The just-announced Union Budget 2022-23 has projected GDP growth at around 8% compared with an estimated 9.2% for the current fiscal year 2021-22 and a 6.6% contraction in 2020-21. With a focus on four pillars of development — inclusive development, productivity enhancement, energy transition, and climate action — the Budget gives a blueprint of the economy from India at 75 to India at 100, as per the finance minister. India will allocate an additional Rs 19,500 crore to boost investment in solar equipment manufacturing, Finance Minister, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman.
Comments of the Industry experts & leaders.
Mr. Sudhindra Holla, Director, Axis Communications, India, and SAARC, “With the goal to complement macro-growth with micro-all-inclusive welfare and tech-enabled development, we are optimistic that these measures will further strengthen India’s power as a global digital hub. With technology serving as the pivot in this year’s budget, there will be a renewed focus on the criticality of a robust cybersecurity solution. The seven engines of the PM Gati Shakti master plan encompassing the launch of 400 new-generation Vande Bharat trains and the national highway network will be the key drivers in the demand for top-notch surveillance solutions. We are upbeat on the slew of recommendations for urban infrastructure development as this will be an impetus for not only generating employment but will also reinvigorate the development of smart cities. The rollout of 5G services will further the potential of technology and aid in promoting R&D and commercialization of tech and solutions.”
Mr. Sunil Sharma, MD – Sales, Sophos India & SAARC, “The Union Budget 2022 presented by the Government of India is built on the foundation of introducing new technologies across sectors. From education to finance, logistics, and healthcare, the bedrock of change will be driven by tech. The Government has further proposed the introduction of the digital rupee. While this will definitely enhance efficiency and promote growth, increased digital penetration also brings with it additional cyber risks that one should vary. As a step towards mitigating cyberattacks, the Government plans to set up broadband in villages as well as the Digital DESH e-portal. This will help equip youth with the right skills, including cybersecurity skillsets, needed to operate safely in today’s tech-driven world.”
Mr. Ashok Kumar, MD RAH Infotech, “The launch of the National Ropeways Development Program will be a major thrust to the tourism sector and the vision towards developing a self-reliant defense sector will additionally boost the demand of hi-tech surveillance and security solutions. This clearly is a futuristic and technology-driven budget presented by the honorable Finance Minister. Almost every key project announced by her talks about leveraging information technology to the fullest in bringing out the best outcome. Giving data centers infrastructure status is a welcome move. It will help in getting easy financing for the data center players and attract more investments. Other areas like 5G spectrum auction in 2022, PLI in 5G, optic fiber network in all villages by 2025, e-passports and emphasis on digital content development and delivery, and digitalization of education are some great moves announced in this budget. Bringing in Digital currency using Blockchain is another huge step,”
Mr. Suman Reddy, Managing Director, and Country Head, Pegasystems India “The Union Budget for 2022 laid the foundation for a growth-supportive plan as the nation commences its exit from a pandemic-induced slump. India’s growth is the highest among all major economies, and we are in a strong position to withstand challenges. With a keen focus on health, education, and startups, we are truly on our way to encouraging further digital adoption, particularly in semi-urban and rural markets. I am delighted with the focus of Budget 2022 on digital and technology. It is a forward-looking blueprint of India’s resilience, capabilities, and determination. The Indian tech startup space continues to witness steady growth, accounting for 70 unicorns with most of them in the IT/knowledge-based sectors. The provisions outlined in this year’s Budget will provide them with a game-changing economic transformation opportunity. Additionally, the framework outlined for citizens to skill, reskill or upskill through online training will open up a sophisticated pipeline of jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities. The introduction of central bank digital currency will boost the digital economy and will hugely benefit the Fintech ecosystem. With setting up of 75 digital banking units India is set to become a robust digital economy in the next two years.”
