Gain or bane: Know what industry experts feel baout budget 2023

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday raised the personal income tax rebate limit, doled out sops on small savings and announced one of the biggest hikes in capital spending in the past decade.

AD Singh, founder and managing director, Olive Group of Restaurants
The overall industry feels that this is one of the best budgets to boost the economy, increase residual income for increased expenditure... And it is still holding targets for fiscal spending and controlling inflation. On a personal front, no one was expecting such a good increase in post-tax income. No change in capital gain taxes. It is nice that tourism is becoming a focus area. The F&B industry can help with that a lot as well since we are such a critical part of travel experiences.

Prashanth GJ, co-founder and CEO, TechnoBind Solutions
As per a 2022 research, the Artificial Intelligence (AI) market in India is projected to generate revenue that is estimated to reach $71bn by 2027. This can certainly be achieved with the government’s push towards making AI a part of India’s growth as seen in this budget. The focus given for setting up three centres of excellence for AI to conduct in-depth research and create applications with the help of industry experts is a testimony to the government’s focus on utilising the benefits of cutting-edge technology such as AI. Also, the ‘Make AI in India’ and ‘Make AI Work for India’ mantras will help the country’s tech vertical to share centre stage with the developed nations that are considered today as giants in AI and advanced technology.

Chandra Ganjoo, Group Chief Executive Officer, Trivitron Healthcare
As expected, this budget was a balanced effort to improve economic growth. The government’s increased emphasis on healthcare would assist the medical devices business, even though there was not anything specific for the MedTech industry in this budget. We expect increased demand, which will correspond with estimates that the Indian medical device market will reach `3,52,450cr by 2025 (sic). There was an emphasis on the announcement that public and private medical faculties will have access to some Indian Council of Medical Research facilities for research, 157 new nursing colleges to be established in various locations, and the pharmaceutical industry encouraged to invest in research through the creation of a new programme for research and development in the field. We appreciate the government’s efforts to make life better for its people. In key areas such as health, nutrition, financial inclusion, and the nation’s foundational infrastructure, the government has achieved considerable progress.

Sahil Sambhi, co-founder, Molecule Bar
This is a very proactive and visionary budget as per our hospitality industry. With a focus on tourism, our industry would directly benefit immensely. The increase in income tax limits will increase the disposable income of the young salaried class, who are our prime customers. This will augur well for our restaurants.

Sunaina Anand, founder and director, Art Alive Gallery 
The budget will propel growth in the economy. The new income tax regime is welcome because it will lower the taxes and increase savings for the middle-class thus uplifting the sentiment. Raising capital expenditure combined with fiscal prudence is also a welcome step.

Sunil Sethi, chairman, Fashion Design Council of India 
It is a grounded and pragmatic budget. The Finance Minister has covered all sectors that would enhance economic activity like support through credit guarantees for the MSME industrial and service providers to the agriculture sector, and also benefit the common man especially women and senior citizens. The move to promote one district one product will help the handicraft artisans. I wish there was some encouragement given to the fashion fraternity as well.

Zorawar Kalra, founder and director, Massive Restaurants
It is good to see tourism becoming a focus area. Through that, the entire hospitality industry can get more attention as well. It’s a big relief for taxpayers and this should help in increasing residual income for those who need it the most, which is a large part of the employees engaged in the hospitality sector. The hospitality industry is the second-largest employer of human capital after agriculture, so this should come as a big help.

Ashok Maheshwari, managing director, Rajkamal Prakashan
We were hoping that there would be something special for the education sector in this budget. It is still difficult for the people of India to imagine education without books. Paper prices are increasing continuously. Ink prices are rising. Shipping costs are increasing. Paper is also not available as per requirement. All these things directly affect the issue of books. Earlier, books were completely tax free. Now, GST has also been imposed indirectly on books. The budgets of libraries are continuously decreasing. Our Prime Minister is also a writer, and we had full hope that this time, he would definitely do something... but that did not happen. We hope that this will be considered in the budget amendments.

Urvashi Kaur, fashion designer
This budget seems to be looking at introducing schemes and tax rebates keeping in mind small scale entrepreneurs and professionals. The Indian economy is heading towards a bright future... Since the budget is expected to focus on technology and innovation to promote growth and sustainability, it will be good for the economy. The PM Vishwakarma Kaushal Samman (Yojana) will provide assistance to craftsmen and artisans to improve the quality and scale of products. If they get benefits, it will also improve the fragility of our ecosystem. The agenda is on the development of skilled manpower and promotion of design-led manufacturing. Lastly, but most importantly, this budget also includes financial incentives for introducing green and sustainable practices in the industry, which will have a greater impact on the whole.

Sarvesh Shrivastava, co-founder and managing director, Eupheus Learning
We saw a few encouraging steps taken in the education sector in this budget layout. For instance, the emphasis on setting up digital libraries and teacher training. It was also heartening to hear about the increase in the spending percentage on education. While accelerated digitisation and teacher training is among the key mandates of National Education Policy 2020, we will see an accelerated role being played by the EdTech companies if the tax structure around their services/solutions are also addressed in a more progressive manner.