Budget 2023: Technology-driven industry expectations

Mr. Bhaskar Mishra, Head of Product, Mihup, emphasized that 2023 will be a pivotal year from a technology perspective. “This year will be pivotal for the government’s efforts to drive India’s digitization, and the tech and start-up sectors, especially AI solution providers, have placed a lot of hope in the upcoming joint budget. The government’s policy decisions and budget allocations are expected to shape the The future of India’s thriving startup ecosystem,” Mishra said.

“The AI ​​and entrepreneurship sector is looking forward to initiatives such as an increased pool of angel investors at the seed stage, and a tax-deductible incentive of 30% of the cost of equity to offset an investor’s income tax liability in the year the investment is made. In many cases, employees tend to Use ESOPs to build wealth and use it to start your own startups. That’s why the entrepreneurship sector has been asking that ESOPs should be taxed on sale, not on vesting,” he added.

In the fintech space, Mr. Saurav Ghosh and Mr. Vineet Agrawal, co-founders of Jiraaf, see the need to simplify the process of attracting foreign investment into key growth sectors amidst geopolitical tensions.

“Given the current volatile markets and looming uncertainty due to inflation, war and possible recession, some of the most important focus areas for India’s Union Budget 2023/24 must revolve around supporting sustainable growth, controlling inflation and attracting foreign Investment into key growth areas,” they said.

“Some of the actions that can be taken to support individual taxpayers include changes to current taxation such as increases in the basic income tax exemption limit, standard deduction, limits under Sections 80C and 80D, and changes to the 30% tax rate. In addition, in stocks and debt Achieving long-term capital gains tax parity between real estate investments will help the growth of fixed income investments and bolster investor confidence in long-term investment products.”

Mr Abhijit Bhattacharya, Founder and CBO of OneGreen, expects government policies to improve the overall quality of life.

“Over the past few years, the government has taken several initiatives to benefit the economy and the entrepreneurial ecosystem such as digitization, innovation support, ease of doing business, foreign direct investment policies and funding support. The Make In India initiative has also spawned several homegrown start-ups companies, they are creating solutions to enable sustainable lifestyle change,” Bhattacharya said.

“As the world faces multiple challenges, we expect the government to introduce policies, initiatives, guidelines and fiscal measures that will not only generate more economic output but also benefit the overall quality of life and productivity of the 1.4 billion Indians. This must be achieved through sustained information sharing and support for companies that manufacture green and nutritious products to address concerns about the higher cost of plant-based organic foods and a lack of awareness about nutritional options,” he added.