Mr. Rajesh Maurya, Regional VP, India and SAARC, Fortinet, “In this budget the Government has made a strong economic statement with its focus on public investments to spur growth. Forward-looking and catering to an aspirational Digital India the budget once again lays its emphasis on technology with the launch of Digital Currency using blockchain, Digital University for education in different Indian languages, roll out of 5G and boost to Start-ups. Climate action is among the top 4 priorities for the Government. Climate change continues to pose a significant threat, and all business and public organizations across the country must do their part to address it. Skilling programs and partnerships with industry will be re-oriented to promote continuous skilling avenues, sustainability, and employability. The launch of the Desh-Stack e-portal will provide the ecosystem for skilling and livelihood. Fortinet has been dedicated to closing the cybersecurity skills gap by making all its NSE self-paced training courses free for everyone. We will further build on this commitment with a pledge to train 1 million people across the globe in the next 5 years. Essential services, Digital currency, and the sensitivity of the information the government holds all call for shared responsibility in protecting valuable data and digital assets. Smart planning, doing the cybersecurity basics, and leveraging the increasing convergence of networking and security are keys to ensuring that all services can operate efficiently and securely.”
Mr. Puneet Gupta, MD & VP, NetApp India, “I am excited to see the government’s focus on the technology sector, as a whole. The incentives towards creating digital infrastructure, education, and skilling, spell out the intent of developing the country’s human capital. The emphasis of digitized skilling will help make our country’s youth future-ready. Additionally, the announcement on RBI introducing digital currency and the government providing infrastructure status to data centers will help create a framework for emerging technologies making the digital India Inc better and stronger.”
Mr. Prabhakar Iyer, Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer, Ingram Micro India, “FM has presented a splendid Growth-oriented budget. The budget has the thrust on infrastructure development, digitization, skilling, and ease of doing business. It is a forward-looking budget and will have an impact in the years to come. Infra spending will generate millions of jobs and propel the growth of the economy. The government has embraced technology and digitization in all sectors of the economy viz. defense, agriculture, health, education. It is very interesting to note the way Government is adapting the digitization – by increasing faceless engagement with government and also between the private sector through government platforms, creation of unified logistics platform, Delivery of digital and Hi-tech services to farmers, use of Kisan drones to aid farmers, establishing Digital university, e labs, e skilling are a very modern and contemporary governance process. The tax was always applicable to gains on virtual assets. The current budget gives more clarity on the same. It is a welcoming measure. The introduction of digital currency is one of the great steps in the right direction. It shows that we as a country are ready to embrace and adapt to the virtual currency dynamics and grow the economy in a modern way. Digital money, Digital banking, and digital platform in dealing with the government are the key drivers of the government. Overall, a very consistent and simple budget with 100% directional alignment to last year’s budget focuses on building trust. This shows the long-term focus of the government versus too many changes whilst keeping the option of announcing reforms throughout the year.”
Mr. Rajiv Bhalla, MD, Barco India, “The emphasis on growth, digitization and being future-ready outlines the government’s commitment to cohesive development and ‘Make in India’. Focus on Gati Shakti masterplan, youth, women, job creation, technology, and infrastructure development among others will drive India’s Amrit Kal, the journey from 75 to 100 years as a democracy. India has the potential to be a world-class infrastructure center, and the Budget has provided enough impetus to propel the same. In addition, we expect the digital ecosystem for skilling will boost human capital and empower industries significantly.
Mr. Sachin Bhalla, VP and Country General Manager, Secure Power Division, Schneider Electric India and SAARC, “The growth and prowess witnessed in the data center market across the country present enormous opportunities for businesses and industries alike to reap scalable benefits and drive growth and profit in tandem. The Union Budget 2022 presented by the honorable Finance Minister to grant infrastructure status to data centers and energy storage systems in order to facilitate financing for the industry is a step in the right direction. This intervention will be instrumental for the sector as it advances towards harnessing its increased potential and technological advancements. As we enter the new era of Digital India, we must focus on recognizing, addressing, and overcoming environmental challenges, as well as developing a blueprint for navigating the future of sustainable data center solutions. According to research conducted by JLL, the capacity of India’s colocation data center industry is expected to double by next year; 2023. This, in turn, would necessitate the requirement for more than five million square feet of real estate to empower the burgeoning industry. Today’s announcement puts data center development at par with other major sectors in terms of access to long-term and low-cost credit, thereby accelerating efforts towards data localization. We will continue to align with the Government of India’s landmark Aatmanirbhar Bharat vision to promote conscious, clean, and sustainable technology solutions that are self-sufficient and driven by innovation. The solutions that we devise today will shape our future tomorrow as we envision and redefine resilience and operational excellence powered by cutting-edge technologies in data center operations of the future.”
