Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman offered her second budget on 1 February. The market noticed a decline for the second time in a row. Nifty closed down 2.5%
Quote on behalf of Mr. Ankur Shrivastava (Founder & Managing Partner, Momentum Capital):-
“We hope that the federal government will think about exempting FDI in unlisted firms from capital features taxes. Currently, the LTCG tax fee on holdings over 24 months is 10% with out indexation on FDI. Abolishing this tax like many developed international locations have carried out, like US & Singapore, would spur additional FDI inflows into the nation and assist help financial system builders on the earliest levels.
In addition, we hope the ESOP regime is made extra pleasant for early staff & tax timing is rationalized. The present revenue tax outlay required when the workers train the ESOPs make them unattractive & unaffordable for expertise. Delaying the tax ask to when the sale occasion takes place would allow many extra staff to learn monetarily and assist distribute wealth past the bigger shareholders.”
Momentum Capital:
Momentum Capital is a worldwide micro-VC agency with a presence in Canada, US & India, and invests in Indian expertise startups on the pre-seed and seed levels in local weather, SaaS, well being, and shopper areas. With a powerful set of advisors, traders, and companions having deep investing expertise unfold throughout continents & verticals, the agency supercharges world community leverage for Indian founders on the earliest levels.
Ankur Shrivastava, Founder & Managing Partner: Momentum Capital
Ankur Shrivastava is a extremely skilled startup investor and is the co-founder of Globevestor, a pioneering cross-border startup funding platform. He led Globevestor’s investments in over 40 startups, together with Zoomcar, Springboard, Agnikul, and others throughout SaaS, tech, well being, local weather, shopper, and different various areas. His previous portfolio corporations have collectively raised about $500 million in capital and are collectively valued at over $2.5 billion now.
By S Anand, the Chief Government Officer and Co-Founding father of PaySprint, a Fintech enterprise focussed on Subsequent Gen Neo Banking Options, providing a Unified Open API Platform.
“India boasts a staggering 87% adoption fee of fintech, considerably larger than the worldwide common of 64%. Consequently, the Indian Fintech trade is about on a steep development trajectory, anticipated to achieve Rs 9.2 billion at a CAGR of 24.96% between 2022 and 2027. Supported by the strong startup ecosystem, the Fintech trade is shaping as much as be a stable contributor to the nation’s GDP.
Moreover, the Fintech sector is front-lining the reason for Monetary Inclusion in India & the sector expects initiatives that can strengthen the connection between Fintechs & Banks. This may most actually encourage continued innovation & assist prolong the attain of monetary providers to the unbanked inhabitants.
Extra anticipated measures that can increase the Fintech panorama are mentioned under :
Tax reduction for rising Fintech startups: Fintech startups are looking forward to GST exemptions till a sure degree of income is achieved. Liberalization of the tax construction together with depreciation on the mounted belongings utilized by Fintechs can go a good distance in selling development. Announcement of tax advantages for analysis & improvement actions would bolster the ideation & execution of differentiating monetary merchandise & providers for the lots.
The continued push for Digital Funds: The latest Budgets launched a number of incentive schemes to advertise digital funds & we anticipate the momentum to proceed on this 12 months’s Funds. The UPI has augmented India’s funds & collections infrastructure and has penetrated the unserved & underserved inhabitants in semi-urban & rural areas. New pointers relating to the UPI transaction price will probably be a serious improvement, offering a much-needed impetus to the sector’s enlargement.
Tax reduction for Fintech startup staff: Strict qualification standards accompanied the tax advantages launched within the earlier Funds. It aimed to resolve the twin taxation situation however most startups couldn’t reap the advantages. ESOP holders in Fintech Startups can actually acquire from the tax being levied on the sale of shares quite than on the train of ESOP.
Revised laws for Fintech gamers & startups: Acutely aware revision of the laws will assist set up an enabling setting for Fintechs to operate & evolve. We anticipate to see laws relating to digital currencies & how they may take form within the workings of the trade.
Knowledge safety: Digitalisation has additionally given rise to numerous safety threats comparable to information breaches, information loss, and account hacking amongst others. Enhancement of information safety measures is crucial & we anticipate the upcoming Funds to facilitate the identical.”
Bengaluru Cantonment railway station to endure Rs 525 crore revamp
Within the upcoming Railway Funds, the emphasis will likely be on the event of infrastructure, ‘Make in India’ high-speed trains and the completion of incomplete railway initiatives.
