budget & almost double for FY 2019-20. Also, a directional call for targeting fiscal deficit @ 4.5% by FY 2026 & limiting surcharge on long term capital gains at 15%,is a soothing statement for Capital Markets. By taxing digital assets @ 30% , Government has recognised Crypto currencies as an asset class, which may be a relief for 10 crores Indian Investors , as now it will be an accepted Asset Class for Indian Investors.

Ketan Patel, CEO, MSwipe

“The fintech ecosystem requirements have been well addressed in the budget. Measures to boost skill development through public private partnerships, and by incentivising courses on fintech through world class education institutions will definitely help the work force and the ecosystem. The government’s outlay on capital expenditure, includes the proliferation of digital payments, and technology infrastructure expansion for MSMEs, both of which brings much cheer to the ecosystem players as they make efforts to drive digital penetration across India. Not just fintech, the government’s shout out to startups across Agritech, HRtech, EdTech is a clear sign that the technology ecosystem is going to play the major role in achieving not just near term GDP targets but in the long run elevate India as a technology driven economy.

For MSMEs,

Interlinking portals such as Udyam, e-shram, NCS and Aseem to improve credit facilitation for small business is welcome and it will push them to embrace entrepreneurship.Raising and Accelerating MSME Performance (RAMP) programme for MSMEs that is slated to be rolled out in the next five years will push a high number of technology companies to come forward with innovative solutions.

For Consumer,

Setting up of Digital Banking Units to mark 75 years of Independence is not just a symbolic honour but also recognition of digital first banking approach that the government is keen to pursue to help the larger part of the population, which is new to digital or new to banking, find it easy to access financial services. By choosing to continue with the benefits that the digital payments ecosystem enjoys, the government has reaffirmed its commitment to digital payments and digital financial services as ‘the way forward’ for consumers. Bringing post offices under core banking system is a major step to ensuring inclusive and accessible financial services to the remotest of locations in the country.

Mr. Rakesh Kaul, CEO, Clix Capital.

“The all-time high GST collections in January 2022 at INR141,000 crore is good news and indicates a steady bounce back in economic activity despite the Omicron wave. The estimated GDP growth of 9.2% in FY2021-22 and the expected reduction in the fiscal deficit from 6.9% in FY2022 to 6.4% of the GDP in FY2023 also augurs well for the economy, presuming these projections hold true.

The other bright spots include the decision of extending the period of incorporation by a year for startups to avail of tax incentives till 31 March 2023, establishing 75 new digital banking units in 75 districts via scheduled commercial banks to help ensure a pan-India reach and allocating INR48,000 crore to boost urban housing, among others. These measures will benefit multiple verticals, including the BFSI segment.

The announcement of a digital rupee using blockchain is exciting per se, but one needs to wait and watch whether there will be any specific benefits for this asset class. But the 30% tax on any income from the transfer of digital assets can act as a dampener on efforts to create a virtual digital economy.

The capping of surcharge on long-term capital gains tax at 15% on transfer of any asset type is another commendable measure. Overall, the Budget should give a boost to the fintech segment.”

Mr. Aman Tekriwal, Co-founder, Supertails

“There has been a great focus on growth and sustainability in this year’s budget, which is going to drive India’s overall development. Notably, the tax exemption for startups extended to March-2023 and the reduction in surcharge on capital gain tax from 37% to 15% is positive and welcome news for startups.

Steps such as the highway network to grow by 25,000 km with an ambitious goal of 280 GW solar capacity by 2030 are going to be big drivers of growth. Further,allocating INR 1500 crore for development in northeast India is a huge step in fast tracking inclusive economic development for the nation.”

Sanket Shendure: CEO & Co-founder of Minko

“We at Minko are very excited about the announcement of 75 Digital Banking Units in 75 districts of the country because this is in line with our vision of Financial Inclusion of the Unbanked, Digitally. This, coupled with the financial support for Digital Payment Ecosystem, as announced by the Finance Minister will further encourage the adoption of Digital Payments in the economy.

One of the key challenges that we often face while underwriting a small ticket loan to a business owner in Tier II or Tier III city is, her limited or no credit history but we can capture the digital banking transactions and the corresponding financial behavior to analyze the credit of a small business owner.”

