Post Budget Reactions of Experts, Industry Leaders, and Founders

1. Kartik Shahani, Country Manager, Tenable India

“The 2022 Union Budget looks promising and paves the path to economic recovery. As India aims to achieve competitive success in the global economy through budget allocations in critical infrastructure, healthcare, technology and innovation, securing the digital infrastructure that binds society in modern times needs to become the primordial priority for organizations, across the private and public sectors. This means that organizations in India must take a good hard look at their cyber hygiene practices and have the ability to continuously monitor and verify every attempt to request access to corporate data at all levels, whether that’s a device, app, user or network attempting to make that connection.”

The expected 5G spectrum auction this year, coupled with the Indian government’s goal to digitize processes for citizens through e-passports and e-registration services, presents manifold cybersecurity challenges. Increased adoption of IoT, in critical sectors and industries only pose greater challenges and threats that could have a direct and huge impact on society. Furthermore, the proposed launch of the Digital Rupee using blockchain technology opens fresh avenues for cyberattackers seeking payment from victims with only a modest risk of detection. If there is one thing we learned from 2021, it’s that cybercriminals are relentless and lucrative in testing the resilience of India’s digital systems. It’s more important now than ever that technological advancement and innovation must be guided by security in mind to protect India’s interests but more importantly establish deterrence against threat actors.”

2. Vasudeva Rao Munnaluri, RVP India & SAARC, Zendesk

“We welcome this technology-focused budget, which will help boost India’s growth. The Union budget 2022-23, with its support for businesses, will have a constructive impact, considering the unprecedented times we live in. The continuation of tax breaks for the startup sector and push for 5G in manufacturing is promising for the continued growth of these sectors on a global scale. The focus on digital transactions coupled with measures for ease of doing business will give Indian fintech startups the much-needed thrust. The concessions for intelligent devices is also an important step towards increasing IoT adoption across sectors. All in, we are encouraged by the focus on enabling transformational technologies that will allow Indian businesses to harness the opportunities for growth.”

3. Aayur Kaul, Market Head, Skillshare India

“The focus on online learning in the Union budget 2022-23 will propel growth in India’s edtech industry. The pandemic changed the atmosphere of learning in India, with most classes being conducted online. The focus on online-learning is a step towards democratizing learning in India. Skill-based online learning took the center stage in this year’s budget, highlighting the importance of vocational and creative classes that online learning enables. The announcement to launch a Digital University and dedicated online videos, quality online content will see a higher demand, creating a positive environment for online learning companies to grow in India. Skillshare being an online learning community for creatively-inclined people, we welcome the focus on edtech in the budget.”

4. Subodh Parulekar, CEO and Co-Founder, Afour Technologies

“In an effort to propel growth, the budget for 2022–23 provides tax sops for startups and supports digital transformation across industries. The tax exemption for the startup sector has shown the government’s commitment to building a dynamic and robust startup ecosystem. The announcement of the digital currency is a historic move in India’s financial history and promises to open up new vistas of growth and innovation in the sector. The impetus on design-led manufacturing for 5G is another important sector that could nudge India’s economy toward sustained growth. The budget is timely and futuristic. We believe that these measures will make India a fast-growing, digitally empowered, and forward-looking economy. “

5. Naman Shah, Founder & CEO, NowPurchase

“Given the unusual times we live in, the Union budget for 2022–23 has been quite positive for Indian enterprises. The government’s decision to push skill development through the DESH Stack e-portal is commendable. The proposal to extend a 6,000-crore RAMP programme for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) over the next five years is encouraging for increasing competitiveness of this sector. We expect that the government’s efforts to interconnect MSMEs’ portals such as Udyam, e-Shram, NCS, and Aseem in order to broaden the scope will aid the formidable growth of the MSME sector. Along with this, the gradual phase out of some custom duties should definitely bolster manufacturing. The government’s support for India’s startup and MSME sectors has continued this year, and the industry is poised to be back on a growth trajectory after an unprecedented last financial year.
The PLI Schemes, which now cover fourteen sectors, are expected to contribute to increased production of Rupees Thirty Lakh Crores, with the potential to create sixty lakh new jobs over the next five years. Because of the government’s strong push for PLI Schemes, India may incentivise international investors to set up manufacturing units in India and support local manufacturers to expand their units and generate jobs, enhancing India’s global competitiveness. As a technology-driven procurement platform, NowPurchase finds the budget to be extremely satisfactory.”

6. Sripad Nandiraj, Founder, Hocomoco

“The Union Budget 2022-2023 presented by FM Sitharaman for the affordable housing sector will undoubtedly encourage the sector’s next stage of growth. The announcement that an urban planning panel would be established and that 80 lakh affordable houses will be built at a cost of Rs 48,000 crore under the PM Awas Yojna in 2022-23 is a positive move. This would help to enhance the affordable housing market and promote affordable housing in metropolitan areas for the economically weak and middle class. The challenge, however, according to the Economic Survey, is to significantly increase infrastructure spending. India spent $1.1 trillion on infrastructure during fiscal years 2008 and 2017. It will now need to spend $1.4 trillion to reach a GDP of $5 trillion by 2024-25, according to its recent report. Additionally, the Gati Shakti plan, which aims to bring 16 ministries together to work on infrastructure and connectivity projects, is also a beneficial move that will aid the affordable housing plan. From Hocomoco’s standpoint as a construction aggregator company, the budget is extremely encouraging.”