According to Dinesh Agarwal, Founder & CEO, IndiaMart, the industry is expecting a quick implementation of GST, streamlining processes for speedier implementation of large infrastructure projects.
“Faster setting up of enterprises, correction to duty structures and streamlining of procurement processes are some of the areas where the industry expects key announcements. The Industry is Development of infrastructure is a prerequisite for growth. Similar to road and rail, creation of Digital Highways is elementary providing high bandwidth network of Internet across India. We’d like to see avenues of PPP in the coming union budget which will give shape to Digital India,” commented Agarwal.
Expectations of start-ups
According to Mohit Dubey, Co-Founder & CEO, Carwale, the budget is one of the most important tools available to the government to address the current debate on vehicular pollution.
“In this week’s Auto Expo, car manufacturers have put their best foot forward in terms of offering hybrids and advanced technology to dramatically increase fuel efficiency. Now it is for the government to do their bit by making these cars highly attractive by offering incentives and rebates. We are also hoping that they will address fuel policy – by moving us to global quality standards as soon as possible and using pricing to encourage lesser polluting fuels, rather than a partial ban on diesel-engined vehicles as is currently imposed,” commented Dubey
After analysing the growing interest in start-up segment, last year Jaitely announced Rs. 1, 000 Crore for promotion of start-ups and entrepreneurs particularly in the technology sector.
Rohan Bhargava, Co-founder, CashKaro is looking forward to building an ecosystem which paves the ground for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in India.
Sharing his expectation from upcoming Union Budget, Bhargava said, “I would like the budget to set out clear and measurable timelines with minimal bureaucratic intervention and not keep it as vague as it is now. Being an affiliate site we hope the government will present a tax policy that will address the complications of the current tax structure faced by ecommerce sites. We also hope that the GST roadmap will be shared in the budget for FY 2016-17.”
Aimed at creating India as the international hub of entrepreneurship, Prime Minister Narendra Modi rolled out an initiative Start-Up India Action Plan in January 2016 to empower businesses and giving them freedom from the government.
Anurav Rane, CEO, PlanMyMedicalTrip is looking for forward to a positive turn out from the Union Budget for start-ups and emerging entrepreneurs. According to Rane, entrepreneurs are are overburdened by the tremendous amount of paperwork every month, as per the government guidelines.
“We expect the centre to undo the tedious documentation process so that we can save on precious time and expend our energies on building the business instead. The government should also strategies on improving the purchasing power of customer-enabling organisations like ours to allow us in improving the overall quality of service”, added Rane.
Appeal for tax benefits
Under the Start-Up Action Plan, Modi announced a three-year income tax holiday for start-ups and exemption of capital gains tax for venture capital investments in them, as part of a host of incentives to promote new enterprises in the country.
Manu Agarwal, Founder & CEO, Naaptol, believes that this budget should have some favourable reforms for the emerging industries like e-commerce.
Sharing his thoughts Manu Agarwal said, “There is still a lot of ambiguity with respect to the taxation laws for marketplace companies like ours. I expect this budget to give some clarity on it. Additionally there should be more plans of development of infrastructure. Our industry relies heavily on imports and having good infrastructure and logistic muscle like larger ports and transit systems will help us to get goods faster for our customers.”
However, star-ups and various entrepreneurs are appealing to increase the tax rebate period from three years to at least five years as hardly any start-up reaches breakeven point in three years of inception to actually pay tax.
“We are looking forward to a positive turn out from the Union Budget for start-ups and emerging entrepreneurs. Being a start-up, the amount of direct and indirect taxes we pay, handicaps us from expanding at our true potential. We are hoping for an exemption from all these taxes in the upcoming budget”, added Rane.
Likewise, Bhargav too belives that India action plan laid by the government has pinned a lot of expectations on what should be done and should not – but now it is time to ensure it walks the talk this budget. Aspects like the fund-of-funds, tax benefits which are great on paper, needs to get implemented.
MSMEs’ side story
According to research report of Power2SME, many developed and developing nations have showcased that the MSME segment plays the role of backbone for maintaining or accelerating growth. Going by the statistics from across the globe, it is interesting to witness that for many advanced nations the contribution of their MSME sector to their GDPs is roughly 50 per cent.
R Narayan, Founder and CEO, Power2SME, believes that it is crucial for India to tap the potential of MSME segment as it embarks on the new wave economy. With less than 10 per cent contribution to India’s GDP, the MSME segment is in dire need of level playing field, with not only great policies and campaigns but also with proper implementation of those policies.”
Sharing his thoughts, Narayan opined, “For India, pushing growth of the MSME sector would mean improvement in financial inclusion of the nation, generation of significant level of employment, support to next-gen entrepreneur and innovation/indignation and discouraging urban-rural mitigation.”
However, the sector’s most pressing problem is the lack of adequate and timely finance, caused by the delay in payments received and the inability of these small businesses to access the organized financial sector for their financial needs.
“The MSME industry is set to tap the potential of ‘Make in India’ initiative. This industry has potential to employee over 60 million people and will be a growth driver for the economy. Providing a special package for the MSME sector will help sustainable growth”, expressed Agarwal.