Mr. Sunil Bist – CEO, NetConnect Global, “We see enormous potential in the next digital transformation era, fuelled by fields such as 5G-enabled internet of vehicles, internet of things, and industrial internet, and in India, we will see upcoming growth opportunities for a range of small and medium-sized enterprises, which can explore the innovative 5G applications in various industries.”
Mr. Kunal Nagarkatti, CEO, Clover Infotech, “The Government’s focus on creating a strong digital ecosystem to enhance banking and financial inclusion is a step in the right direction. Bringing all post office banks under the core banking ambit will enable seamlessness in digital payments and online transfer of funds and accelerate financial inclusion. The setting up of the Digital DESH e-portal for skilling initiatives is the need of the hour as it will bridge the gap between the supply and demand for digitally skilled and technically strong resources.”
Mr. C.P. Gurnani, MD & CEO, Tech Mahindra, “The budget truly echoes India’s vision towards inclusive development and building a truly ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat.’ FM’s key announcements on blockchain and setting up e-passports with futuristic technologies are a step in the right direction to help India emerge as a global technology leader. The focus on innovation and R&D with an emphasis on strengthening talent capacity through STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) universities and skilling courses in IITs will enable India to become a global hub for skilled talent. Overall, Budget 2022 promises to provide the much-needed impetus to sustain India’s economic and digital growth.”
Mr. Niraj Hutheesing, Founder and Managing Director, Cygnet Infotech, “The advancement in enhanced transparency of payments is a huge stride forward for India in terms of fintech innovation. The proposed end-to-end online e-Bill system will enable increased productivity for industries that go completely paperless. This will prove to be extremely fruitful for digitization. Furthermore, the acknowledgment that India’s GST collection stands at Rs.1.4 lakh crore for the month of January 2022, exemplifies the growing need for digital taxation solutions that promise to take the Indian economy to the next level.”
Mr. Dhruvil Sanghvi, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, LogiNext, “We welcome the move by the Government of India to boost logistics as a means towards ensuring economic growth. The proposal to set up a Unified Logistics Interface Platform is a welcome move. Leveraging technology to complement the development of infrastructure will help bring in better efficiency. Furthermore, with real-time tracking, and inventory management as a part of the platform, this will go a long way in bringing India at par with global supply chain networks. LogiNext has always been an advocate for the digitization of supply chains, and it is reassuring to see the Government work towards this. The decision taken to extend the tax incentives provided to startups till March 31, 2023, is a reflection of the Government’s commitment towards ease of doing business in India.”
Mr. Sandeep Lodha, Co-founder at Netweb Technologies, “With this rational allocation the government intends to increase capital investment significantly. The government has announced a number of targeted spending initiatives that will boost the IT industry both directly and indirectly. Project Gati Shakti, on which the government is concentrating its efforts, will usher in a major shift in the country’s supply chain management. For projects like these, the use of technology, as well as the expanded use of technology, will be critical. This will boost Cloud usage even more, with various AI use cases and benefits for technologies like blockchain.”
Mr. Sanjay Gupta, VP & MD, NXP Semiconductors, “The plan to roll out E- passports with embedded chip and futuristic technology, digital rupee using blockchain by RBI, Drone Shakti, and Kisaan Drones and opening Defence R&D for industry, startups, and academia are welcome moves that will accelerate the growth and development of the semiconductor industry in the country. As the government continues to accentuate focus on Atmanirbhar Bharat and Digital India, we are hopeful that this year’s budget will propel India towards becoming a global electronic hub.”
