Budget 2023: How various businesses responded to the Modi government's growth vision in the face of global challenges

India's Union Budget 2023 was announced on 1st February by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The Finance Minister made numerous significant announcements addressing various sectors in the budget speech. She made significant announcements regarding green economy, youth, digital growth, artificial intelligence, technology sector, EV industry, women, the new income tax slab, agriculture, railroads, and tourism. These allocation of budgets to the different sectors encouraged the roadmap of the startups as well  in the upcoming years. Also By the vision of "Amrit Kaal" , the Government initiates to promote the technology-driven and knowledge-based economy with strong public finances, and a robust financial sector. The following are the reactions of various industry players post the announcement of Budget 2023-2024.

Talking about the government’s vision for the growth of AI and technology, Santhosh Sagar Reddy, Founder and CEO of CoffeeBeans, a technology company that helps businesses build superior products, stated that, “It is heartening to witness that the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has proposed a two-pronged vision for artificial intelligence (AI) in India: 'Make AI for India' and 'Make AI work for India'. The game-changing potential of AI is very much evident today and now with Budget 2023 proposing setting up three centres of Excellence for AI in top educational institutions, I am quite confident that the technology will herald a new wave of growth across business sectors and industries.  Further, the fact that these centres will work in close collaboration with industry and encourage multidisciplinary research is sure to help both the tech industry and the country to realise its true potential in the coming years.”

Farheen Ahmad, CEO & Founder of interality,  an engine for Mixed Reality Worlds, talked about the importance of including Digital Assets in the budgeting, she says “Union Budget 2023 has carried forward the existing tax policy on digital assets which means all crypto assets will continue to get taxed at a flat 30% with a 1% tax deduction at the source (TDS). While unveiling the 2023 Union budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman did not make any specific mention of cryptocurrencies, Blockchain, or Metaverse in her speech and left the existing framework of crypto taxation in the country untouched. Experts are not surprised as a majority of them weren’t expecting any major change in the current stance of the country towards digital assets. The perception of Digital Assets as a speculative class of investment still prevails largely in India and despite some credible efforts, cryptocurrencies haven’t been able to win over the confidence of regulators, central banks, and other overseeing authorities across the globe.”

Ahmad further added, “I hope that the Government will reconsider its position on crypto taxes and sit with industry stakeholders to build a healthy and sustainable environment for the growth of Digital Assets in the country. As India has taken the presidency of the prestigious G-20 group of nations, this is probably the most opportune time to build a consensus for the widespread adoption of Digital Assets among the participating countries. The players in the crypto industry also need to work out ways for gaining recognition among regulatory bodies and statutory organisations. In sum, creating an environment of trust and credibility around Digital Assets is the need of the hour and therefore, every stakeholder must put concerted efforts to achieve this ambitious goal.”

Abhishek Dwivedi, Co-Founder of EVeez, a pioneer in Electric Mobility as a Service (eMaaS), reacted to the government's commitment to promote environment sustainability and growth of EV sector, says that, “The implementation of the Green Economy, which will enhance the nation's EV infrastructure, in the Union Budget 2023–24 is very encouraging for the EV sector. The government's commitment to promoting environmental sustainability is a noteworthy achievement. Emphasis on lowering carbon footprint and creating jobs through green growth projects demonstrates a profound understanding of how the environment and the economy are intertwined. We look forward to helping create a future where everyone lives in economic and environmental prosperity.”

Dwivedi further added, “We consider this budget to be pro-EV because it emphasises important initiatives like cutting the customs duty on lithium batteries from 21% to 13% and extending the subsidies for EV batteries by another year. The proposal to allocate Rs 35,000 crore priority capital for energy transition is a positive move which can aid in building charging infrastructure & innovative solutions to accelerate EV adoption. These are encouraging measures since they will increase EV adoption. In accordance with the budget's goal of promoting eco-aware lifestyles, the policy on replacing old, polluting vehicles should hasten the switch to electric vehicles. We are pleased with the budget overall since it is inclusive, progressive, and will promote investments in the EV industry.”

Another EV Industry expert Muzammil Riyaz, Founder of EVeium Smart Mobility said that, "In the last year alone, EV Sector has seen many ups and downs. At present, EVs contribute to only 2 per cent of the total auto sales in India and extensive support from the government is required to chalk out sustainable growth of the sector. To achieve the ambitious mission of e-mobility in India, initiatives announced in the Union Budget this year including - Customs Duty reduction from 21% to 13% on capital goods and machinery for Lithium Batteries, and an extension of the subsidies on EV batteries for one more year are going to help.  These will certainly encourage each EV manufacturer to contribute to the industry initiatives to achieve mass EV adoption by 2030."

Dhananjaya Bharadwaj, Co-founder and CEO of ParkMate, a smart parking solution company, mentioned about the emphasis on innovation, research, and development in the budget, "The Budget 23-24 addressed by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman reinforces the excellence of the Budget introduced last year. The Union budget correctly emphasised the need for a greater accentuation on innovation, research, and development, which are vital to India’s ambitious goal of becoming a $5 trillion economy. A special proposal to establish three AI centres will motivate entrepreneurs aiming to launch AI startups. Moreover, it is worth mentioning that the planned infrastructure target is aligned with broader environmental and social goals. Like the rest of the startup community, we fully embrace the Budget 2023."