Budget expectations: App-based industry hopes for apt policies

Nagpur: Pioneers and promoters of app-based platforms as well e-commerce chains from across the country are expecting the

Union Budget

, which will be presented on Friday, would offer level-playing field to start-ups, promote tourism, innovation, skills, New-Age businesses and take the next leap toward a true Digital India.

“With technology hitting jobs across sectors, it is important for the government to solve the skilling gap issue through the right budget allocation. While ground has already been laid for skill training, the budget needs a rationalized approach to meet the demand for skilled workforce. The budget should boost interdisciplinary fields and upgradation of education system,” said Shaheen Khan, founder and CEO of CEDP Skill Institute, Mumbai.

Rajesh Loomba

, MD of Eco Rent A Car, said, “Previous budgets and governments have always neglected tourism. I hope this budget puts focus on tourism as a generator of employment and doesn’t treat as an elitist activity.”

“Apart from high taxation on tourism, there are road taxes for tourist entries which are additional by every state. GST needs to be revised for various sectors. The GST is very high in the hospitality sector, especially for self drive car rental services. I hope the government will give due importance to tourism and passenger transport business. There are no incentives on new investment whereas tourism and tourist transportation create the most employment per rupee of investment,” he said.

Vishal Gupta

, co-founder & CEO of Momspresso, said, “As the largest community of mothers, we have taken the onus of creating a survey that presents the voice of mothers, a view that is crucial to the overall progress of the country. Through the Union Budget Survey, we are bringing forth these voices that often remain unheard, and present their point of views through our platform. We believe that the concerns and aspirations of mothers will now reach the right audience among the powers that be.”

Gautam Raj Anand, founder and CEO, Hubhopper, said, “With podcasting industry gearing up for a transformational year with the convergence of media, technology and telecom industries coupled with the government’s vision to further accelerate the Digital India programme, most experts support that the Budget 2019 will only help to streamline this transition more positively. This industry is also expected to grow in conjunction with an increase in smartphone user base, provided finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman continues with focus on digitization.”

Gauri Singhal, founder and CEO, Visionaari, said, “This year’s budget is expected to boost the number of smartphone users and e-commerce firms. With more women in tier 3 and tier 4 towns opting for online shopping and increase in rural spending, there lies a huge scope for FMCG and menstrual hygiene brands in small towns. Additionally, a few legislations in this regard can help provide access to products which are a necessity for women. Places like Patna, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand and Ambala are likely to witness the transformation of kirana shops into online stores.”

The corporate tax rate was lowered for MSMEs last year. Ankur Choudhary, co-founder and CIO, Goalwise, is expecting the same for businesses of all sizes.” On the personal finance front, the government should consider widening of tax slabs as per CII recommendations, i.e. no tax up to Rs5 lakh (not just a rebate but a revision of tax slabs), 10% between Rs5 to Rs10 lakh, 20% for Rs10-20 lakh and 30% beyond Rs20 lakh,” he said.

The budget should create a healthy India with distress-free and comprehensive wellness system for all, said Siraj Dhanani, co-founder and CEO, InnAccel Technologies. This, he said, can be achieved by widespread adoption of indigenously developed medical technologies that solve problems faced by Bharat and India both. “AI has the potential to solve many problems of health care delivery in the country,” he said.

Vipul Jain, CEO, Advancells, is hoping the government continues to push for improvement in health care through the Ayushman Bharat initiative. “I am expecting boost for new innovations in the health care sector,” he said.

Dhruvan Barar, co-founder, Boingg!, said, “This budget will be a marker of the government's assessment and vision for the economy. Union Budget 2019-2020's allocation will determine whether e-commerce and tech start-up will work in synch with the government's policy & Digital India initiative.”

For the growth of real estate segment, Gautam Thapar, CEO, Thapar Builders Pvt Ltd, suggested that people should be given incentives for buying second home.

The Indian economy is moving towards creating its global digital footprint. Satanik Roy, co-founder, HyperXchange, expects that the government will further promote penetration of smartphones “by incentivizing refurbished and introducing schemes which will include installing more Wi-Fi hotspots in rural and semi-urban areas”.


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