Mr. Debasish Mukherjee, VP – Regional Sales APAC, SonicWall Inc, “Union budget 2022 is quite a futuristic one for India’s growth for the next 25 years. A lot of good initiatives have been proposed like giving data center services an Infrastructure sector status, Introduction of the digital rupee, Initiation of 5G Auction, e-passport services, etc. A report states that hackers try to break into a computer every 39 seconds on average which makes cybersecurity the number one external concerning matter for policymakers and industry leaders alike across industries. The ultra-fast 5G network will allow devices to connect faster and transfer exponentially more information making it a cybersecurity challenge to protect servers, cell phones, security systems, vehicles, smart homes, etc. from being breached. We at SonicWall are already ahead in this game with our boundless security models to combat them.”
Mr. Anshuman Rai, Area VP – India and South Asia, Commvault, “The Budget 2022 is a futuristic step taken by the government to complement nation’s macro-growth encompassing digital economy, tech-enabled development, and inclusive sustainable actions. The announcement of data centers being awarded an infrastructure status is truly commendable as this move will be a major thrust to data localization. The new status will enable the data center sector to get credit at competitive rates and on a long-term basis with enhanced limits. This move will also be a catalyst in realizing India’s vision of attaining the position of a global data center hub. The establishment of an open national digital health ecosystem, inclusive core financial approach, and digital currency will be instrumental in bridging the digital gap and bolstering the Digital India vision further. With an increased focus on the digital ecosystem for skilling, through API-based skill credentials and digital universities, we will see a talent surge that is equipped for the jobs of the future. The initiatives for telecom services and modernization for the Agri sector through land record digitization will be critical in modernizing and broadening the scope of data generation, management, and protection. All these measures will, ultimately, result in a massive amount of data generation which will drive the demand for a robust and unified data management and protection technology further.”
Mr. Kapil Bardeja, CEO & Co-Founder- Vehant Technologies, “Government’s decision to provide an extension under Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGMSE) till march 2023 to the MSMEs was much-needed support & boast to the MSME sector and this financial support will strengthen the confidence of small & medium scale industries who were struggling during the pandemic. The percentage growth of Capex 2022-23 and the overall rise in infrastructure, will eventually boost the security industry as the need for security & screening equipment will increase. The Government promotes Make in India, Vocal for Local, and Atmanirbhar Bharat visions, by laying out more money for local contractors under the defense sector, now the defense will have to invest 68% of its budget procuring equipment from domestic players. Given the current times, the budget is focused on India’s growth and we anticipate this should act as a multiplier effect to the Indian MSME ecosystem. Overall, the budget is well designed to give a boost to local manufacturing and improve the infrastructure of the country.”
Mr. Amit Chadha, CEO, and MD, L&T Technology Services, “Digital Engineering is the future, and steps taken today will shape the country’s journey ahead on this. And the announcements under Union Budget appear to precisely embrace this proactive approach as the fundamental impetus has been on leveraging digital technologies to further the nation’s growth and march ahead. As a pure-play ER&D services provider, our belief is that such a mass scale enablement of the digital ecosystem will also result in complementing uptake of digital engineering capabilities resulting in the country maintaining its stronghold as a global preferred destination for engineering services.”
Mr. Dharmender Kapoor, CEO &MD, Birlasoft, “I would like to applaud the efforts of the Finance Ministry on the Union Budget 2022, which is technology-focused and will be a catalyst for growth. It is apparent from this budget that we are on track to achieve our objective of a truly digital India. The adoption of emerging technologies like blockchain and artificial intelligence in the RBI-backed Digital Rupee, E-Passports, Geospatial Systems, etc. will be a game-changer in terms of strengthening the country’s economy. Additionally, the Union Government’s push towards skilling, reskilling, and upskilling people through the digital ecosystem for skilling and livelihood – DESH-Stack E-Portal, will help address the talent gap and open the doors to newer opportunities. We are also happy to see that the budget is focused on an overall ‘ease of doing business’ theme, which will prove to be a boon for the country in the long run.”
