Union Budget 2022: Post Budget reactions from Various Industry Leaders Defined

1. TradeSmart, an NSE registered India’s leading tech enabled discount brokerage firm

Industry- Fintech

Below are the views of Mr. Vikas Singhania, CEO, TradeSmart

Construction and Logistics

“Road construction given a boost by increasing the target to 25,000 kms of National Highways construction. Comparing this to the current construction of around 13,000 kms the target is almost double than the current level.Also, bringing all key transport ministries under the Gati Shakti plan is a positive step for the logistics sector.”

Public transport & Energy

“The EV sector received a boost with cities being encouraged to introduce zero-fossil fuel policies and urban residents encouraged to increase ridership on public transport and use of electric mobility. The private sector has been encouraged to build business models for battery-as-a-service. To encourage use of EVs, battery swapping and charging infrastructure will be scaled up and interoperability standards formulated. The steps will go a long way in promoting EV sales in the country.”

Tax

“Investors were relieved that the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has not announced any increase in taxes especially on long-term capital gains tax on equity investments in her Budget speech. The FM has capped the LTCG on equity at 15 percent, which should be beneficial for shareholders of unlisted companies. No new taxes have been imposed on corporate India too. Capping LTCG on unlisted companies is good for HNIs and also for venture capitalists.”

Crypto/Digital assets:

“Legalising cryptocurrencies the finance minister has imposed a 30% tax on cryptocurrencies and NFTs brings it at par with those charged on speculative income. Thought on higher side, traders can now trade in these assets without fear of government intervention. The Budget has removed the legal uncertainty on Crypto Currency trading.  People can trade in Crypto but they will have to pay tax.  It is to be checked in fine prints, that if corporates trade in crypto then, the corporate tax is applicable or 30% or whichever is higher.”

An overview quote on Union budget 2022 by Vikas Singhania, CEO, TradeSmart:

“A short and sweet budget by the finance minister with no tweaks on taxes but a lot of measures to promote overall economic activity. The budgetary capex has been increased by 19% while at the same time providing impetus to EVs, solar power and renewable energy, agriculture, blending of fuels, startups, the introduction of digital currency, giving legitimacy to cryptocurrencies and green bonds all point towards the government sticking to the growth path.”

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1. Design & Construct, a tech enabled end to end construction company

Industry- Real Estate

Below are the views of Priyadarshi Mishra, CEO/Founder

Housing & Real Estate

The inception of dedicated institutes for urban planning in real estate sector will help to maximize the urban development as well as minimize the complexities in urban planning. The budget is a great initiative to make housing affordable for a large section of the country.

Startups

With announcement of Union Budget 2022 by honourable Finance Minister, the budget has focussed more on the Made in India initiative to minimize the dependency. To encourage the start-up ecosystem government has relaxed the tax and introduced flexible policies to help start-ups in the country.

With an expected growth of 9.27% percent the budget has given enough flexibility for start ups which will help to create new job prospects. The use of drones for startups will push the start ups for excellence. The promotion of fintech and technology based development will help the economy gain a pace as well as create a better job prospects for individuals.

Major push for infra

Infra spends in PPP mode seem to be the thrust of the Union Budget 2022. Start-ups in agriculture sector encouraged with commitment to provide support for FPOs, technology including IT based support. ECLGS extended up to March 2023 to aid MSME sector financing needs. The support for agriculture start up in the union budget will make FPO’s stronger as well as strengthen the IT support

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1. StanPlus, India’s largest ambulance network

Industry- Healthcare

Below are the views of Prabhdeep Singh, Founder and CEO StanPlus

“The upcoming launch of an open platform for the National Digital Health Ecosystem is exciting news for us. It will include digital registries of health providers and facilities, a unique health identity, and universal access to health facilities, all of which will aid us in saving lives by allowing us access to contextual health information in quick time, enabling faster and better medical response in emergencies.

