Budget 2020 Expectations: Startups want these steps from Modi government

Union General Budget 2020-21 is to be presented on 1st February 2020. The Halwa ceremony, marking the commencement of Budget printing process for Union General Budget 2020-21, was held in North Block on Tuesday morning in the presence of the Union Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Various sectors are pinning high hopes on the Union General Budget 2020-21. Here is what startups are seeking from Modi government's big financial presentation:-

Meena Ganesh, MD & CEO, Portea Medical, consumer healthcare brand, says, "A major focus must be given to the home healthcare industry which is one of the ways to realize the government’s vision of affordable healthcare for all. We also expect to see an increase in the limits on reimbursement of expenses on diagnostics, preventive health check-ups, etc. and for home healthcare to be made a part of this exemption. Critical healthcare equipment such as ventilators, wheelchairs, crutches, and medical equipment spare parts should be exempted from GST. This will help make quality healthcare more accessible."

Ganesh adds, "While it is encouraging that steps have been taken to register services like elder care homes and home care agencies for provision of care to elderly, the real challenge is in terms of lack of facilities."

Saroja Yeramilli– CEO and Founder, Melorra, online jewellery brand, "Last year, the government emphasized on digital payments and waivers of fees on such transactions making it conducive for online retailers like Melorra. Coming to the other areas, there should be a smooth single-window process to make the entire journey of regulatory approvals and compliances less time-consuming for emerging businesses. There must also be some regulatory change in the ESOP regime, making ESOP taxation available to employees at the time of sale instead of later."

Amit Choudhary, Founder & CEO, Dawaa Dost, says, "The government had pushed for affordable and accessible healthcare in its last term, and we hope that this year’s budget will also have some concrete action plans to realize this vision. Innovative, tech-based, large-scale and affordable healthcare solutions are the need of the hour in India and our expectations from the budget also revolve around the same."

Choudhary adds, "We hope the government will simplify regulations for pharmacies buying medicines from GST paid channels. There should be 100% input credit for such entities and the working capital must be freed even under circumstances where the manufacturer or authorized distributor have erred on paying the deposit. We also hope the government will consider offering income tax breaks to affordable medicine providers like Dawaa Dost as this will make them more accessible to the masses. There can be specific provisions for the creation of a sunrise industry for providing income tax subsidies for hiring new talent from a PF contribution standpoint, accelerated depreciation on stores, and subsidy on technology development via grants. There is a huge opportunity in terms of building a new industry."

Neha Rastogi, Founder and COO-Agatsa, innovator of world’s smallest and leadless ECG machine, says, "The start-up ecosystem in India is thriving thanks to some conducive government policies announced in the last budget. Given this, startups in all sectors including those focusing on healthcare and health tech innovation are going to witness rapid growth in the years ahead. However, the issue that needs to be addressed at the outset is India’s current healthcare infrastructure and allotted budget. This is where innovations in medical devices and services come into picture and we hope the budget will focus on this aspect. The need of the hour therefore is to provide adequate funding and support to fuel further innovations under the Make in India and Digital India campaigns."

Vikas Bagaria, Founder, Pee Safe, sanitation and personal care brand, says, "There is also a need to simplify the taxation process and make early stage funding easier. While the government has done well in terms of facilitating foreign investments in India, this outlook needs to be maintained going forward to effectively promote more innovations under the Make in India campaign."

Sarvesh Shashi, Founder, SARVA, yoga and wellness ecosystem, "Data from the World Economic Forum indicates that over 77% of Indians will be under the age of 45 by the next decade. However, despite being one of the youngest countries, we are also the most unfit with estimates suggesting that 1 in every 3 Indians are medically unfit and suffer from preventable lifestyle disorders. In the last five years, the government has exhibited a keen interest in the revival of Yoga. The hon’ble prime minister has personally taken a lot of interest in positioning Yoga as a universal exercise that can help people stay fit, look good and be healthy. While these have been welcome and have helped encourage players like SARVA who are ensuring that there is a more organized and holistic approach to the concept of yoga, we still have a long way to go. Preventive health and wellness is the need of the hour for each given the high instances of disease and lifestyle-induced illnesses in our country. In order for holistic health to be made more attractive to consumers, it is important that the tax component on commercially-run Yoga practices and institutes be revisited."