From Cloud Solution Providers to Cybersecurity Vendors, Union Budget 2023 Satisfies the IT Sector

The FM Nirmala Sitharaman emphasized that the focus of the Union Budget 2023 is on wide-ranging reforms and some policies implemented through Sabka Prayas. The Budget has the following 7 priorities:

Inclusive development
Reaching the last mile
Infrastructure and investment
Unleashing the potential
Green growth
Youth power
Finance sector

Announcements Pertinent for the IT Industry in Union Budget 2023

Some of the announcements that would be of specific interest to the IT industry broadly include

The capital investment outlay is being increased steeply for the third year in a row by 33% to 10 lakh crores, which would be 3.3% of GDP – this will be almost 3 times the outlay made in 2019-20.
For realizing the vision of Make AI in India and Make AI Work for India, 3 centers of excellence for artificial intelligence will be set up in top educational institutions.
For business establishments required to have Permanent Account Number, the PAN will be used as a common identifier for all digital systems of specified government agencies.
A National Data Governance Policy will be bought out to unleash Innovation and research by startups and academia, enabling access to anonymous data.
More than 39,000 compliances have been reduced and more than 3,400 legal provisions have been de-criminalised to improve ease of doing business.
Simplified Investor education and protection fund to be integrated with IT portals for ease of unclaimed shares and dividends.
A Central Processing Centre to be set up, for faster response to companies through centralised handling of various forms.
A revamped credit guarantee scheme for MSMEs will come into effect from 1 April 2023, with a capital infusion of Rs 9000 crore, and a collateral-free lending of Rs 2 lakh crore will be made available under this scheme.
To enable more fintech services, scope of documents available on DigiLocker for individuals will be expanded, and an entity DigiLocker will be set up for use by MSMEs, large businesses and charitable trusts for securely storing and sharing documents online.
In cases of failure by MSMEs to execute contract during COVID period, 95% of forfeited amount relating to bid or performance security to be returned to them by government and government undertakings, will provide relief to MSMEs.

How the IT Sector Reacted to the Union Budget 2023 announcements

Aalok Kumar, President and CEO, NEC Corporation India praised the Budget. “With a clear focus on inclusive development, reaching the last mile, infrastructure development and unlocking the nation’s potential, the Union Budget 2023-24 is comprehensive and catered to fast-track growth. From strengthening India’s prowess in technology and AI and being future ready to truly unleashing the potential of 5G, the budget is holistic in its approach and will certainly pave the way for tech-enabled growth for the country in the coming years. Coupled with strategic focus on building infrastructure and connectivity in sectors including transportation and aviation will have a significant impact in making India a more agile economy, and in making the daily lives of citizens more convenient and efficient. We look forward to collaborating with the government to help shape India’s digital future.”

Puneet Gupta, Vice President & Managing Director, NetApp India/SAARC concurs. “The announcements made by the Hon’ble Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman have given us a lot to be excited about. The mission of Amrit Kaal has put us in a strong position to truly call this a digital budget, given its large focus on technology and digital. From the government’s announcement of setting up of 100 5G labs and the development of 3 Centers of Excellence for AI, all of these will go a long way in unleashing the digital potential of the country. In a world that is driven by data and AI, we see numerous and infinite opportunities ahead of us. It will be a privilege for us at NetApp to play our role in building a truly digital nation which is the future of tomorrow.”

Alok Dubey, Chief Financial Officer, Acer India too was effusive in his praise. “The Union Budget unveiled today echoes the government’s objective of “Digital Development” for the country. It places a high value on technology and innovation as a whole. Realizing the vision of “Make AI in India and Make AI Work for India” is projected to strengthen the country’s standing in the technology industry globally and generate numerous possibilities for the youth. The mention of lowering the minimum TDS threshold and clarifying taxability linked to online gaming is an encouraging step towards gaming industry in India, and it is expected to open up more prospects in the following year. This year’s budget also has prioritised sustainability; this is a step toward a green future that allows businesses and SMEs to enter the market with green products and services; this is a commendable and promising move. Overall, the Union Budget 2023 is promising and represents a significant step toward digital transformation and a holistic sustainable growth.”

Rajesh Ganesan, President, ManageEngine said, “The resilience of the Indian economy, despite global economic slowdown, is truly remarkable. Investment in research and development is crucial in overcoming the challenges posed by macro trends and the threat of recession. For instance, allocating more funding to R&D than marketing, companies can ensure their continued success. Initiatives such as the Skill India Digital platform, which provides training in cutting-edge technologies and soft skills, are commendable as the youth need to upskill to succeed in the rapidly changing job market. This investment in human capital is critical to ensure that India remains competitive and well-positioned for future growth.”

