'Pro-Growth, Robust, Reformative': How Eminent Industry leaders view Union Budget 2022

As the Union government laid out its plan for ushering growth and development in the coming fiscal by presenting a consolidated Union Budget on Tuesday, ace Industry heads have indicated their support to the Finance Ministry’s framework and lauded calculated and weighed measures announced in consideration with the needs of every sector.

In order to determine what different industries have made of Union budget 2022, Republic spoke with several industry leaders and this is how they have responded:

'Thrust on Digitisation'

Hailing the budget for putting a spotlight on elevating the use of technology, Anjali Bansal, Founder of a leading Venture Capital Fund Avaana Capital said, “The Union Budget 2022 has successfully focused on introducing a framework for attaining a sustainable impact and enabling digitisation across industries. The Indian startup ecosystem has been immensely supported through measures of enhancing the ease of doing business in the country and leveraging MSME data through portals like Udyam, E-Shram, NCS & Aseem for stronger credit facilitation and more entrepreneurial opportunities.”

“The inevitable importance of tech has also been addressed in the budget with the government’s announcement of allocating thematic funds to promote deep tech, Agritech and climate tech in tier 2,3 and 4 cities, henceforth providing an in-depth strategic mechanism & increasing accessibility of resources. The seven engines of PM GatiShakti have highlighted a transformative approach for the overall sustainable development of India,” she further added.

'Immersed Focus on Public Investment'

Emphasising that the Finance Minister has ‘rightly laid the emphasis on Infrastructure and Inclusivity, to grow past the double-digit growth barrier, Nilesh Shah, President & MD, Kotak Mahindra AMC stated, “The Union Budget 2022 has been very promising as it focuses on catalyzing growth while absorbing the shocks of the pandemic. The economy needed a calibrated focus on the revival of industries through increased production capacities, which the Budget has earnestly addressed by an immersed focus on public investment. To increase the overall accessibility of resources for all the sectors: Healthcare, Education, Agriculture, Infrastructure, SME’s, Real Estate sector, the budget has created a balance between capital allocation & economic development. The thrust given to ease of doing business for startups and towards facilitating greater investments is significant for the growing entrepreneurial spirit of India.”

'Robust norms for the Agriculture Sector'

Underscoring the importance of various measures inculcated by the Finance Ministry to stimulate Agricultural growth, Pravesh Sharma, Director, Samunnati Agro, highlighted that the budget ‘looks forward towards building a more robust and resilient agriculture sector.’ 

Lauding the Agro-Tech related norms, Sharma said, “While the overall thrust of the Budget seems to be on infrastructure, agriculture has not been overlooked. Some key areas such as crop diversification and promotion of domestic oilseeds production are important breakthrough ideas and can have long term benefits. The new focus on agri-tech, drones and digital technology is a sign that the government seeks to encourage accelerated use of modern technology to transform the sector. The theme of the Budget seems to be incentivizing a forward-looking vision for agriculture. Support to SAUs is a major step with long term positive implications.”

‘Pro-Growth Budget, Effective implementation needed’

Terming the Union government’s approach to the budget a growth-stimulating one, Yezdi Nagporewalla, CEO Designate, KPMG India, asserted, “This is a pro-growth budget. It has taken a holistic and integrated perspective to all key issues including green transition requirements. Effective implementation should now be the aim to aid growth. With a continued focus on infrastructure development, the current union budget also aims to boost the renewable energy sector, offer much-needed support to the MSME sector, and make new headways into digital currency regulations. This will aid the growth of the economy and drive it out of the headwinds faced during COVID-19.”

Here are the highlights of the Union Budget 2022-

 
Image: ANI/ Unsplash