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1. Leverage Edu, India’s Largest Study Abroad Platform

Industry- Ed Tech

Below are the views of Akshay Chaturvedi Founder & CEO, Leverage Edu

“I believe the 2022 budget is focused around smart digital expenditures in not just education, but across sectors! A very forward-looking budget in my opinion that will enable startups take lead in India’s next phase of development. Introduction of the e-passport facility will decrease friction in the immigration process and I look forward to Indians getting access to such world-class tech. Lastly, steps like capping off long-term capital gains at 15% clearly position this as a document which heard and implemented feedback from all quarters, and that’s amazing!”

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1. Medulance, end to end responsive emergency service provider

Industry- Healthcare

Below are the views of Mr. Pranav Bajaj Co-founder, Medulance

 Budget 2022 has surely come as a booster dose for the healthcare sector.

The new initiatives announced by the Finance Minister will help India recover from the damages to the healthcare infrastructure caused by the pandemic and strengthen it further. These initiatives, especially the open platform for the National Digital Health Ecosystem will also help  strengthen the healthcare sector of the nation at the core. The past few years have revolutionised the way mental health is being viewed, I am sure that the National Tele Mental Health program will receive a very warm welcome.The Tax breaks for setting up hospitals in tier 2 and tier 3 cities is highly appreciated, this break will encourage the boom in quality healthcare providers in these cities, along with the proposal for the PM Gati Shakti Master Plan will help connect the tier 2 and tier 3 cities and will ensure that the healthcare services are accessible to all regions equally.

The increase in the GDP proportion for healthcare was much needed and is rightly implemented. All these announcements made today have come as a ray of hope for the healthcare sector. I am sure that the country is moving towards a stronger, more accessible and quality healthcare infrastructure.

1. Archit Gupta, Founder and CEO, Clear

Cryptocurrency + Taxation

“Government has brought in 30% tax on cryptos income, where no deduction for any expenses except cost of acquisition shall be allowed. Gift of virtual assets shall also be taxed for the recipient. This clears the air on taxes for cryptos, however, there are several types of incomes people earn from cryptos and hopefully more clarity will be available in the Budget documents.”

ITR

If the time for revising ITR has passed or it has already been assessed, a taxpayer could no longer amend and pay addl taxes. (Earlier time period was end of AY). If the taxpayer wants to pay addl taxes and amend an already filed return, it can be done now, within 2 years from the end of the relevant assessment year. The intention is to allow taxpayers an opportunity to pay any unpaid taxes without severe consequences, in case they have made a mistake at the time of filing and return is already processed.

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1. Vimal Sharma, Founder-Director and CEO, SMOOR

ECLG Scheme

We are grateful to the honourable Finance Minister for extending the ECLG scheme to the MSME sector. This will help us access the capital needed for growth and deploy efficiently.

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1. Nischal Shetty, CEO, WazirX

India is finally on the path to legitimising the crypto sector in India. It’s phenomenal news that India launching a blockchain powered Digital Rupee is phenomenal news. This move will pave the way for crypto adoption and put India in the front seat of innovation.

It’s also interesting to note how our government is beginning to recognise crypto as an emerging asset class given how our FM was referring to it as a virtual digital asset. The biggest development today, however, was a clarity on crypto taxation. This will add the much needed recognition to the crypto ecosystem of India. We also hope this development removes any ambiguity for banks, and they can provide financial services to the crypto industry.

Overall, it’s good news for us, and we will need to go through the detailed version of the budget to understand the finer details.

The tax clarity is a welcome move. Overall, it’s a huge relief to see that our government is adopting the progressive stance of going ahead in the direction of innovation. By bringing in taxation, the government legitimises the industry to a large extent. The majority of people, especially corporates, who have been sitting on the sidelines because of uncertainties will now be able to participate in crypto. Overall, it’s a positive move for the industry.

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1. Mr. Rajiv. K Vij, Founder of Plug Mobility.

There are some good announcements in the budget to promote EV’s through promoting charging infra and standardizing the battery norms for swapping and interoperability. However, the budget has missed a major challenge in EV adoption-Availability of  Financing for fleets and a Credit Guarantee by Government are desperately required by fleet owners who have suffered hugely during the pandemic. The commercial car industry is ready to transition to EV but with avail6of easy finance at low cost, this will be delayed further.