Adds Venkatraman Narayanan, MD & CFO, Happiest Minds Technologies, “Digital has emerged as the hallmark of the Union Budget announced. Be it the setting up of AI-focused CoEs, or Unified Digital Skilling platform, the role of digital technologies is empathetically at the forefront of India’s economic rise. It will be interesting to see how the paperless digital locker based documentation storage and management for citizens shapes up, as accordingly it promises to open up a wave of opportunities in the domestic market related to cyber security, cloud, AI and ML. While tax exceptions on exports are a welcome step, certain breather on corporate tax would have complemented it well. Overall, it is a sound and holistic budget devised to ensure upliftment, empowerment and inclusivity to all.”

Agreed Amit Chadha, CEO & MD, L&T Technology Services. “The Union Budget 2023 has shown a strong focus on boosting digital infrastructure and adoption, which is a positive sign for the technology industry. It was also encouraging to see the Finance Minister share her vision of “making AI in India and making AI work for India”, further highlighting the importance of building a strong AI ecosystem in India. We welcome the government’s move towards developing three AI excellence centres and 100 5G labs, as well as introducing the National Data Governance Bill, which will open up a wide range of opportunities for business growth and employment generation. As a pure-play ER&D services provider, our belief is that such a mass scale enablement of digital transformation and innovation will unlock the full potential of the Indian engineering and technology sector. It will also result in complementing uptake of digital engineering capabilities resulting in the country maintaining its strong hold as a global preferred destination for engineering services.”

Says Jagdish Mitra, Chief Strategy Officer & Head of Growth, Tech Mahindra, “It is a very positive budget from a technology sector perspective, as it sets the right message about 5G labs, setting up AI centre of excellence and the focus around skilling, which is absolutely the key need for the country as we live through the Prime Minister’s vision on TechAde and technology being the core enabler. From a business perspective, steps around ease of doing business have been taken and I think that’s commendable. I would like to congratulate the Finance Minister and the government for taking these steps”.

Nitin Varma, Managing Director, India & SAARC, CrowdStrike says, “The 2023 Union Budget holds immense promise for technology development and skilling. Today, developing new skills is essential for various industries with new and emerging technologies. In particular, cybersecurity is a field that is constantly evolving and requires regular upskilling through advanced training programs. In the recent years, we have seen a significant rise in cyberattacks, however, many organizations are struggling with skill gap and resource crunch. It is encouraging to see that infrastructure and investment as well as youth power are main priorities as these are closely aligned with dynamic industry needs. Investments in infrastructure will have a large multiplier impact on growth and employment, leading to ramping up the virtuous cycle of investment and job creation.

Pramod Sharda, CEO, IceWarp, India and Middle East adds, “The Union Budget 2023-24 by FM today has announced attractive incentives and rebates. The Income limit for rebate of Income Tax increased from 5 Lakhs to 7 Lakhs is a welcome note for the employee base. The budget includes renovations in the digital framework of the nation focusing on increasing the accessibility of these services for rural and tribal areas. We highly support the government’s initiatives to create jobs, and are keen on contributing towards the projected employment generation initiatives. We are excited to witness the development of a tech-driven economy while contributing towards the same and enabling the growth-bound MSMEs sector, which will be infused with Rs 9,000 crore in revamped credit guarantee scheme, with our affordable, seamlessly integrated, secure Email & Collaboration solutions to effectively communicate and collaborate towards the growth path. It certainly boosts our morale when we noticed that investment and job creation continue to be the government’s top priority as they announce capital investment outlay being increased by 33 per cent to Rs 10 lakh crore, which would be 3.3 per cent of GDP. Announcement of National Data Governance policy is also a positive move to protect the data privacy.”