Mr. Mahendra Nahata, MD, HFCL, “We believe the budget 2022-23 aims to prioritize growth with its thrust on capital spending and generating employment opportunities for wider section of the economy. The budget also had positive announcements for the telecom industry, Defence, and housing sector. As announced by the FM, the PLI scheme in 14 sectors has already received excellent response and has the potential to create 60 lakh new jobs, and additional production of Rs. 30 lakh crore during the next 5 years. Required spectrum auctions will be conducted in 2022 to facilitate the rollout of 5G mobile services within FY23 by private telecom providers. We believe that the expected spectrum rollout for 5G in 2022, combined with a scheme for design-led manufacturing for 5G equipment under the PLI scheme will not only lead to advancement in the sector but will also help to create employment opportunities. Being a leader in the production of optical fiber cables, we are delighted to hear that contracts for laying optical fiber in villages will be awarded under the BharatNet project under the PPP model in 2022-23. This will help the telecom industry in providing affordable broadband and mobile communication in rural and remote areas. We also foresee an Atmanirbhar Bharat and reduced reliance on imports with the Government earmarking 68% of the capital procurement budget for the domestic industry in 2022-23, up from 58% in 2021-22.”
NASSCOM “Strengthening the collective vision for an inclusive Digital Bharat, the Union Budget 2022 sets the tone for India’s techade. The government’s sharp focus on technology-enabled development and aligned investments in key sectors like healthcare, fintech, education, infrastructure, R&D, start-ups, agriculture, and manufacturing is a testament to India’s technology prowess and the capabilities of the Indian technology industry to provide a fillip to sectors across. The budget introduced measures ranging from taxation to investment to help boost the country’s economic activities, digital governance, ease of doing business, ensuring job creation, and marking India’s transition to an inclusive Digital Economy. Promoting technology-enabled development, energy transition, public-private partnership, focus on skilling, and climate action, the budget echoes the vision for India’s techade encouraging the use of emerging technologies benefiting and readying India. We are encouraged to see the government focused on digital skilling to encourage continual skilling avenues, sustainability, and employability through online training programs and industry collaborations, as well as the establishment of skilling e-labs for simulated learning settings. These are positive moves toward making India a global talent powerhouse. Over the past few years, start-ups and MSME have emerged as drivers of growth for our economy and the bedrock of India’s innovation journey in this Techade. Extension of the tax incentive to another year and setting up an expert committee to scale VC investments will provide incremental encouragement to VC investments promoting start-ups in the country. These steps are taken to help SMEs and Startups will go a long way in strengthening the backbone of India’s economy. Budget 2022 undoubtedly could be termed as a budget of our times. It is focused on providing India with a strong foundation for the techade and establishing it as a global hub in terms of technology innovation. There were certain points that have been left unaddressed, like – additional focus on industry-led R&D in emerging technologies, enabling clarifications to allow units in SEZs flexibility to adopt hybrid work model, easing the taxation of ESOP by making the taxation regime available to all DPIIT recognized start-ups and taxing employees only when they sell the shares. Lack of action on enabling direct foreign listing, and tax parity between domestic and foreign investors are some other things that we believe were not included in the budget. However, we believe overall this is a healthy budget, with a focus towards the future and we will continue to work with the government to ensure we strengthen the roadmap for a trillion-dollar digital economy by 2026.”
Mr. Ritesh Khandelwal, CFO, NxtGen Datacenter and Cloud Technologies, “I believe the budget 2022 is a fantastic take and the government has made it simple and effective. They have directly targeted the apex areas, keeping health and infrastructure in focus considering the effects of pandemics. With rapid digitalization, the taxation of cryptocurrency is another landmark achievement in this year’s budget, as previously digital currency has always been in the grey area. Digital Rupee using Blockchain would also be an interesting change in the way transactions would take place going forward. As leaders in the cloud infrastructure space, we at NxtGen Datacenters and Cloud Technologies, are very pleased with the declaration of Datacenters as part of the harmonized list of infrastructure. This listing gives us the benefit of working with bank-centered facilities. Earlier data centers were under IT/ ITES (IT Enabled Services), but by having them listed as infrastructure providers, we now have access to low-rate loans which is a straightforward benefit to the industry. The only thing that lacked in this budget was the clarity on government stand and expenditure towards Smart Cities. The government has spent a lot of money and time on this project previously, therefore we were looking forward to getting insights on it. Similarly, we were also expecting some clarity in the data localization policy. All in all, we not only welcome budget 2022 but appreciate it as well.”
