HYDERABAD: The Information Technology and startup ecosystem in Telangana is hoping that the Union Finance Minister would have some good news for innovation, emerging technologies, entrepreneurship, upskilling and expansion in the Budget to be presented in Parliament next month.
“As there is paucity of skill-sets, the Centre should work with premier educational institutions with the support of technology organisations on understanding the needs of the digital future and design course curriculum to address the skill-set shortage. Tax relief for companies investing in up-skilling and re-skilling their employees and tax benefits for operating in hybrid mode can be extended so that Tier-2 cities can be the next talent hubs,” suggested J Sanjay, co-founder, Qentelli.
As the IT industry continues to showcase a high growth rate in terms of investment, growth, innovation and job creation, A Prasanna, senior director, Progress, said that the Centre could encourage tech innovation and increased incentives for research and development in the sector. The sector has added 1,38,000 jobs in 2021, bringing the total employment in IT to 4.47 million in India as per a NASSCOM report.
M Srinivas Rao, CEO, T-Hub said that with ov-er $ 42 billion raised by startups and 42 unic-orns in 2021, expectations are high for more startup friendly policies, relaxed taxation policies and simplified GST returns, especially for startups in the healthcare sector. He wants lower GST slabs for Make in India products, special incentives for healthcare, education, agriculture and renewable energy sectors and investment in creating innovat-ion hubs in Tier-2 and 3 cities.