“It is heartening to see the continued focus of the government on technology and its efforts toward realizing its vision for a truly digital India,” says Anil Valluri, MD & Regional VP – India & SAARC, Palo Alto Networks. “Digital Public Infrastructure for the country’s agricultural, fintech, manufacturing, and healthcare industries, including their Information Technology (IT) & Operational Technology (OT) capabilities, will help usher in a new age for the sectors. This will be characterized by cutting-edge solutions that will deliver advanced farmer-centric solutions, exhaustive market intelligence, evolved Agri-firms & start-ups, and more. The provision of 5G labs across India’s top engineering institutions will help power new applications, innovations, and opportunities that will further boost the development of the high-speed network service in India. Enterprise and academia collaboration to “Make AI in India and Make AI work for India” will be instrumental in bringing the technology and its innumerable applications into the mainstream and fostering anunprecedented AI ecosystem that will benefit both organizations and individuals. This ecosystem will flourish thanks to the newly announced youth-focused skilling initiatives for AI, Industry 4.0., coding, robotics, and more. Competent cybersecurity will be crucial to the success of these initiatives, considering our digitally transformed populace. With ransomware attacks seeing alarming highs and national critical infrastructures becoming regular targets, any further transformations may render us more vulnerable to attack. A strong focus on data governance – reflected in the Union budget’s plans to set up a National Data Governance Policy – and cybersecurity skilling, combined with a cybersecurity-first approach powered by AI & ML for devices, networks, and applications will be essential for digital India to become a reality.

Vishak Raman, Vice President of Sales, India, SAARC and Southeast Asia, Fortinet adds, “A steep increase of 33% in capital investments to 10 Lakh Crore almost three times the outlay made in 2019 shows why India is one of the most buoyant economies in the world. While Investments and development programs are all tech-driven the budget realises the potential of 5G by setting up 100 labs in engineering institution to develop Apps to assists in all verticals including smart classroom, precision farming, smart transport systems and healthcare. The capital flowing into AI-Startups last year was $2.7 billion globally. The race in AI is heating up after the success of ChatGPT and the budget has realised this potential with the vision of Make AI in India and Make AI Work for India. The setting up of 3 centers of excellence for artificial intelligence in top educational institutions will combine tech and computing power with some of the best engineering brain power in our country. A robust financial sector, expanding the scope of Digilocker to allow more documents to be made available and setting up of e-courts will all go hand in hand with maintaining data privacy. There simply cannot be any data privacy without data protection and cybersecurity will requireanentire system of people and technology working together to protect data and networks.”

Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairperson & CEO, Salesforce India too endorses the Budget. “The 2023 budget is a growth-oriented and inclusive one that lays a solid foundation and strengthens the economic outlook for India. We have a unique opportunity of being a demand-driven economy with a rapidly digitising population. The increased capital investment outlay has a multiplier effect on generation of employment opportunities and thereby better standard of living for citizens. India is the talent basket of the world and has one of the youngest populations globally; we have a tremendous opportunity to unlock the potential of the country’s young workforce. The unified Skill India Digital Platform, addresses the imperative of businesses and Government to do more to address the skills gap enabling inclusive development of talent. Promoting sustainable growth is an opportunity for India to lead and has been essential and top of mind for all leaders; the focus on ‘green growth’ across sectors can unlock new economic opportunities for India. We are proud of the progress we have made over the last few years on Digital Public Infrastructure and a significant driver to this has been the innovation in Fintech, this budget is an impetus to further accelerate this growth with investments in AI, 5G, startups and more, accelerating demand and innovation at scale. Continued emphasis on Trust-based Governance and Ease of Doing Business, especially in a growth economy, has the potential to attract investments. The budget gives businesses India an opportunity to shine bright – domestically and internationally – ensuring they act, and fast.”

Adds Deepak Visweswaraiah, Vice President, Platform Engineering, and Site Managing Director, Pegasystems India, “The Union Budget for 2023 sets the stage for a growth-friendly strategy with a vision of a technology-driven and knowledge-based economy in the post-pandemic world. As the budget focuses on seven pillars of growth with a three-pronged approach to facilitating ample opportunity for citizens, especially the youth, providing a strong impetus to the development and job creation, and stabilizing the macroeconomic environment, we are well-positioned to tackle difficulties and prosper in the new normal. This year’s budget provides us with a forward-looking blueprint for India’s resilience, competence, and innovation. The Centre emphasizes on ensuring the community’s overall progress through technology and digitalization. By offering new-age courses in 3D Printing, drones, coding, Robotics, AI, etc, through Kaushal Vikas Yojana or developing 30 Skill India International centers, India could further strengthen its position as the ultimate destination of top talent. I am pleased with the Centre’s measures for Make AI for India and Make AI Work for India, intended to encourage innovation in AI. The establishment of three Centres of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence at prestigious educational institutions coupled with leading industry players partnering to conduct research and develop cutting-edge applications would unleash the potential of the Indian economy. As a result, India will be able to create an effective AI ecosystem as well as nurture skilled AI professionals. This is also a significant step in promoting financial inclusion in India, allowing industries across sectors to become more accessible to a broader segment of the population. Innovation is at the core of this year’s budget as the government takes its digital India initiative to the next level with the deployment of 5G services and a new program to promote R&D in pharma. In addition, the Data Governance Policy will be launched this year to enhance startup and academic research and innovation. Thus, we are indeed on a highway to building an open, digital, and inclusive India in the coming years.”