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1. Sushant Kumar, CEO & MD, AMO Electric Bikes

The country’s financial budget session for 2022-23 began today with a lot of excitement, as it was overheard that this paperless budget will include numerous bold plans and policies to improve GDP and government expenditure. FM Nirmala Sitharaman is set to give a significant budget that will outline the plan for 100 years of Indian independence, or “India at 100,” which would include everything from digital money to 5G services, revising income tax returns to increasing electric vehicles in the country.

In the EV sector, the FM has rightly specified the necessary elements in the budget that the country’s EV producers have been requesting for a long time. She is committed to promoting greener and cleaner transportation solutions in India by enacting a number of initiatives, many of which include attempts to expand charging infrastructure around the country. This will help with two things in particular: first, it will alleviate range anxiety, and second, it will increase EV acceptance among the general public. The FM also mentioned a crucial regulatory shift with the battery swapping service as a solution to range anxiety and rapid EV adoption.

The FM advocates for the development of interoperability standards, which would assist Indian manufacturers to establish joint ventures with major technological partners from other countries, hence boosting long-term EV business in India.

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1. Sasidhar Nandigam, CEO, CredR

The Indian auto industry recorded its worst performance of the last decade this year. Even then, we did not see the Finance Minister make any big direct announcements for the automotive sector involved with personal mobility. So, overall we are a little disappointed on that front.

The focus has been on strengthening the rural economy. Theoretically, the implementation of these announcements should help disposable income in rural areas, thereby improving the vehicle buying sentiment. As a result, two-wheeler and tractor companies could see improvement in demand. In addition, the announcements of a battery swapping policy and push for clean tech and electric vehicles will help the EV segment in India. Also, the push on cleaner propulsion technologies will improve air quality and reduce consumption of fossil fuels.

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1. Dhruv Sawhney, Business Head and COO, nurture.farm

As a part of the agri-tech industry, I firmly believe that the budget should not only focus on economic but also enable sustainable development to secure future generations. Putting climate action as one of the focus areas of the budget is a mega move from the government. The AgTech sector plays an important role in educating farmers on sustainable modes of agriculture, scaling the operations, and reducing the carbon footprint that are an outcome of the agricultural practices. The announcement towards launch of sovereign green bonds for projects signals India’s strong commitment towards a low carbon economy. It will help to bring down the cost of capital for green projects by attracting new investors and mobilising private capital towards sustainable development. This will further boost our efforts to make agriculture sustainable by helping farmers earn more through adopting sustainable agricultural practices.

Another key point is the adoption of technology-enabled models of agriculture. The need of the hour is to make the sector more efficient, sustainable, profitable, and the farmers more resilient. Revision of agriculture syllabus to include modern agricultural methods; use of Kisan drones for crop assessment, digitisation of land records and spraying of insect pesticides; boosting financial inclusion of farmers through digital modes of payments – all these steps taken by the government will go a long way in agriculture sector achieving its maximum potential while encouraging Indian AgTech startups to strengthen the agri ecosystem from the grassroots level.

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1. Mr. Yash Gupta- Equity Research Analyst, Angel One Ltd.

Pharma and healthcare sector have a lot of expectations for the union budget 2022-23 by Nirmala Sitaraman. The Pharma and healthcare sector has played an important role during the time of covid 19. It is expected that several incentives can be given to the pharma sector regarding the setting up of new facilities, API (active pharmaceutical ingredient), and finished pharmaceutical product manufacturing in India. Along with this, it is expected that some positive news for the Healthcare sector as well like increase in depreciation rate on setting up of new hospitals and giving credit for setting up of greenfield projects.

Stocks to buy on Budget day – Divi’s Laboratories Ltd and Supriya Lifescience Ltd in API manufacturing. Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd in the Healthcare sector.

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1. Cdr Syed Qais Hayat (R), President Strategy & Operations, ARTPARK (AI & Robotics Technology Park).

Defence Segment

“68% of defence procurement budget in 2022-23 is to be earmarked for domestic equipment. This is up from 58% in last fiscal. This will provide further impetus to greater participation of domestic industry in Defence Capital acquisitions. This is in line with the government’s approach to not import capital assets in all cases where the domestic industry can create products and solutions. Therefore, import of Capital assets for Defence will be resorted mainly in those cases which necessitate urgent procurements (generally self-defence) and in-house development of matching technology is unlikely in near to mid-term. This means the Ministry of Defence, its Departments and Services will have a larger than ever onus to carry out a thorough environment scan of in-house capabilities in defence production to identify, support and induct technologies, equipment and platforms to be able to justify any capital imports.”