Within the Union Funds 2023-24, your complete emphasis of the Modi authorities will likely be on infrastructure improvement, particularly initiatives associated to Railways and getting high-speed trains turning into operational as quickly as attainable.
The Modi authorities is engaged on growing the railway price range by 20-25 per cent to strengthen the infrastructure of your complete railway system. In response to sources within the Railways Ministry, there’s a chance of an allocation of practically Rs 1.8 lakh crore for this sector in 2023-24, which was Rs 1.4 lakh crore in 2022-23.
Reuters file
In response to Railway Ministry officers, on this yr’s price range extra allocation will likely be made for laying new tracks, growing the variety of semi-high-speed Vande Bharat trains, introducing hydrogen-powered trains in addition to the Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet prepare challenge.
The Indian Railways goals to hunt permission from the Central authorities to fulfill its goal of changing typical coaches of all categorical and mail trains with India-made and German-developed Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coaches.
Below the Imaginative and prescient 2024 initiatives, within the second half of the last decade, aside from commissioning of recent devoted freight corridors and high-speed passenger corridors, multitracking and signaling upgrades of congested routes have been focused. The Indian Railways goals to quickly redevelop the infrastructure of greater than 1,000 stations beneath the AMRUT Bharat Station scheme.
The Mumbai-Ahmedabad Excessive Velocity Rail Hall (MAHSR) was hit onerous by land acquisition points. In response to the data introduced in Parliament by the Ministry of Railways, the general bodily progress on the 508.09 km hall as on December 31, 2022, was solely 24.73 per cent.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the groundbreaking ceremony of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Excessive Velocity Rail Mission at Ahmedabad, Gujarat, on September 14, 2017. Union Minister for Railways and Coal Piyush Goyal can be seen.Press Info Bureau
Throughout the monetary yr 2022-23, the Nationwide Excessive Velocity Rail Company Restricted (NHSRCL) was allotted Rs 19,102 crore. In response to Railway Ministry sources, the price of the bullet prepare challenge is prone to exceed the estimated quantity of Rs 1.08 lakh crore.
It’s probably anticipated that the Union authorities will improve the price range of the Railways by as much as 20 per cent. Earlier, within the pre-budget assembly, the Railway Board had demanded 25-30 per cent extra funds within the price range allocation of the Finance Ministry. This time the Union authorities can allocate a fund of practically Rs 2 trillion to the Ministry of Railways within the upcoming price range.
The Central authorities will make investments principally within the modernisation of railways. Together with this, the Railways can be specializing in constructing higher home infrastructure for the manufacture of trains. Below this plans are additionally being made to cut back overseas dependence on the wheels of trains.
The federal government might also announce greater than 400 new rakes of semi-high velocity Vande Bharat trains and over three dozen hydrogen-powered passenger trains.
Accordingly, announcement of recent trains, together with new Vande Bharat and hydrogen-run passenger trains is prone to be made within the upcoming annual price range 2023-24.
The yr 2023 is extensively believed to be a game-changer for the Indian Railways, after the success of the high-speed Vande Bharat Specific trains with the introduction of hydrogen-powered Vande Bharat trains, the sleeper coach model of Vande Bharat, in 2023. With this, preparations are being made to make the expertise of the passengers memorable together with offering world class providers.
Indian Railways is presently constructing hydrogen-fuel cell powered eco-friendly Vande Bharat trains to exchange the older trains designed within the Nineteen Fifties-60s. Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had not too long ago introduced that this is able to show to be a big step for the Railways.
Hydrogen-powered trains will now function retaining in view the wants of the center and decrease lessons. These trains will show to be useful in bringing a transformational change within the every day lives of each Indian citizen. It is likely one of the largest inexperienced initiatives of Indian Railways.
As per data these hydrogen trains save gas and produce minimal noise leading to no air pollution in any respect. These trains will reportedly emit solely steam and evaporated water. These trains are going to be India’s first and world’s second hydrogen prepare as Germany is the one nation which has launched the world’s first hydrogen-run prepare.
Whereas the precise date of the launch of hydrogen trains continues to be not revealed, Union Minister Vaishnaw has stated that the design of the prepare is prone to arrive between Could and June 2023. An vital announcement will be made by the Centre concerning these hydrogen trains within the upcoming price range.
Some main railway initiatives
Chenab river railway bridge: The world’s highest single-arch railway bridge is being constructed over the Chenab river in Jammu and Kashmir. This 1.3-km-long challenge with a price range of $9.2 crore will join the Kashmir Valley to the remainder of India via a rail community. The Chenab river railway bridge is part of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail hyperlink challenge.