Piyush Somani, Managing Director and Chairman, ESDS Software Solution adds, “The Union Budget 2023-24 has put a lot of emphasis on Agritech, fintech, Co-operatives and future technologies like AI, ML, IoT and etc., signaling a positive push towards technologically advanced Digital India & a greener India. The government’s emphasis on digital infrastructure through 100 labs to facilitate apps employing 5G services will aid technology adoption that will help the country advance towards more digital applications like smart classrooms, precision farming, intelligent transport systems, and healthcare in order to realize new range of options, business models, and job potential. The emphasis on the co-operative sector, Millets, agriculture sector by facilitating Agri-based rural startups certainly will improve the livelihoods of farmers, increase food security and boost exports through open-source digital public infrastructure. The national data governance policy to be released to encourage innovation and research by startups and academic institutions and will make it possible to obtain anonymous data. Overall, this budget focuses more on Capex spending from the government, while most of the technology related announcements had no budget allocated at the moment. We need to wait for next couple of months to see some budget getting allocated to the technology related initiatives.”

Dr Rishi Bhatnagar, President at Aeris Communications adds, “The forward looking of budget 2023-2024 and its seven priorities or the “Saptarishi” will complement each other in India’s growth during Amrit Kaal. The budget ticks all the boxes in terms of use of AI, emerging technology, social entrepreneurship, employment generation, push for manufacturing, infrastructure development, skilling and R&D to help India march towards inclusive and sustainable development. I personally admire the attention given to future technology with the proposal of setting up centres of excellence for Artificial Intelligence in top educational institutions of the country and prompting 5G labs. Budget 2023 is futuristic and encourages avenues of growth in future tech, healthcare, smart cities, digital communications, agriculture and multiple other sectors. I believe that new technologies drive innovation across business models and demands supportive policies and skills which have been managed well in this budget.”

Sudhindra Holla, Director, India & SAARC, Axis Communications adds, “The Union Budget for this year focuses on inclusive economic growth in order to strengthen India’s status as a global digital powerhouse. We are optimistic about the government’s saptarishi, or seven pillars, with a renewed emphasis on green growth. We are delighted with the Centre’s focus on tourism and investment in transportation infrastructure projects as this indicates an increase in demand for safety and surveillance solutions. We are aligned to further action India’s vision to transform our cities into ‘sustainable cities of tomorrow’. This will serve as a stepping stone in revitalising Smart Cities planning and urban development. The budget 2023 has a future-ready outlook and compliments the nation’s unmatched growth for digital economy, innovation, and inclusive development.”

Adds Arun Balasubramanian, Vice President & Managing Director, India & South Asia, UiPath, “We are glad that in this year’s budget, a greater focus has been given to Digital India where technology is an enabler for the economic and overall development of the nation. For India to adopt and implement emerging technologies, a robust skilled workforce is needed. And the provision of the Skill India Digital Platform is the right step in making a highly skilled workforce. It will unify and enable demand-based formal skilling, which has been much needed to bridge the gap between academia and industry. With the Skill India Digital Platform and the proposed National Digital Library, we are confident that young Indians will have the resources to upskill in areas like AI, automation, and robotics, which will in turn make Digital India a reality. With the launch of The National Data Governance Policy, Indian users and companies can now access anonymized data, which will provide greater opportunities for innovation. These are exciting times for a tech-enabled India, and soon the country will become a talent powerhouse for the world.”

Manpreet Singh Ahuja, Partner & Leader TMT, PwC India opines, “India continues its journey of taking a digital leapfrog by following a bold, futuristic approach in the Union Budget 2023 with a focus on CapEx led growth and sustained development, along with embracing emerging technologies. By promoting an AI ecosystem, 5G labs and setting-up skill centres for emerging technologies, India will get the interdisciplinary R&D boost.Push for green growth will create the much-needed ESG driven innovation ecosystem. The boost for MSMEs and startups through credit support and tax incentives will help in strengthening India’s core. With custom duty reliefs on machinery and critical components, along with fiscal support for digital infrastructure and access to anonymised data, India is all set for its journey to become a strong manufacturing alternative for the world.”