Mr.Nitin Mathur,CEO, Tavaga Advisory Services

Capital Expenditure was one of the key themes of Union Budget 2022 announced by Honourable FM Nirmala Sitaraman. A whopping effective hike of 35.4% was announced for all capital expenditure-related activities.

The spending power of state governments too is expected to increase as 1 lakh crore has been earmarked for financial support. This support is in addition to all the financial assistance they receive from the Centre. Manufacturing, Start-up Economy, Simplification of regulatory compliances and FinTech were other key points that the FM emphasized.On the announcements related regulatory landscape, 1486 laws were repealed and 25,000 compliances were done away with.FM in her address announced the introduction of India’s own Digital Currency (Central Bank Digital Currency) using Blockchain and other related technologies.A whopping 30% tax on Virtual Digital Assets (Cryptocurrency) was much needed and as per expectations outlined before.

All in all, this was one of the shortest budget speeches ever heard in recent times. The stock markets continue to stay where they were pre-budget with hardly any volatility. The government is signalling that it will not shy away from spending.

While the government is again short of its disinvestment targets in this FY, it was surprising to see Divestments and Privatisation being kept out of budget related announcements.

Quote by Sushant Kumar, CEO & MD, AMO Electric Bikes

The country’s financial budget session for 2022-23 began today with a lot of excitement, as it was overheard that this paperless budget will include numerous bold plans and policies to improve GDP and government expenditure. FM Nirmala Sitharaman is set to give a significant budget that will outline the plan for 100 years of Indian independence, or “India at 100,” which would include everything from digital money to 5G services, revising income tax returns to increasing electric vehicles in the country.

In the EV sector, the FM has rightly specified the necessary elements in the budget that the country’s EV producers have been requesting for a long time. She is committed to promoting greener and cleaner transportation solutions in India by enacting a number of initiatives, many of which include attempts to expand charging infrastructure around the country. This will help with two things in particular: first, it will alleviate range anxiety, and second, it will increase EV acceptance among the general public. The FM also mentioned a crucial regulatory shift with the battery swapping service as a solution to range anxiety and rapid EV adoption.

The FM advocates for the development of interoperability standards, which would assist Indian manufacturers to establish joint ventures with major technological partners from other countries, hence boosting long-term EV business in India.

Sasidhar Nandigam, CEO, CredR

The Indian auto industry recorded its worst performance of the last decade this year. Even then, we did not see the Finance Minister make any big direct announcements for the automotive sector involved with personal mobility. So, overall we are a little disappointed on that front. The focus has been on strengthening the rural economy. Theoretically, the implementation of these announcements should help disposable income in rural areas, thereby improving the vehicle buying sentiment. As a result, two-wheeler and tractor companies could see improvement in demand. In addition, the announcements of a battery swapping policy and push for clean tech and electric vehicles will help the EV segment in India. Also, the push on cleaner propulsion technologies will improve air quality and reduce consumption of fossil fuels.

Mr. Kumar Abhishek, Founder and CEO, ToneTag

“The budget is in line with the convictions and ambitions of the government to push digital inclusion to the remotest parts of the country.The proposal to set up 75 digital banking units through scheduled commercial banks and connecting post offices to core banking is a step in the right direction and will prove to be a vital probing point for digital reception and acceptance.The allotment of capital for research and development for start-ups and exemption on various tax fronts will provide a much-needed leeway for start-ups to focus more on innovation and product development. It also opens up avenues for start-ups to diversify and expand into new territories.This advancement in innovation coupled with the massive boost in digital infrastructure will not only reinvigorate the existing digital ecosystem but also provide an easy path for start-ups, especially Fintech firms, to penetrate deeper into the country.”

Mr. Anurag Garg, Founder and CEO, Nivesh.com

“To me it is a very impactful budget, benefits of which will be realized in coming years. In investing, we promote long-term over short-term. I feel this budget is also focused on the long-term future of the economy rather than focusing on short-term populist measures. There has been a strong focus on adoption of digital at all levels, which will go a long way in bringing transparency and efficiency. This includes the initiative of taking e-services to villages and spending on laying optical fibers to all villages for easy and fast internet access. Then the step of introducing a single registration process across the country for land is going to be a major reform. Government is also keen on promoting MSMEs and startups and announced various measures, including extension of tax benefit by one more year. This will boost entrepreneurship and eventual economic growth. January had an all time high GST collection of Rs. 1.4 lakh crore which clearly signals that economic recovery post covid is very much real and this budget will provide more pace to the recovery. No benefits have been provided to the salaried income tax payers, which is likely to disappoint this class.”