J&Okay: World’s highest Chenab River bridgeIANS
The Chenab River Railway Bridge is a three way partnership between Afcons Infrastructure (India), VSL India and Extremely Development & Engineering Firm of South Korea. That is one other step in the direction of reaching Kashmir via railways.
Operation of Speedy Practice: Speedy prepare is to be operated between Delhi to Meerut within the yr 2025. This whole railway hall is to be accomplished in three sections. Its first part is 17-km-long connecting from Sahibabad to Duhai Depot.
Speedy Rail on this part is to be began for journey from March 2023. The railway monitor work on this part has been accomplished. Right here the work of set up of overhead tools line is underway. From March 2023, this prepare will change into operational for passengers between Duhai Depot and Sahibabad.
Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Practice Mission: Development has begun alongside a parallel passing via eight districts of Gujarat and the Dadra and Nagar Haveli. After being in limbo for years, the bullet prepare challenge has picked up tempo not too long ago, together with in Maharashtra. In response to railway officers, the challenge could possibly be accomplished in 2027.
Bairabi-Sairang New Line Railway Mission: Work is underway on the Bairabi-Sairang New Line Railway Mission to attach the northeastern state of Mizoram with the remainder of the nation.
After the completion of this challenge, a brand new period will start by way of communication and commerce within the northeastern area of the nation, particularly Mizoram. The Bairabi-Sairang challenge goals to create a further 51.38 km of railway monitor in northeast India.
Bhalukpong-Tawang line: The Bhalukpong-Tawang line is likely one of the vital initiatives of the northeast, which is able to cater to the in depth wants of the navy within the area the place tensions with China have escalated. The proposed railway line may have a number of tunnels and will likely be constructed at altitudes above 10,000 ft.
Venkatraman Venkateswaran, Group President & CFO, Federal Financial institution
“In my opinion, the precedence can be to make sure stability & development within the system. Until the latest previous, we had seen funding from the federal government in capex as the most important driver, however now non-public capex appears choosing up however there may be nonetheless plenty of potential. We have to spur funding in each govt & non-public sectors to maintain the economic system on a development trajectory for a sustained interval. Directionally, the federal government can lengthen the PLI scheme to extra sectors. I additionally count on/hope to see an alignment in capital positive factors tax charges to make sure investments are chosen primarily based on the deserves of funding somewhat than tax benefits of asset courses. And the introduction of recent incentives to encourage home manufacturing concentrating on MSMEs would assist us transfer in direction of changing into Atmanirbhar. This could promote the home economic system, and employment and assist us keep away from importing of low value-add merchandise. “
“The pandemic-affected micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) acquired much-needed reduction from the Union Price range of 2022.
Provided that the financial system is recovering from the pandemic and the subsequent finances is scheduled for 2023, there’s the arrogance that measures will probably be launched that can additional assist the rise of the MSME sector, which is the cornerstone of India’s financial system.
A bit of over 30% of our GDP is made up of MSMEs, who additionally account for 50% of the income from all exports. One of the crucial vital issues MSMEs want is a straightforward line of credit score as a result of their working capital is commonly strained by provider chain points and late funds.
Authorities should simplify or improve accessibility to working capital. MSMEs should be given extra consideration by banks. As a result of many MSMEs under-market their merchandise and don’t totally utilise expertise, MSMEs would tremendously profit from advertising and technological training.
The central authorities could considerably improve the contribution this financial pillar brings to India’s prosperity by proposing beneficial measures and programmes for MSMEs within the Union Price range 2023.
The MSME sector is anticipating this 12 months’s finances bulletins for initiatives like continued help for last-mile lending by way of programmes like CGTMSE and ECLGS, elevated investments in infrastructure and digitisation, and encouragement of the expansion of an ecosystem that’s beneficial for the event of MSMEs.”
Transerveis a location intelligence company that uses Geospatial Technology to enable Digital Transformation & effective decision-making. This helps in deploying customized applications for asset tracking/ mapping, monitoring of projects, spatial data collection with geo-tagged pictures and videos and to share maps with key stakeholders or the public. Transerve’s solution assists its users in solving complex business problems and allows organizations to deploy on-premise in offline and classified environments. Founded by IIT Kanpur alumni, Amarsh Chaturvedi and Ashwani Rawat, and headquartered in Panaji (Goa), Transerve aims to enable digital transformation. Transerve deploys its CityOSTM system to solve pressing urban issues like property tax, water, sanitation & solid waste management.