Prativa Mohapatra, Vice President and Managing Director, Adobe India adds, “The Union Budget 2023’s emphasis on digitization further solidifies India’s position as a global technology hub. According to the government of India’s goal of ‘AatmNirbhar Bharat’ in the ‘Amrit Kaal’, the Indian technology sector continues to be extremely crucial, and is prepared to reach new heights and add $1 trillion to the national economy. The establishment of AI excellence centers will lead to increasing adoption of cutting-edge technologies like Web 3.0, generative AI, and the metaverse, and will lead to driving the next phase of digital transformation. By making AI work for India and prioritizing digital and creative skills across all sectors, we can unlock even greater potential for growth. To fully realize the benefits of this technological revolution, it is important to continue to advance the story of Digital India with a focus on accessibility. To that end, we are committed to support the government’s agenda in transitioning from physical content to digital libraries pan-India to build a robust digital education ecosystem and encourage creation of digital content. As a leader in digital innovation, we at Adobe recognize the critical role that technology has played in propelling India’s growth and economic development and the plans announced today will further help establish India as a global technological hub. We are excited to put our best foot forward to contribute with our bit to the overall development on the nation.”

Vishal Agrawal, MD, Avaya is happy. “We appreciate the government’s continuous focus on the technology sector with the Budget 2023-24. The introduction of three centres of excellence for artificial intelligence to enable ‘Make AI for India’ and ‘Make AI work for India’ is something to look forward to for the upcoming digital nation. The initiatives outlined for skill development and research in cutting-edge fields like artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and 5G, among others are encouraging for the IT industry. In line with the GoI’s initiative to strengthen the MSMEs, we look forward to supporting them in creating a user-friendly space and helping them further to scale up with the help of our robust and collaborative solutions. The government’s initiative to set up 100 labs for 5G solutions across engineering colleges and the announcement around the National data governance framework will further empower the students, Indian start-ups, and researchers that will collectively help us achieve our collective vision for the 5 trillion economy.”

Dr Kailash Katkar, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Quick Heal Technologies adds, “In the year 2022, India witnessed an unprecedented increase in cyberattacks and their level of sophistication. Cybercriminals are using new and advanced AI technology to attack Indian government agencies and businesses in India to cause significant damage to the country’s reputation. The 2023 Union Budget showcased our government’s focus on strengthening the digital infrastructure of the country, which finds a clear reflection in the National Data Governance policy which will create a secure channel to access anonymized data. This budget fully supports the vision of a self-reliant and cyber-safe India. Some of the key takeaways include the three centers of excellence for artificial intelligence to enable ‘Make AI for India’ and ‘Make AI work for India’, online training platforms for government employees, impetus on creating informative and accessible digital public infrastructure for agriculture and the setting up of a National Digital Library for children and adolescents amongst others. With this, I am confident that cybersecurity has become more relevant than ever, and will be the make or break for the economic progress.”

Feels Thompson P. Gnanam, MD & Global CEO, 3i Infotech, “The first Amrit Kaal budget is certainly a progressive direction by the Government of India to give a boost to the overall technology-driven and knowledge-based economy within the country. The government’s focus on AI and 5G in the Union Budget 2023 will help India’s aspirations of being a global powerhouse of technology, innovation, and digital transformation. The budget comes with a strong promise for development towards the creation and promotion of the vision ‘Make AI in India’ and ‘Make AI Work for India’. This will indeed enable and establish a strong AI ecosystem in India. As a company, we envisaged the potential of 5G and AI by setting-up COEs and tying-up with prestigious institutions like IIT Madras Research Park to establish FutureTech Business Labs focused on 5G and allied areas. Hence, the Government’s priority on setting-up 100 labs for developing 5G applications in engineering institutions, to realize new range of opportunities, business models & employment potential, is greatly appreciated and applauded.”

Dipesh Kaura, General Manager, Kaspersky (South Asia) adds, “The Indian government’s growing interest in building a Technology driven Indian Economy will be a pioneering move for building world class digital structure. In the budget, we saw the government’s major focus on Robotics, Drones, and Artificial Intelligence along with implementing a strong National Data Government Policy. This budget projects to empower the youth by focusing on new-age skills and coding. India aims to become one-stop solution and this will be a major relief for the MSME sector. During the 2023 -24 Budget, the government aims to formulate 100 labs that will be effective to develop 5G services and very evidently pictures positive growth for India. The budget looks favorable and aims at improving the threat landscape margin in India by implementing 3 centers of excellence for Artificial intelligence. India’s growth being the highest among major economies is a powerful aspect and will definitely be able to drive the path to create a Technology driven economy.