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1. Mr. Siddharth Agrawal – Director, Godawari E-mobility Pvt Limited.

Battery Swapping Policy announcement is a positive step to promote electrification in the country. It will aid in developing the EV ecosystem for OEMs and other component makers alike and further growth in the segment. We shall await the fine print of the policy and hope it accelerates EV adoption and addresses consumer concerns.

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1. Pulkit Sharma, Co Founder and Ceo, Khabri

“We highly support our Government’s decision of the Production Linked Incentive Scheme that will create 60 lakh new jobs in the next 5 years. The idea of Digital university will help India set a top-notch world-class education. We believe that knowledge and awareness will support India becoming Atmanirbhar and through the expansion of the One class, one TV channel program of PM eVIDYA this cause will be highly achievable.

Regional languages will be empowered through this program, which enables all states to provide supplementary education in regional languages for classes 1 to 12. These digital initiatives will provide for a more conducive environment for the adoption of tech-based learning and which will directly route to empowering youth from real Bharat”

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1. Chetan Kumar, Co-Founder, Ekank Technologies

Firstly, would like to appreciate our government extending the tax initiatives for startups up to March 2023. Through tax initiatives and new reforms in the direct tax, the startup ecosystem will enhance effectively within no time. The idea of launching a digital university will help understand people the culture of India through world-class education.

The Introduction of Digital currency by the central bank will definitely lead away to cheaper currency management. The highlight of the budget for us is the expansion of the One class, one TV channel’ program of PM eVIDYA which will help promote the regional languages in the country as through the program, all states will provide supplementary education in regional languages for classes 1 to 12.

The government has also focussed on establishing a positive mental health environment and with Ekank Technologies, we completely support this initiative through our feature of “light read”, which gives the users a chance to enjoy stress-free reading.

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1. Vikas Jain, Co Founder and Ceo, World of Play

‘We support the government’s focus on technology, it will help many tech based companies like WORLD OF PLAY to come up with exciting product experience for the Indian consumers. We welcome the focus of government on the wearables and acoustic component ecosystem and domestic manufacturing and believe on a long term, this focus will make India as a formidable design and manufacturing powerhouse.

Additionally the boost in ease of doing business and special impetus on creating 60 lakh new jobs will give a desired push to the goal of becoming Atma Nirbhar Bharat. As a brand, we promote and follow Make in India and we believe long-term policies like this will give us the desired support for the local design and also manufacturing in India.”

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1. Vijay Kumar Mikkilineni, Head of Marketing, TCL India

“We welcome the Finance Minister’s increased focus on the consumer electronics industry and formation technology, which will definitely benefit all worldwide companies, including ours. The 2022 Union Budget allocated 1.97 lakh crore ($26 billion) for PLI projects, notably electronic components, which are among the 13 vital sectors that would undoubtedly help our economy expand.

Furthermore, reduced customs taxes will encourage electronics manufacture, which will benefit the electronics industry.”

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1. Rimo Bose, PR and Branding Manager, TCL India

“Extending the support to the government for increasing focus on the consumer electronics sector and formation technology, which will undoubtedly benefit all global brands like us. The recent Allocation of Rs 197 million (US $ 26 billion) to PLI projects in the United Budget (202122), especially electronic components, is one of the 13 key sectors that will definitely help our economy grow.

In addition, tariff reductions will drive the production of electronic devices, which will be the greatest benefit of the electronic device sector.”

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1. Sai Srinivas, Co-Founder and CEO, Mobile Premier League (MPL)

“It is very encouraging to see that the Union Budget has taken into consideration some of the long-pending suggestions for the Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, and Comics (AVGC) sector, while noting the strong potential this industry holds for employment-generation as well as taking ‘Made in India’ game titles global.