From identification to the solving of complex problems related to urban setups, such as inventorying urban assets, revenue enhancement, land records modernization, etc., Transerve facilitates an increase in municipal revenue and improves civic service delivery by helping urban local bodies maintain an accurate database of properties. Their platform has the capacity to acquire and process information smoothly in a brownfield city allowing for analyzing and relating events, running simulations, and anticipating possible problems along with managing special events or even emergency situations.
Transerve received seed funding from the Centre for Innovation, Incubation & Entrepreneurship (IIM-Ahmedabad) and CIBA. Further, in the year 2017, IL&FS Investments and Omidyar Network invested a total of $ 1.6 million in their pre-Series A funding round.
Technology-based solutions developed on the Transerve spatial platform have found implementation in cities across the country as Transerve continues to focus on creating industry-leading tech innovations that can maximize social impact and achieve sustainable development goals for the greater public good. The platform has been adopted by national agencies for large-scale spatial data collection and analytics, and projects aided by national and international development multilateral.
“The constant innovative reforms and technological advancements have provided an impetus to the growth of the FinTech industry in India. With the annual budget just around the corner, it is expected that the government will prioritize the needs of the FinTech players and implement policies to add to their growth trajectory.
It can be expected that the government will bring in reforms to strengthen the partnerships between FinTech institutions and banks. We are expecting that the Finance Minister will take into account the financial burden on start-ups and suggest policies to ease it. In the last budget, she gave major tax reliefs to start-ups and employees, in order to boost their development and to resolve the dual taxation issue and the tax burden that employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) have on employees. However, the qualification criteria were too stringent, and as a result, very few start-ups could gain benefits from them. So, we can expect that the government will look into this and provide tax relief to budding FinTech start-ups and their employees.
India’s journey to financial inclusion is being paved by exceptional financial solutions provided by FinTech companies. The work that we are doing to make financial services accessible to all is a major positive outcome of digitization. FinTech will continue to grow at a faster rate and penetrate deeper into the country only if rural areas have a strong digitization network. This sector expects more assistance from the government to develop strong partnerships with banks and financial institutions in order to foster better financial inclusion, both offline and online.
The upcoming budget should also consider and offer tax benefits on the total expenditure incurred by FinTech startups, maybe in the form of a small GST subsidy. “Since personal loans now make up the bulk of the loan market, efforts to offer some form of tax refund for people who take out personal loans and education loans, similar to what those who take out house loans receive, would also be appreciated by people who take out such loans.”
Neel Achary is the editor of Business News This Week. He has been covering all the business stories, economy, and corporate stories.
-Dr. Nirmal Gehlot, CEO and Founder, Utkarsh Classes
“One of our main expectations from the union budget this year is the government sets up a central committee or a board that can tackle the cases of exam paper leaks, especially in government exams. We hope strict action is initiated to avoid any malpractice in these examinations. It destroys the efforts of millions of aspirants and wastes the time and resources of recruitment boards and state governments. We also hope that provisions are put in place to fill appointments in vacant posts in various government departments. We believe that the Finance Minister can announce the creation of an unemployment board at the union level: that will offer an agency for unemployed youth to voice the challenges/issues they face and find resolutions.”
– Mr. Rajeev Sharma, Chief Strategy Officer, MitsubishiElectricIndia Pvt. Ltd.
Mitsubishi Electric India is looking forward to encourage Infrastructural development and bring technological innovation through our products and solutions for the Indian market. I hope that Budget 2023 scales a path towards India’s growth story, especially in the infrastructure and technology sectors. The expectation for the upcoming union budget is to continue and provide the right policy and budgetary framework to ensure economic growth of the country and a budget design that can stand as per the GDP growth rate expectations.
Considering that the Indian economy has begun to recover from the fiscal repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, the manufacturing sector is expected to experience solid growth, which can further strengthen by providing fiscal incentives and specific schemes in the upcoming union budget 2023-24.
I strongly believe that Indian government will prioritize the policies that can benefit the infrastructure, manufacturing sector and promote renewable energy allowing the country to realize its potential on a global scale. Manufacturing investments must be encouraged among technology providers to bring self-reliant solutions in the country. Development of new-age manufacturing skills across the top and bottom of the pyramid must be enlightened which can be a game changer for further skill development.
The overall expectation from the union budget is that it brings a steady growth for the present and future of the country.
“The pandemic-affected micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) acquired much-needed reduction from the Union Price range of 2022.
