MN VIDYASHANKAR, PRESIDENT, INDIA ELECTRONICS AND SEMICONDUCTOR ASSOCIATION QUOTES:
Start-up focus: Reaction on Government’s INR 500 crore initiative for Standup India
Government has shown great intent in promoting the start-up ecosystem in India. With Government’s announcement to promote women entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurship in the SC/ST category, we will have an immense role to play along with MSME in making this initiative successful. We are honoured with government’s trust on associations like IESA and look forward to work in tandem to realise this socially important goal.
Investment exists in start-ups in two years qualifies as Long Term Capital Gains and this encourages angel/venture capital infusion. Further, the simplification of norms for forming a company along with 3 year tax holiday will spur entrepreneurs to establish start-ups. This reflects the commitment PM Modi made during the Start-up India Action Plan on Jan 16th. We are happy with Government’s initiative to boost local manufacturing and the start-up ecosystem in India, with their decision to allow rebates to the SMEs and also 100% deduction of profits to the start-ups.
With Government’s announcement to promote women entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship in the SC/ST category with a propose budget of INR500 crore, we will have a critical role to play along with MSME in making this initiative successful. We are honoured with Government’s trust on associations such as ours. We see this initiative as a great way to explore India Innovation Fun, IESA will work in tandem to realise this socially important goal.
Skill development focus: Reaction on Government’s INR 1700 crore investment for skill development in India
Government’s focus in promoting entrepreneurial skills is the right step taken towards the growth of the ecosystem. The Investments made by Govt. to build skilled workforce will help increase employment in the country. This initiative will give impetus to implementation of national programmes like Digital India, Make in India, Smart Cities as skilled workforce is at the core of the programs’ success, overall accelerating India’s economic development.
Transportation focus: Reaction on Government’s smart transportation initiative
Glad to see focus on smart transportation from the government. It’s a known fact that the nation struggles with transportation related issues and we are pleased to see focus on implementing smart transportation through startup involvement
Digital literacy in rural India: Reaction on Government’s initiative on digital literacy
Governments’ plan to launch a mission to provide digital literacy in rural India will enable India to transform for a better tomorrow. When the nation is going smart, rural need to be smarter as they hold the nation’s wholesome development. We would like to see an equal dedication from corporate India in order to make this initiative a success.
Excise duty: Amendment on excise duty
Exemption of BCD and SAD for ATMP for semiconductor wafer fabrication / LCD fabrication is a very well planned move and will certainly give a boost to local manufacturing especially to SMEs. Similar exemption extended to parts and components, sub parts for manufacturing of charger, adaptors, mobile phones, routers, modems, set- top boxes etc., will significantly go a long way in encouraging local production. Imposition of BCD on finished products like telecom equipment etc., is a very well thought out to enhance domestic manufacturing and reducing import dependence. Reduction of BCD on specific capital goods for manufacturing of various fuses is a boost to component manufacturing and enriching the supply chain.
VINAY SHENOY, CHAIRMAN, INDIA ELECTRONICS AND SEMICONDUCTOR ASSOCIATION QUOTES:
Agriculture focus:
Government’s focus on agriculture will bring an accelerated pace to the growth of tech companies working in the agriculture space. With companies already aggressively addressing the agriculture needs with innovative Internet of Things solutions, we foresee this initiative to be a collaborative effort among such tech companies, government and the farmers. This will also strengthen the initiative start-up ecosystem in order to enable smart agriculture
Health sector:
Health insurance for senior citizens will require establishing more healthcare centres and connectivity to tertiary healthcare centres and deployment of medical equipment
Adhaar & IT:
The government focus on bringing Adhaar framework through Social Security Platform would require immense technology support and we have the capabilities as well. The entire transformation of citizenship identity to a uniform platform has brought lots of cheer in the IT eco system.
Make in India:
Imports of assembled sub-systems like charger/adapter, battery and wired headsets/speakers for manufacture of mobile phone will cost 16.5% more due to withdrawal of Basic Customs Duty and Special Additional Duty. On the other hand, inputs, parts and components, subparts for manufacturing these and other electronics sub-systems have been reduced to 0%. Further, imports of populated Printed Circuit Boards will cost 2-4% more. Both these reflect a strong commitment to promote local value additions in electronics.
