New Delhi: With the Union Budget 2022 just two days away, the tech industry is looking at Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman with hopes that she would present a budget for the year 2022-2023 that fulfills their expectations. The tech industry, along with other sectors are ready with their Budget Wishlist for the finance minister. From looking at sops to no hike in component duties, the tech industry's wishlist varies. We bring you the tech industry's wish list, which is as follows:
Alok Dubey, CFO, Acer India
“We are hoping that in this Budget, the government announces steps to revitalise and reorganise the economy which has been impacted by the pandemic. This can be a positive start to encourage sustainable growth and push Digital Infrastructure- 5G, edge computing, and secured data management in India. The comprehensive programme for the 'development of sustainable semiconductor and display ecosystem in the country' will be a boost in making India a global hub of electronic system design and manufacturing but we would like to see reforms that will drive consumption and improve consumer demand."
Kunal Lakhara, CFO, Pocket Aces
“The media and entertainment industry is fast evolving and with the advent of 5G, there will be a further spike in demand in how we consume content, play online games etc. The government should look to simplify rules relating to the adoption of NFTs, Cryptocurrency, Blockchain etc. With progressive initiatives such as Digital India, we hope that in the current budget the government will extend export linked incentives especially to MSMEs and provide impetus to implementing uniform and simplified tax compliance (both direct tax and GST). On personal taxes - The government should look to simplify tax rules around exercise of ESOPs and provide tax benefits to salaried employees.”
Sushanth Pai, Chief Financial Officer, Matrimony.com
“Some sectors such as travel and hospitality have been heavily impacted due to the current situation. The budget should focus on support to revive such sectors. A study of all the policy reforms needs to be undertaken with greater intensity to see how they can be implemented effectively and with speed, so that the basic ecosystem of well-being can be boosted.”
Ankit Saraiya, Director - Techno Electric and Engineering
“India’s economic recovery is heading into a robust mode, amid rapid vaccination progress, less stringent social restrictions, and still supportive fiscal and monetary stances. Ensuring stability and impetus for growth should be key in this Budget We are quite optimistic about the union budget and its impact on the Data Centre industry. The previous budgets have allocated sizable funds towards the development of the Data Center Parks in Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities. I expect this trend will continue as today, Data Centre is equated to nation’s most growing and essential infrastructure investment platform.”
Pratik Gauri, Co-founder & CEO, 5ire
“Crypto technology and Blockchain are long-term phenomena that are not going away. And as the government regulations focus on protecting its constituency from the bad it does, it should also look towards utilising its power of good for better governance and accountability. India has been a significant player in developing solutions for the rest of the world with modern technology; it is high time we become a model of utilising it ourselves."