Budget 2025: Policy stability, progressive taxation regime and more in online gaming companies’ wishlist

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will table the Union Budget 2025 in the parliament tomorrow. This will be the first budget of the government after Lok Sabha elections in June last year. The tech industry is eagerly awaiting the budget, hoping for policies that promote innovation, ease of doing business, and further integration of technology in government services. Online gaming companies, on the other hand, are prioritizing a stable policy that encourages investments and job creation, along with a more balanced and progressive taxation system.
E-Gaming Federation’s Anuraag Saxena told news agency PTI “We need policy clarity and policy stability, which is what both domestic investors and foreign investors look for”.
He added “We would like more rational and progressive taxation, which honestly, over the last 10-12 years, the government has been able to achieve through the whole GST process, which was really cumbersome if you think about it. Ideally, we want tax policies that provide a fillip to the industry”.
Saxena also emphasized that several measures suggested by the industry could greatly boost the sector's growth.
Last year, the E-Gaming Federation (EGF) collaborated with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) on the game 'CityQuest: Shades of Bharat,' launched as part of the 'Create in India Challenge' for WAVES 2025. The game aimed to celebrate and educate players about India’s urban development.
“EGF is officially part of MIB’s WAVES, where we've created City Quest, which showcases India’s progress through Niti Aayog's sustainable development goals. We need more initiatives like this to normalize gaming's role in our society and economy,” Saxena said.