Mr. Ashish P. Dhakan, MD & CEO, Prama Hikvision India Pvt Ltd, “It is a pro-growth Union Budget with a vision for the new emerging India that seeks to complement macro-economic level growth with a focus on a micro-economic level all-inclusive welfare. It has a pro-technology focus with a futuristic vision. A special thrust on the promotion of Digital India and adoption of emerging technologies, including 5G, AI, ML, and Drones. The key highlights of the union budget underline the economic growth estimated at 9.2% to be the highest among all large economies. It promises 60 lakh new jobs to be created under the productivity-linked incentive scheme in 14 sectors. It also highlights the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Schemes, which have the potential to create an additional production of Rs 30 lakh crore. This budget has a roadmap for achieving the objective of ‘Make-in-India’ and ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’. The customs duty rationalization to incentivize domestic manufacturing is a welcome step. The budget has the PM Gatishakti Scheme with ambitious plans to transform the transportation sector. The seven engines that are going to drive PM GatiShakti are Roads, Railways, Airports, Ports, Mass Transport, Waterways, and Logistics Infrastructure. The big boost to infrastructure will help the security industry grow in the long term. There is a greater focus on the MSME sector in the budget and as a key stakeholder of the MSME Ecosystem, we feel this is a very positive step for the security industry. The government has announced that Udyam, e-shram, NCS, and ASEEM portals will be interlinked. The help is provided to 130 lakh MSMEs as additional credit under Emergency Credit Linked Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS). The extension of this scheme till March 2023 is a thoughtful decision. The firm focus on Skill Development is another positive aspect of the union budget. Digital Ecosystem for Skilling and Livelihood (DESH-Stack e-portal) will be launched to empower citizens to skill, reskill or upskill through online training. It is overall a pro-growth budget with a vision for the new emerging India on the global front.”
Anand Ramamoorthy, Managing Director, Micron Technology (India) “The 2022-23 budget outlines a balanced, value accretive and pro-growth outlook. It’s an optimal mix of intent and pragmatism. The renewed focus on infrastructure, health, education, entrepreneurship and digitization of the economy, resonates with the Economic Survey’s projected GDP growth rate of 8% for the next fiscal. The call out on semiconductors as a sunrise sector and 5G roadmap post the success of PLI schemes launched last year will provide impetus to the segment. Furthermore, data centric growth and democratization of digital banking augur well for our industry and will further bolster India’s aspirations, as the fastest developing digital economy in the world.”
Alok Dubey, Chief Financial Officer, Acer India “The Union Budget announced today showcased the government’s initiative towards Digital Transformation. From announcing a Digital University, for online learning to high-quality e-content across languages will enable the youth to skill, upskill and reskill themselves. These programs under digital learning and the connectivity expansion will further strengthen the availability and accessibility of internet in rural areas. With Govt infrastructure spending push, we are likely to see more employment and growth opportunities and enhanced private sector investment in manufacturing. We are confident that the exemption of duty on parts of select electronic items will further boost the domestic manufacturing of electronics goods under the PLI scheme. Overall, the Union Budget 2022-23 is a promising budget and a step forward towards ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’.”
Shailendra Katyal, Managing Director, Lenovo PC and smart devices business Group (PCSD) India & Site Leader, Lenovo India., A welcome budget with investment-led growth and push on capital expenditure to fuel economic revival, digitization and employment generation. Calibration of custom duty rates will help local manufacturing of electronic products including computers. With the increased focus on ‘Skilling and providing employment in India’ in this budget, we are confident that local manufacturing will be encouraged and will further bolster the Indian smartphone market, as well as IT services and IT infrastructure markets. We also believe the focus on 5G technology will help in higher peak data speeds, more reliability, increased network capacity and a more uniform user experience. As a global technology leader, we believe these initiatives by the government and the paradigm shift to hybrid models for learning and working will lead to an accelerated adoption of technology in both consumer and enterprise segments.”
