Union Budget 2024: What startups and their investors expect from Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

We are only two days away from the presentation of the Union Budget 2024, and everyone has some expectations from Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Similarly, entrepreneurs and investors from various industries have certain expectations. Sitharaman will present the full budget on July 23.

Here's what industry experts say from the edtech, fintech, and e-commerce startups. Take a look:

Ritika Arora, co-founder and COO of Manah Wellness 
The upcoming budget presents a crucial opportunity to bolster the start-up ecosystem in India. The start-up space is expecting the budget to end the current funding winter. The government can prioritize young businesses focusing on increasing jobs and employment. Increased allocation for start-up funding programs, alongside simpler application processes, would be a game-changer. Additionally, focused funds on emerging tech like AI and ML can create high-quality jobs. An increased focus on healthcare can provide a much-needed boost to the sector. By fostering innovation and job creation, we can propel India's position as a start-up hub on the global stage.

Suresh Mansharmani, co-founder of Tajurba Business Network
The MSME sector is labour-intensive and in a crunch of funds. To maintain competitiveness, in the giant market, they must have adequate means to support the required workforce. With speculation of introducing an Employee-linked incentive scheme, that can provide relief from taxes in the hiring process in jobless addition to wage subsidies, the upcoming budget can potentially resolve the country’s crisis of jobless growth and give impetus to make in India.

Additionally, infrastructural growth will play a key role in streamlining logistics for MSMEs and help them expand their services all over the country. Thus, in the budget, we look forward to a greater allocation of funds toward the construction of roads, highways, and expressways.

Zeeshaan Pathan, Group MD and CEO of World Development Corporation
As far as the commitment to Vikshit Bharat goes, we anticipate frameworks and regulations that foster sustainability, investment, and infrastructural development alongside a focus on ensuring inclusivity for economic growth. For enhanced capacity building the government might introduce and expand on schemes that assist corporates to upskill at all levels, from freshers to the board, on Corporate Governance, ESG, and Innovation. We are looking forward to what the new budget has in store to streamline the existing regulatory frameworks, improve the ranking on ease of doing business, and make the ecosystem investment-friendly to attract more FDI.

Durvesh Yadav, founder and CEO, Rising Star Communication
Fintech industry in India is a key player in ensuring an inclusive growth, especially in rural India. Hence, the new budget should have friendly schemes for these startups, providing them subsidies and relaxations to work at the grassroots levels. Moreover, the startup India seed fund scheme (SISFS) can a greater allocation of budget to promote the domestic market and tackle the the ongoing job crisis.

Rajeev Sikka, real estate investor and consultant at Property Point
Tax reforms, such as the removal of the 2 lakh interest deduction cap under Section 24 of the Income Tax Act of 1961 on home loans, must be considered so that home ownership becomes more attractive to buyers as they will be able to reduce their taxable income by a larger amount, potentially leading to significant tax savings, benefiting the pace of transactions in the real estate industry.