Budget 2016: Know What India Inc Thinks of It

BUDGET 2016: KNOW WHAT INDIA INC THINKS OF IT

Budget 2016 is the subject of headlines and the talk of India currently. It has earned the government a mixed response from different walks of life. It has also created a stir among Indian startups and entrepreneurs. Some have wholeheartedly appreciated it, while some have criticized it in no uncertain terms. The following quotes from startups and entrepreneurs across India give a picture of what India Inc thinks of the Budget 2016:

“I feel the union budget 2016 is a great leap towards realizing our Prime Ministers Start Up India and Digital India initiatives. It will further push the startup momentum as it has focused on job creation & the ease of doing business in India. With 100% tax deduction for startups for 3 years & shortening the holding period, the startups will be able to utilize those saved funds to bring in more efficiency in business & use the resources for customer acquisition & marketing efforts which is the biggest challenge for any business today.”

Pradeep Kumar, CEO & Co- Founder, PickNGet

“It was as expected and government support for 3 yrs by no tax fear on startup. The government made it clear to bring all to next level by providing basics on health by opening more generic medical stores/ education by keeping more navodaya schools n basic education free. One fantastic move is keeping our farmers in mid line by all possible ways to support village connectivity. Hope it will be new segment to initiate young entrepreneur to grow economy.”

Siddharth Khanna, Founder & CEO, Brand Visage Digital

 

“While everyone is happy about the three year tax exemption to startups, I am concerned over the steady increase in the Service Tax that this government has pushed for since last year. The jump from 12.36% to 14% and then 14.5% last year was extreme and now there is a proposal to make it 15%. While it is an indirect taxation, the loop will hurt startups as well. A lot of money goes out of our cash flow because of Service tax payments, similarly as startups we shall be paying more money for services we avail. This is not very conducive and a likely step towards equating Service Tax to GST.”

Mayur Milan, Co- Founder of JustAsk

 

The budget was very positive towards the start-up ecosystem which was much anticipated with the Start-Up India movement initiated by Prime Minister, earlier this year. Top 3 highlights in the budget for Start-Up ecosystem include firstly, the timelines to register companies reduced to 1 day, also compliances needed are made easier. Secondly, The 3 out of 5 year 100% tax exemption is a welcome step. Thirdly, there was a clear focus on long term plan with budget allocation on skill development, education, entrepreneurial development including specialized focus on supporting the entrepreneurial coming from under privileged segments.

Akshay Mehrotra, CEO & Co- Founder of EarlySalary

 

“I didn’t see much of incentive for Startu. Entrepreneurs will suffer because of lot of new taxes. The tax should be as clutter free as possible, as most of the startups do not have knowledge of tax, computation and they jump in to business because of their other core skills. This is the time when they will make lot of mistakes not because they don’t want to follow law but because they didn’t know it existed. There are hundreds of interlacing tax, statutory, employee, company, legal related rules which one single consultant can’t give solutions for.”

“There should be guidelines and freedom given to entrepreneur rather than confusing them on tax and tax over another tax and so on. Reduce number of taxes; give them one tax if needed even if it is higher in %. We are yet to arrive as a country for welcoming internal and external startups to look down at India as a destination. The current Indian Entrepreneurs will succeed because they have the highest fighting power and persistence. They don’t need money or grants. They just want no hurdles. The rest they will manage on their own.”

Shabir Momin, Founder of ZengaTV

 

“The Union Budget has given out a positive signal in multiple directions, especially with its undertone of boosting economy by putting it on a definite path of reforms, improving start-up eco systems and putting the right thrusts on healthcare and rural economy. On a macroscopic level, even wider policy announcements such as the Finance Minister’s statement that India will not resort to retrospective taxation in future can send out very a positive message globally.”

“As a start-up founder myself, I am very pleased to see the announcement of tax exemptions to start ups as well as the overall policy thrust on making life easier for entrepreneurs. There is recognition in this budget of the importance of successful entrepreneurs to boost the economy and create jobs. On the healthcare front, the announcement of district dialysis centers is very much beneficial for the thousands of people struggling with kidney disease. Improving supply of drugs by setting up 3500 drug stores will also help the healthcare sector.”

Zoya Brar, MD & Founder of Core Diagnostics

 

“While it is heartening to see the allocation of funds in Budget 2016 to strengthen higher education through a nonprofit organization and skill development through the Pradhanmantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana, the future plan involving the setting up of 1500 skill institutes should be done in tandem with the industry expectations of skills required in various job roles today. For job creation in India to scale up, it is imperative that there is a constant realignment of skill expectations for jobs available in the market for all the stakeholders involved – job seekers as well as recruiters – with the changing nature of job descriptions today.”

