Budget 2023 Highlights: PM Modi lauds Sitharaman's 'historic' budget; Congress terms it 'Naam Bade Aur Darshan Chhote'

Union Budget 2023: Reactions

"Overall, the Budget has been very positive with fiscal prudence and with a clear focus on overall growth. As India continues to strengthen its economy, this Budget has laid the foundation for long-term growth across all sectors – for agriculture, fintech, infrastructure, social welfare, tourism and so on. It is balanced well with both Capex and consumption push. The Fiscal Deficit consolidation to continue from 6.4% of GDP for FY 23 to 5.9% in FY24. From the financial services perspective, initiatives such as KYC simplification and the larger push within the digital eco-system will benefit us. The new tax regime has been made more attractive by introducing standard deduction of INR 50,000 that was earlier available only under the old tax regime (for salaried individuals) and changing the income tax slabs. Further, under the new tax regime, rebate limit has been increased from INR 5L to 7L (implying that individuals with income of up to INR 7L will not have to pay personal income tax).

The budget announced that for non-ULIP (traditional) insurance policies issued from the new fiscal year, income from only those policies with aggregate premium up to Rs 5 lakh shall be exempt. This is bit of a dampener for the insurance industry and for increasing penetration of insurance and household financial savings in India. India still has quite low insurance penetration and there is a need to provide measures and incentives to boost that in the coming years. Also, household financial savings have been falling in India and insurance is a critical component of that. Household financial savings (as a % of GDP) has fallen from 8.1% in FY20 to ~6.5% in FY23 (as per estimates). Discontinuing incentives on insurance plans should put further pressure on household financial savings to some extent." — Tarun Chugh, MD & CEO, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance

Union Budget 2023: Reactions

"This is an impressive and well-planned budget. The budget demonstrates the government's commitment to green growth. They have clearly stated that this is one of their top seven priorities. The extension of subsidies for another year, as well as lower duties on lithium batteries, are encouraging developments for India's transition to green mobility. The infusion of 9000 crores into the Credit Guarantee Scheme, combined with lower credit costs, is a much-needed boost for the MSME sector. References to ease of compliance, rationalization, and digitisation will improve the ease of doing business even further. Overall, the budget has prioritized green initiatives, and we are excited to contribute to making the world a greener and cleaner place for everyone." — Rahul Jain - Director, Crayon Motors

Union Budget 2023: Reactions

"It is encouraging to note that the Hon. Finance Minister has increased the base tax slabs from 5 lacs to 7 lacs, simplified the tax slabs and tax rates, reduced the highest tax rates and has taken a step toward moving to a single tax regime by making the New regime as the default one from Budget 2023. This would be a welcome announcement for all salaried class communities. Quicker refund processing, which has been experienced by many in the current financial year is definitely appreciated. It would have been beneficial if the sec. 80C limits were increased and the housing sector given a boost through increased loan interest exemption limits u/s 24. Overall satisfactory announcements towards the salaried class after quite a few budgets, am sure it would have a positive impact on this community." — Mahesh Krishnamoorthy, Managing Director - Core Integra

Union Budget 2023: Reactions

“This is an outstanding budget as it is disciplined, growth-oriented, inclusive and sustainable. The Finance Minister has done a commendable job by tabling a budget that is big on consistency and driven majorly by capex. The steep increase in capex, to the tune of Rs 10 lakh crore, will ensure the continuum of cyclical recovery. Capex spending is good because it has a higher multiplier effect: every rupee spent on capex has a multiplier of Rs 3 as compared to just about Rs 0.9 for revenue expenditure. That apart, higher capex also creates jobs in the hinterland. The focus on core infrastructure, including increased funding for railways and clean energy, as well as the government's ambitious plans for the agricultural sector, will help to improve rural incomes. Above all, it is encouraging to see the government setting the pace for climate action by announcing a "green budget" that will pave the way for a greener, cleaner planet.” — Dr. Anish Shah, Managing Director & CEO, Mahindra Group

Budget 2023 Live: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge calls it 'Naam Bade Aur Darshan Chhote Budget'

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday termed the Union budget for 2023-24 "big on announcements and short on delivery" as he accused the BJP government of making the common man's life difficult.

Alleging the Narendra Modi government has "looted" the country by increasing prices of flour, pulses, milk and cooking gas, he claimed that the budget is proof that people are "continuously losing faith in the BJP".
"Overall, the Modi government has made life difficult for the people. The country's economy has been deeply hurt. The Modi government has done nothing except loot the country's wealth.

"This budget will be called 'Naam Bade Aur Darshan Chhote Budget' (big on announcements and short on delivery)," Kharge said after the presentation of the Union Budget. (PTI)

 

Union Budget 2023: Reactions 

"The Union budget reflects the government’s profound interest in making India a tech-driven and knowledge-based economy. It was great to see that the finance minister continued the trend of more productive expenditure. The budget stayed on its course of providing growth-oriented policies and incentives for start-ups.  More quick measures are needed to realize the ambitious goals of "Make AI in India" and "Make AI Work for India," the way AI is engulfing the world in its efficacy. The long-term but workable solution appears to be an institutionalized structure that focuses on educating AI. A ray of hope for the future of AI in India can be found in the three centers of excellence that will be established in the best educational institutions.  I see it as a positive step for start-ups and investors in technology-focused industries.  India is catching up to other economies since it currently has the third-largest start-up ecosystem globally. Additionally, the national data governance strategy will positively affect providing access to anonymized data by aiming for innovation and a tech-driven economy." — Aditya Malik, Founder - ValueMatrix.ai, and mentor with Nasscom DeepTech Club