Suman Reddy, Managing Director and Country Head, Pegasystems India

“The Union Budget for 2022 laid the foundation for a growth-supportive plan as the nation commences its exit from a pandemic-induced slump. India’s growth is highest among all major economies, and we are in a strong position to withstand challenges. With a keen focus on health, education and startups, we are truly on our way to encouraging further digital adoption, particularly in semi-urban and rural markets.

I am delighted with the focus of Budget 2022 on digital and technology. It is a forward-looking blueprint of India’s resilience, capabilities, and determination. The Indian tech startup space continues to witness steady growth, accounting for 70 unicorns with most of them in the IT/knowledge-based sectors. The provisions outlined in this year’s Budget will provide them a game-changing economic transformation opportunity. Additionally, the framework outlined for citizens to skill, reskill or upskill through online training will open up a sophisticated pipeline of jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities. The introduction of central bank digital currency will boost the digital economy and will hugely benefit the Fintech ecosystem. With setting up of 75 digital banking units India is set to become a robust digital economy in the next two years.

The ongoing race to deploy 5G will be crucial in addressing and streamlining the avalanche of data and the multitudes of IoT connections that will power the smart cities, utilities, education, healthcare, transportation, and enterprise needs of today and tomorrow. We are truly on our way to building an open, digital and inclusive India within the next 25 years.”

Anshuman Rai, Area Vice President, India, and South Asia, Commvault

“The Budget 2022 is a futuristic step taken by the government to complement nation’s macro-growth encompassing digital economy, tech-enabled development, and inclusive sustainable actions.

The announcement of data centres being awarded an infrastructure status is truly commendable as this move will be a major thrust to data localization. The new status will enable the data centre sector to get credit at competitive rates and on a long-term basis with enhanced limits. This move will also be a catalyst in realizing India’s vision of attaining the position of a global data centre hub.

The establishment of an open national digital health ecosystem, inclusive core financial approach, and digital currency will be instrumental in bridging the digital gap and bolster the Digital India vision further. With an increased focus on digital ecosystem for skilling, through API-based skill credentials and digital universities, we will see a talent surge that is equipped for the jobs of the future. The initiatives for telecom services and modernization for agri sector through land record digitization will be critical in modernizing and broadening the scope of data generation, management, and protection.

All these measures will, ultimately, result in a massive amount of data generation which will drive the demand for a robust and unified data management and protection technology further.”Axis Communications

Sudhindra Holla, Director, Axis Communications, India and SAARC

“With the goal to complement macro-growth with micro-all-inclusive welfare and tech-enabled development, we are optimistic that these measures will further strengthen India’s power as a global digital hub. With technology serving as the pivot in this year’s budget, there will be a renewed focus on the criticality of a robust cybersecurity solution.

The seven engines of the PM Gati Shakti masterplan encompassing the launch of 400 new-generation Vande Bharat trains and the national highway network will be key drivers in the demand for top notch surveillance solutions. We are upbeat on the slew of recommendations for urban infrastructure development as this will be an impetus for not only generating employment but also reinvigorate the development of smart cities. The rollout of 5G services will further the potential of technology and aid in promoting R&D and commercialization of tech and solutions.

The launch of the National Ropeways Development Programmewill be a major thrust to the tourism sector and the vision towards developinga self-reliant defence sector will additionally boost the demand of hi-tech surveillance and security solutions.”

Mr. Abhishek Goel, CEO & Co-founder, CACTUS

On Mental Health

“The pandemic has revealed a crisis in mental health, as well as the need for access to mental health professionals. The announcement of the National Tele Mental Health program will hopefully address a lot of these issues and provide people across the country with access to quality mental health care.

On Tech Innovation

“It is good to see a focus on technology to bring about transformation of the economy over the next 25 years. Be it the focus on clean energy, bringing technologies to farmers, energy transition and climate action, or the use of clean technology in public transport – we are looking at a tremendous role of STM in economic development over the next 25 years. Both the industry and academia have to gear up for this change.”