Dinesh Goel, Co-Founder & CEO of AasaanJobs.com

 

“With India being at the brink of lifestyle disorder, it’s a high time that government should increase their focus on preventive healthcare technology. Indian population is youngest in the world but this very population is falling prey to hoards of lifestyle disorders with passing time. Honorable Finance Minister allocated funds for healthcare insurance which is good news but it again focused more on curative part of treatment. According to my point of view this year’s budget is not very focused on preventive healthcare technology which is a need of the hour but will have a supplementary impact on the healthcare ecosystem. The medical fraternity today is emphasizing more on the later part. Other unfavorable factor was there was no fund allocation for public healthcare and infrastructure improvement. Overall, this year’s budget was not an exceptional affair in terms of preventive healthcare, hope to see movement and revolution in the next one though.”

Dr. Amol Raut, CEO of GeneSupport

 

“Government has announced a good development budget for common people but there is not much in it for startups and corporates in terms of policy simplification. We were eager to see implementation of goods and service tax (GST), which would make the country a unified market but are disappointed to see that there is no clear picture given by the government yet, rather service tax has been increased. There is no declaration on corporate tax reduction either, as promised last year.”

Anupam Tulsyan, Founder of Peachmode.com

 

“Budget 2016 would be a big boost to PM’s Digital India and Start up India plans. Easy entry barriers for youth having sustainable business ideas would promote entrepreneurship and in the process it would also boost employment generation. Government’s effort to provide skill development and training to youth along with implementation of digital literacy will help further providing a boost to the start-up ecosystem.”

Ashrey Dhawan, Founder & CEO of Decoinch.com

 

“As Budget-2016 has focused on agriculture and  farmer, but few points are really good step by central government like Digital depository for school Leaving Certificates, College degrees, Academic Awards and Mark Sheets to set -up and 62 new Navodyas will be opened that will really bring happiness on students ‘faces. Also, Higher Education Financing Agency to be set-up with initial capital of RS 1000 Crores and regulatory architecture to be provided to ten public and ten private intuitions to emerge as world- class teaching and research institutions. Finally, I can say we have to wait next Budget to bring educational revolution.”

Nitin Vijay, MD, Motion education Pvt. Ltd

 

“The budget can be best described as na khushi na gham budget. The budget focus has largely been on the rural, social and infrastructure sectors. However, the underlying theme has been financial consolidation and therefore, the absence of focus on   investment led growth. We therefore expect consumer demand to pick up only in the second half of the year helped by the pay-outs from the 7^th Pay Commission, improved monsoons and kick in of the budget initiatives of rural and road infrastructure growth. In terms of the retail sector, allowing both unorganized trade to keep stores open 7 days a week, is a huge step forward from a consumer’s perspective.”

Vijay Jain, CEO and Director of ORRA

 

“While an excise duty of 1% has been levied on gold, diamonds and platinum jewellery, I am relieved that silver has been exempted from this. Since our silver jewellery is largely hand crafted by small scale artisans, they would find it difficult to comply with the same. Being a start up myself, we are glad that ceiling for income has been raised from Rs 1 crore to Rs 2 crore which will facilitate our growth. In addition to this, with the digital literacy scheme to be launched to cover 6 crore additional rural households, in the long term, it is indeed a positive sign for us that will help us increase our potential target audience as an online silver store.”

Kajal Jain, Founder of AhilyaJewels.com

 

“With a stronger importance to agriculture and rural development the Union Budget 2016 has also reserved allocations for startups, with regards to tax deductions and simplification of government business registration processes. The announcement of the rural digitization scheme will add over 6 crore households which will aid to a connect India, while also educating households about digitization, this will help technology startups widen their reach in the nation adding to their growth. The change is welcomed as it will grant flexibility and ease in government registration for startups as per the Companies Act. The Union Budget 2016 has also announced tax allocations for startups, allowing some deductions. This will help entrepreneurs as the initial 5 years of a startup are the most crucial with regards to finances. The budget truly stood by the Stand Up India scheme announced by the Prime Minister.”

Punit Desai, Co-founder & CEO, WelcomeCure

 

“As expected the Union Budget 2016 has its focus on Standup India and boosting the budding entrepreneurs.   We expect that 2016 is going to be a fruitful for women entrepreneurs as  Stand Up India scheme allocated Rs.500 Crores for SC, ST and women entrepreneurs. However I am somehow not happy with the special treatment given to SC/ST entrepreneurs as this may discourage the upcoming talents who might not get an opportunity to bring an innovative business idea due to the scheme and at the same time might give an encouragement to someone who doesn’t deserve.  Though it’s a good move to encourage entrepreneurs who didn’t get a platform to showcase their skills, but ensuring that scheme benefits right people and keeping an eye of the system to maintain discrepancy will be a tough challenge for the government. Allocation of Rs 1,000 crore for new EPF (Employees’ Provident Fund) is welcoming. However no change in current taxation system is disappointing for ecommerce industry. Overall a good budget but not very impressive.”

Kulpreet Kaur, Co-founder of ShopPirate.in