Union Budget 2023: Reactions 

"The Union Budget allocation towards the development of electronics manufacturing clusters and implementation of the National Policy on Electronics, along with the reduction of customs duty on certain components, is a major step forward for the industry. This will provide a much-needed boost and help us compete at a global level, leading to increased domestic manufacturing and exports of smartphones. This is a move towards democratizing technology aligned with itel’s vision and transitioning towards a smartphone & digital economy." — Arijeet Talapatra, CEO at Transsion India

Union Budget 2023: Reactions 

"Budget 2023 envisions a futuristic India that will be more green and sustainable. The Green Growth initiative highlights the efficient use of energy across various economic sectors. These green growth efforts will help in reducing the carbon intensity of the economy and providing for large-scale green job opportunities, something that we are emulating for our new resource set-ups in Hyderabad. Additionally, the new initiatives for Make AI in India and Make AI work for India will aid in the development of cutting-edge applications and scalable solutions that will help create more employment, opportunities in India." — Midhula Devabhaktuni, Co-founder and CMO, Mivi

Union Budget 2023: Reactions 

“Budget has consistency, growth orientation and balance. We see positive spots which interests us - agriculture, affordable housing and MSMEs. The rebate on personal tax will boost saving and consumption and super for us - the employees.” — Ajay Kanwal, MD and CEO, Jana Small Finance Bank

Union Budget 2023: Reactions 

"The Union Budget 2023 is a reflection of a nation's priorities and aspirations, and it provided a roadmap for its economic growth and development backed by technology. This year’s budget encourages domestic value addition in the manufacturing of mobile phones and televisions by reducing customs duties on specific parts and inputs, thus boosting the economy further. India has made significant advancements over recent years in the domain of technology development and integration across various industries. The budget will help drive both the government and private sector companies to further promote the growth of technology-based businesses and digital infrastructure. The country has also seen growth in sectors such as software development, IT services, and e-commerce, as well as advancements in areas such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and the Internet of Things (IoT). The rise of Indian start-ups and the increasing availability of venture capital funding has and will continue to contribute to the country's technological growth." — Rajeev Singh, Managing Director, BenQ India

Union Budget 2023: Reactions 

“The 2023 Union Budget marks a major milestone in the government's efforts to create opportunities for the youth of India, promote growth and fuel job creation while stabilizing the macro- economy. There is a significant outlay on Capex, aimed at benefiting the middle class and promoting consumerism which is a clear indication of the government's commitment to building a brighter future for all.  At ZingHR, we are excited to see the government's efforts to boost job creation, provide upskilling opportunities, and enable smart operational solutions through people management processes. These initiatives aim to unleash the potential of the Indian economy and nurture quality human resources, aligning with our mission of making HR simple, smart, and accessible. We believe that technology plays a crucial role in streamlining and evolving HR processes, to simplify compliance related complexities, and enable organizations to focus on their business growth with a push towards digitalization and formalization. We are confident that these initiatives by the Finance Minister, Smt N Sitaraman and Prime Minister Modi will foster entrepreneurship, create job opportunities, and build a strong and vibrant workforce." — Prasad Rajappan, Founder and MD, Zing HR

Union Budget 2023: Reactions

"From a financial inclusion perspective, the increase in tax slab will lead to greater access to credit, which would pave the way for more people to be a part of the financial mainstream. As for the tech ecosystem, there is ample support shown to positively impact the development of 'make AI in India' and 'make AI work for India'. In the data space, the government's initiative of bringing in the 'National Data Governance Policy' is quite progressive in nature, one that can start defining the charter for data privacy and data governance across the globe." — Sumeet Srivastava, CEO & Co-Founder, Spocto

Union Budget 2023: Reactions

"We welcome the announcement of the well thought out Union Budget 2023-24 by the Hon’ble Finance Minister today which will propel growth through public investments, raise demand, create jobs, savings and enhance consumption. A slew of pragmatic measures has been proposed to augment the nation’s economic growth. The Budget has seen an increase in infrastructure investment for the 3rd consecutive year and further infrastructure development will indirectly help the luxury real estate sector grow through allied urban activity growth," said Lindsay Bernard Rodrigues, CEO & Co-Founder, The Bennet and Bernard Company.

Union Budget 2023: Reactions

"The Union Budget has provided indirect boost to the real estate sector with enhanced capital expenditure and gift to the salaried class by providing increased disposable income at hand with the higher tax rebate. The PM Awas Yojana hike is great news in the affordable housing market and this increase in allocation will help the government achieve its goal of providing affordable housing to all and contribute to the overall growth and development of the country. Reduction in compliance and relaxation of regulatory provisions is a welcome move from ease of doing business perspective and will aid the growth of the real estate sector," said Ramani Sastri - Chairman & MD, Sterling Developers. 

Union Budget 2023: Reactions

"From a financial inclusion perspective, the increase in tax slab will lead to greater access to credit, which would pave the way for more people to be a part of the financial mainstream. As for the tech ecosystem, there is ample support shown to positively impact the development of 'make AI in India' and 'make AI work for India'. In the data space, the government's initiative of bringing in the 'National Data Governance Policy' is quite progressive in nature, one that can start defining the charter for data privacy and data governance across the globe." — Sumeet Srivastava, CEO & Co-Founder, Spocto