We welcome the Hon’ble Finance Minister’s announcement to set up an AVGC Promotion Task Force to provide a much-needed boost to the sector. This announcement highlights the need to build capacity to serve both domestic and global markets, and is a strong indicator of the impetus that the government is willing to provide for its growth. It is also heartening to see the government’s commitment to work with the industry, allowing for a balanced approach that accommodates the needs of all stakeholders and strengthens the ecosystem holistically. A progressive tax regime, predictable regulatory framework and supportive funding policies will allow the industry to compete on the world stage and fulfil the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision for the Indian digital gaming sector to be a global powerhouse. Moreover, it will also help develop a workforce of young and employable AVGC professionals to usher in the next tech revolution from within India.

The Budget rightly mentions that promoting the digital economy and sunrise sectors will be a priority in the next 25 years (75 to 100 years of India’s Independence)—the Amrit Kaal of India. With a renewed focus on the AVGC sector, blended financing for deep tech and IT, hardware and electronics manufacturing combined with deployment of 5G and affordable internet in underserved areas, it is clear that the government is committed to take the Indian startup ecosystem to the next level.

We are hopeful that with the positive support of the government, the coming years will see online gaming, VFX and esports startups leading the charge in the global economy. By developing deep tech intellectual property and exporting services, they can help cement India’s position as a world leader in the sector.”

Vikram Gidwani, Country Head, BioCatch.

“Digital Rupee is a great concept which has direct application in financial Inclusion. We welcome this initiative by the government and look forward to RBI’s guidelines and steps to implement the same. However, to make Digital money safe from cyberthreats, the country need strong and fool-proof defence system against cyber crimes. Technologies like behavioural biometrics, mule detection, etc can be used to build that infrastructure.” said, Vikram Gidwani, Country Head, BioCatch.

Electric Vehicles segment Reactions to the Union Finance Budget FY2022-23

Mr. Ketan Mehta – Founder & CEO, HOP Electric Mobility, “Overall, this is a good budget for electric vehicles and charging/swapping infrastructure in India. The measures under PM Gati Shakti will boost and give the necessary push to job opportunities in every sector. Policy measures announced on battery swapping will help in the wide-scale adoption of ‘batteries as a service’. Will be happy to see the reduction in ownership costs of electric vehicles with this announcement. Since the cost of running electric vehicles is a practical alternate mode of mobility, the government’s intent to improve the charging ecosystem will help ease migration to EVs, which are more economical than the usage of ICE- vehicles. We see this creating opportunities for several new start-ups. We strongly believe and support the clean and green energy mission.”

HOP Electric Mobility is an integrated electric mobility company and a fast-growing electric two-wheeler manufacturer having a comprehensive ecosystem approach to electric vehicles business.

Mr. Sameer Aggarwal, Founder and CEO, RevFin – “A policy on battery swapping will help in wide scale adoption of batteries as a service. This will reduce upfront ownership costs of electric vehicles and link that cost to vehicle running. Since the cost of running electric vehicles is cheaper, the overall running cost with battery service will work out to be more economical than usage of ICE based vehicles. This is a very welcome announcement in the union budget. This will also create opportunities for several new startups”, says Sameer Aggarwal, CEO and Founder, RevFin.

“Zero emission zones in cities will help bring prominence to electric vehicles as well as provide incentive to purchase electric vehicles to be able to use those zones”, added Sameer Aggarwal of Revfin.

RevFin is a leading Electric Vehicle financing organisation, which eases accessibility to Electric Vehicles and adoption.

According to Mr. Arun Sunny, Founder & CEO – Trouve Motor, “Budget considers and touches all areas of growth and well-being of its citizens. Good initiative to promote Battery swapping policy, and inter operable policy to be formulated will bring down the cost of Electric Vehicles down drastically and also will make the adoption of EVs faster. Electric Vehicles in Urban, Battery and Energy as a service will bring in more investment and faster infrastructure building.”

“Also, budget allocation of Rs 7.5 lakh crore as capital expenditure is a welcome step for the commercial vehicle market; especially the medium and heavy commercial vehicle segment, along with being a big boost for the Infrastructure and Manufacturing sector.” added Mr. Arun

Trouve Motor is a manufacturer of high-speed electric motorcycles, bringing in Blockchain integrated structure with its own metaverse ecosystem.