Rajeev Singh, MD, BenQ India, “The budget paves way for a digital-savvy India, impacting betterment and quality of life and ease of doing business. We are glad that the Government of India, is cognizant and working towards boosting the digital infrastructure and economy. The emphasis on e-infrastructure in education is laudable. Fostering creativity with virtual labs and skilling e-labs for simulated learning environment will uplift education standards. Expansion of PM’s one class, one TV channel program – eVIDYA from 12 to 200 TV channels, Digital University and the initiative of laying optical fiber by 2025 under Bharat Net will uplift broadband connectivity in rural areas, enabling all states to provide supplementary education in regional languages for K-12 classes. This will further increase the demand for advanced hybrid displays which in turn will give a boost to the virtual classroom and Blended & Hybrid Learning. Further, reduced alternate minimum tax rates, surcharges, concessional tax, and new tax schemes for newly incorporated manufacturing entities will uplift the ‘Gati’ of domestic manufacturing and fasten up economic growth. We look forward to a digital-first India in every front.”
Rajesh Goenka, Director, Sales & Marketing, RP tech India, “This is a very progressive budget focused on giving a boost to the infrastructural development and attracting global investments in form of FDIs. The government has been consistent in giving emphasis on the overall growth and development of industries rather offering sector-specific incentives. The budget will create employment opportunities across the industry verticals and accelerate the GDP growth. We hail the government for its strategic decisions and futuristic approach for the self-reliant India”
James Forbes-May, VP Sales APAC, Barracuda Networks “The budget rolled out this year is a significant step towards the right direction. It outlays a strong focus on almost all sectors, especially focusing on digitization and tech-driven areas. As India is well poised to play an important role in Cybersecurity and Data Protection, the push towards complementing macro-growth with micro-all-inclusive welfare, digital economy and fintech, tech-enabled development, energy transition and climate action would play a crucial role. The Government’s proposal to launch a Digital ecosystem for skilling and livelihood and Desh stack e-portal will encourage growth in the sector, apart from promoting the digital infra. Taking insights from the new budget, we are looking forward to the next phase of Tech-Savvy India, which will be a big growth driver for Cybersecurity businesses and customers alike.”
Vishal Agrawal, MD, India and SAARC, Avaya “We appreciate the government’s continuous focus on the technology sector with the Budget 2022-23. With the ongoing pandemic, the National Digital Health Ecosystem will act as boon to the healthcare workers as it will entail digital registries of health providers, health facilities, unique health identity and universal access to health facilities making their processes digitised and hence, seamless and simplified. At Avaya, we have been contributing to the industry in form of ‘remote healthcare’ for patient care. With social distancing becoming the new norm, frontline responders and healthcare institutions have swiftly adopted collaborative tools and cloud-based solutions to ensure continuity in providing quality healthcare. We look forward to assisting the government with this initiative.“We also welcome the announcements on 5G rollout and PLI scheme as it will boost R&D, generate job opportunities, and enable enhanced connectivity across the country. In the last 2 years, Avaya has helped over 2 million people work remotely without disruptions and ensure business continuity and resilience for various organizations across verticals. Therefore, we appreciate the government moving towards a direction which will enhance hybrid work which indeed is the future of workplace.The Government has also allocated INR 50,000 crore equity infusion in MSMEs which will further strengthen their digital transformation journey. With Avaya being one of the leading global companies in the communications space, we look forward to helping MSMEs create unique customer experiences and scale up with the help of our robust and collaborative solutions. We are also thrilled about government’s announcement around data centers and digital infrastructure boost, and look forward to collectively contribute to the goal of a 5 trillion economy.”
In a nutshell
The Union Budget 2022-23 is widely referred to as ‘people-friendly’ and progressive as it brings with it new energy and strength to India’s development trajectory, especially at a time when the country is fighting the pandemic. Moreover, the removal of exemption on items that are or can be manufactured in India and providing concessional duties on the raw material that go into the manufacturing of intermediate products will go many a step forward in achieving our objective of ‘Make in India’ and ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat.’ Thus we feel that this Budget 2022-23 will boost the economy.
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