Budget 2020 big opportunity to revive economy: ICT industry survey

The Union Budget 2020 is crucial in ensuring that India's economy rebounds, as concerns abound on whether the current economic situation will become even worse, a new survey of information and communications technology (ICT) executives said on Thursday.

The budget is going to be the key from the perspective of the ongoing economic slowdown, lesser consumer spending as well as decline in GDP growth, said the report from CyberMedia Research (CMR).

Most of the ICT industry executives anticipate a recovery from the ensuing economic slowdown in the year ahead with growth stimulus, as per the report titled "Pre-Budget 2020 ICT Tech Industry Sentiment Survey" involving 240 senior industry executives.

"Interestingly, one in three of those surveyed do not see a recovery in the near horizon," the findings showed.

"Current weak economic environment means that traditional sources of revenue, tax collections have not kept pace with budget estimates. The forthcoming Union Budget should focus towards raising investment and consumption levels, and in generating employment," Thomas George, President - CMR, said in a statement.

"This could largely be through the infrastructure development route entailing higher capital expenditure. If we can assign higher allocations towards capital (infrastructure) spending the employment opportunities generated out of it will lead to higher consumption," he added.

An overwhelming majority of the participants highlighted that the budget focus should be on enhanced spending on infrastructure and jobs creation.

Most of those surveyed indicated that the government should focus on generating revenues through new sources, and as such, should not drag its feet on sick public sector enterprises.

When asked about the likelihood of an economic turnaround from the current slowdown, respondents were positive about a turnaround over the next twelve months.

However, 33 per cent felt that a solution to the economic slowdown is not available in the near future.

The government should also focus on bolstering mobile components manufacturing and enabling India to emerge as an exports hub, according to the findings.

"The forthcoming Union Budget should focus on accelerating mobile components production, and increased value addition in India. The mobile handsets industry in India has been a resounding `Make in India` success story," said Prabhu Ram, Head- Industry Intelligence Group, CMR.

"If the government is able to provide the required directional impetus to the handsets industry, India could catapult into an attractive global exports hub," he added.