Ashish Saraf, VP and Country Director, India-Thales adds, “We welcome the Government’s inclusive and growth-oriented budget. The seven priority areas including green growth targeted in the budget will certainly position India’s growth ahead of other leading economies of the world. We appreciate the focus on solidifying the technology ecosystem in the country through a set of announcements including setting up of three Centres of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence in top educational institutions, 100 labs in engineering schools for development of 5G applications and the formation of a National Data Governance Policy, among others. This paves the way for enhancing the robust tech ecosystem in the country, fostering innovation, and entrepreneurship.”

Rajeev Sharma, Chief Strategy Officer, Mitsubishi Electric India adds, “The budget 2023 is oriented to economic growth of the country. I am sure that 33% growth in capital expenditure will result in balanced development. This is a smart move since it will help the country achieve its goal of becoming a 5 trillion-dollar economy and a global powerhouse. I believe that the announcement of setting up 100 labs to effectively develop 5G services and the vision to promote Artificial Intelligence in overall industries is a strong step by the government. This will further lead to automation in the industries which will help in propelling India’s growth and promoting smart cities. The union budget 2023 has come up with positive announcements for different sectors to support the Make In India initiative and can result in balanced growth in the near future.”

Sudhir Kunder, Country Director, DE-CIX India praises the Budget. “Successes in the previous budget and our transformation into the ‘AmrutKal’ were highlighted today by the Honorable Financial Minister. It’s encouraging to see continued support for digital payment systems, digital document integration, and the creation of a digital public infrastructure for agritech and Fintech. Introduction of Digital lockers, Digital Library, E-Courts, and the promise of one hundred research labs to create applications for 5G were the landmark announcements. Empowering youth with 30 Skill India Centers imparting skills like Coding, AI, robotics, mechatronics, IoT, 3D printing, and drones with other NextGen cutting-edge technologies will make them economically independent. Establishing three Institutes of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence Development is a major step forward for our country and will help to create AI in India and make AI work for India.”

Gokul Tandon, Group Executive Chairman, Cloudconnect Communications is also satisfied. “Establishing a quality AI ecosystem and nurturing quality human resources in the industry is one of the key announcements in the Union Budget 2023-24. The finance minister’s vision to “Make AI in India and Make AI work for India” comes as a positive step towards building a progressive environment in the sector. The goal through the same is to make an efficient Indian AI ecosystem which will be stimulated through skilled workers. With the introduction of 5G services last year, the sector saw substantial growth and investment avenues. Now announcing the establishment of 100 labs for 5G service development will facilitate promising transformation in the telecom sector that will, in-turn, also revamp the setup of private networks in the country. However, we did expect the budget to address the tax relaxation concerns in the telecom sector. Hopefully, we will see eventual measures from the government in this regard.”

“At the center of the Union Budget, 2023-24 is providing measures to improve the business process for MSMEs. The budget announces an overhaul of the loan guarantee plan for MSMEs, which will go into effect on April 1st, 2023 by injecting Rs 9,000 crore in the corpus. This comes as a boon to the industry as it experienced an economic slowdown last year. So the extension of the carry forward of losses on changes in shareholding of startups to 10 years after incorporation from 7 years will help the sector cap on losses and create more fungible profits. Additionally, under the Startup India initiative, Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS) scheme, Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS) and Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups (CGSS), the aim is to provide capital at various stages of the business cycle of a startup. We see this as a progressive measure to build a healthy start-up environment in the country.”

Adds Muneer Ahmad, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, ViewSonic India, “We are happy to see that the budget 2023 talks at length about decreasing the digital divide by introducing National Digital Libraries that will facilitate access to quality books for children and adolescents across geographies, languages, genres, and levels. Furthermore, the centre’s mission to re-envision teachers’ training through innovative pedagogy, curriculum transaction, continuous professional development, dipstick surveys, and ICT implementation will help boost the sectoral growth and knowledge sharing with the District Institutes of Education and Training set to be developed as vibrant institutes of excellence for this purpose. Furthermore, we are excited to see that the centre is working towards setting up of three Centres of Excellence for AI (Artificial Intelligence) in top educational institutes. It is a progressive measure that will help boost knowledge sharing and technology development in the education sector. However, we expected substantial measures in the budget for the allocation of resources for the development of technology in the educational sector. This would have supported higher investment and opened doors for new ventures in the industry.”