March 2, 2015: With government riding high on Make in India and Digital India, the Indian ESDM industry is all geared up to make the most of it. The Union Budget also ensured implementation of GST by 1st April,2016, thus bringing in more uniformity to industry. Moreover, the focus was also placed on promoting start ups.
The industry speaks what they thought about the Union Budget 2015:
Somshubhro Pal Choudhury, managing director, Analog Devices India (ADI)
“The 2015 budget is well balanced and sustainable with a prudent mix of fiscal discipline and much needed investment across key sectors like infrastructure along with a well thought out safety net for the poor under a financial inclusive agenda.
The positive aspects that I see immediately apparent are the reduction in Corporate Tax to 25 per cent in the next subsequent years, the Make In India initiatives with several corrections to the inverted duty structure and the national skill development mission for the tens of Millions of young Indians joining the workforce every year. Innovative schemes of monetizing Gold, preventing leakages and corruption with direct transfer and Digital India initiatives, the ultra-mega power projects for the commitment of 24/7 power, support of the start up ecosystem, the scheme for the alternative energy development and the direction towards GST are the steps in the right direction.
What I would have liked to see more was incentivising the companies to do more R&D and manufacturing from India.”
Sunil Khanna, president and managing director, Emerson Network Power India
“We welcome the Union Budget 2015-16 as a pro-people and growth oriented budget. On the corporate front, the focus on infrastructure and the desire to make taxation regimes simpler as well as deferring GAAR by another two years, is a welcome addition. We look forward to a long-term and sustainable growth path as set by the honourable finance minister. Specifically from the perspective of Emerson Network Power, the plan for investment in infrastructure and enhanced rate of GDP growth at 8% for the next two years will augur well, spurring business momentum. We are particularly excited with the emphasis laid on the renewable and solar energy space as this will bolster investment in the power generation space and will drive overall growth for the economy since energy is key to 24×7 functioning of businesses.”
Shekhar Sanyal, director and country head, Institution of Engineering and Technology
The Union budget for the year 2015-16 is termed as a ‘make or break’ fiscal exercise primarily focused on pro-common man measures and one step further to strengthen ‘Make in India’ campaign. The commitment to achieve 8-8.5% economic growth in this year and making Indian economy as the fast growing economy in the world heralds to the optimism in the economy. To achieve higher growth, the government is riding on the core sectors – infrastructure, manufacturing, power which is much needed to revive the sluggish economy. We, at The IET, are very positive about the fiscal prudence reflected in this budget. Government’s all-inclusive focus on MNREGA activities to providing strong infrastructure with an additional investment of 700 billion is a way towards attaining India’s next phase of growth.
The government’s move to establish more AIIMS and IIMs and launch a National Skills Mission to enhance employability of rural youth is great to strengthen the pool of quality technical talent that will enable India’s journey to be a scientific power. The IET’s vision is also to build a strong engineering ecosystem in India that contributes to the society in resolving critical societal challenges. We are happy to note that the budget is aligned with our vision and we see immediate opportunity from each section of the society – government, corporate and academia to collaborate for economic development.
The budget’s special emphasis on encouraging entrepreneurs and SME sector by providing funds will foster the culture of innovation and provide a platform to build the next big global companies from India, many of which will leverage innovative ideas and technology for growth. Significant fund allocation to the solar and power sector is a positive step towards a result oriented transition to a more sustainable energy independent country.
A strong focus on building infrastructure, driving manufacturing through Make in India and support of R&D and innovation through schemes will encourage the start-up sector and innovation in the technology sector.
To sum up, the budget is certainly for the common masses and a step towards the government’s vision to transform India. With investment boost in each sector, it will definitely bring together a holistic growth and the IET, being a professional body to streamline engineering and technology can partner with the government to play a critical role in bringing the change.
Pradeep Vajram, CEO, SmartPlay Technologies
Applauding the increased focus on Skill Labour Development and investment towards entrepreneurship and start-ups in Budget 2015 Pradeep Vajram, CEO, SmartPlay Technologies said, “The skill labour development program proposed in the Union Budget 2015, presented by Honorable Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley, will provide an impetus to the ‘Make in India’ initiative. The fast paced technological advances demands high skilled labour and it has become a necessity to have skill training programmes for young India, which is the need of the hour. Additionally, it is extremely encouraging to see the government’s focus towards the start-up community in India. By implementing SETU (Self-Employment and Talent Utilisation), the government is promoting entrepreneurship driven by innovation in technology, which will take India to the next level of success.”
Anil Valluri, president, NetApp India and SAARC
“The budget by the Finance Minister is a bold and an assertive one. We are pleased to know that local businesses and budding entrepreneurs stand to make a mark globally through various schemes that will help them prosper. A number of steps have been announced to improve the ease of doing business; creation of Micro Units Development Refinance Agency (MUDRA) Bank, with a corpus of Rs 200 billion, and credit guarantee corpus of Rs 30 billion is a positive step to encourage young, educated, skilled workers who aspire to become first generation entrepreneurs or expand their activities. With robust growth in the Digital India initiative announced last year, it is heartening to see that the Government wants to further expand it and increase the network connectivity to more rural areas. A progressive and investment focused budget overall from which we hope to see tremendous growth for the Indian economy.”
