Commenting on today’s Union Budget, Suman Reddy, MD, Pegasystems India, said “Overall it was a well-balanced budget, we need to keep in the mind some of the macro-situations the FM mentioned in terms of US interest rates going up and Trump’s recent announcement. As a country we have to look inward in order transform into a balanced and digital economy. Similarly, companies across sectors need to start looking within the country to increase revenue and up employment opportunities.
The budget reflects the government’s strong stance to tackle our tax non-compliant society and eliminate black money. The government’s approach to provide relief and promote digital economy among individuals as well as companies through lowering of tax-slabs, provision of exemptions, reduction of customs duty, retention of MAT and capping of cash transactions; is a definite change we can all look forward to. However, from start-up point of view for players like us who engage with entrepreneurs, we were expecting a lot more tax incentives and provisions for easier setting-up or closure of businesses. Given that India is expected to have 20,000 start-ups in the three next years, effective policies is critical to simulate growth. We hope to have more clarity once the budget is discussed in detail in the coming days.
From a digitization point of view, the government’s decision to shift to digital platforms benefitting the public across sectors such as small-scale business, healthcare and railways, will help accelerate our growth towards becoming a digital-economy. By enforcing all sectors to adopt digital economy, there is an indirect but positive impact on the start-up community. Thereby, creating opportunities to innovate and set-up new businesses.”
