The Union Budget 2020-21 is important on the backdrop of the current economic slowdown. It is expected to play a crucial role in bringing the growth rate back on track. The manufacturing sector especially has high hopes from the Minister of Finance, Nirmala Sitharaman to give it a boost with industry-friendly policies. Some of the expectations that the industry has are:
• Continued focus on infrastructure and Make in India
• Reforms to boost the auto sector
• Increased liquidity in the hands of consumers
• Job creations
Read more on the industry leaders’ point of views:
Anand Srinivasan, Managing Director, Covestro (India)
India becoming a 5 trillion economy by 2025 depends on policy decision that government takes now. While digitalisation will remain cornerstone of strategy, Government should put equal emphasis on building blocks i.e. Manufacturing and R&D, making Indian manufacturing as most favoured destination. As environment sustainability is the key to the future, government should provide incentive on the promotion of sustainable solutions that will help in reducing India’s carbon footprint and promote circular economy. The Union budget 2020 needs to be focused on forming policies that support the businesses working towards adoption of green practices. Promoting responsible use of plastics and efforts towards reducing carbon emission should be of prime importance and any budgetary intervention in this regard will be a positive step.
Also, to further accelerate the adoption of Electric Vehicle, the government should eliminate the customs duty of 5 per cent from Lithium-ion cells which will help to promote local manufacturing of the batteries in the country. Besides this, the government needs to focus on incentivizing companies building EV ecosystems like installing charging stations, battery swapping stations and building robust EV Infrastructure for long term sustainability and reduction in cost.
Roland Bouchara, Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Citroën India
The long-term outlook for the Indian automotive industry is very strong as both, demographically and economically, the industry is well-positioned for growth in coming years. Hence, we are expecting a pragmatic budget with key focus on providing impetus to manufacturing sector. The sector will also benefit from the government’s strong focus on boosting infrastructure. The government’s continued commitment to provide the necessary support and investments in infrastructure, will encourage a strong and resilient domestic manufacturing sector. While the government is committed to the growth of manufacturing sector through ‘Digital India’ and ‘Make in India’ initiatives, it should further strengthen policy frameworks to support and encourage manufacturing sector. Also, manufacturing industry provides great opportunities for investment and employment in the country. We hope the government further encourages the automobile industry and lays down long-term roadmap to help the sector plan its investments in new technologies and skill development. Further, we expect the government to take adequate measures in terms of improving liquidity which will lead to increase in consumer spending and in turn, boost the economy and GDP.
Akshay Singhal, Founder, Log 9 materials
“I think for startups there are already a lot of initiatives in action, improved mechanisms for execution of those schemes is extremely important. However, I am more concerned about the economy as a whole. To boost economy my suggestion would be to increase spending under Swachh Bharat Scheme may be via MNREGA to get Indian cities clean by employing the bottom of the pyramid.”
Yash Rane, Founder, Chizel
“With Indian economy on slowdown, we need policy with long term sustainable growth and not just for a few years. We are looking at 9% GDP growth and that is not easy. GST has hampered the cash flow of SMBs thereby affecting their buying power. Government should enable monthly filings and quarterly GST payments. Also, it is the time to accept that manufacturing is and has always been the backbone of India. With China-US relationship getting better, India needs stronger partnerships to bolster exports.”
Rakesh Kharwal, Managing Director, India/South Asia & ASEAN, Cyberbit
“The Digital India initiative has done a remarkable job and as Digital India 2.0 gets contemplated, the focus of the government should be to build superior trust in technology. We hope that this Union Budget will focus more on cybersecurity measures to protect the integrity of critical infrastructure for financial systems, public health, science, safety institutions, defense, aerospace, and intelligence agencies. We are anticipating additional budgetary allocation for the national cybersecurity programmers and at least 10% of the technology budget for cybersecurity initiatives.
The government must also add stimulus to the market segment and the economy at large. Perhaps, a good way of doing it can be to include simulation-based cybersecurity training solutions like Cyber Range in the Skill India campaign. It will help in addressing the gap of 1 million professionals in the Indian cybersecurity industry while also aptly positioning the segment for the ripe global market. Apart from that, we expect that the budget will lay down a few more reforms to boost the service provider ecosystem in India.”