Union Budget 2020: Reactions From Industry Leaders
Raghav Gupta, MD, India and APAC, Coursera
“It is a progressive budget that acknowledges the role technology can play in addressing challenges and improving access to quality higher education and employment opportunities for India's youth. Government's announcements related to the development of emerging technologies like AI, ML, Data Analytics ecosystem in the country and skilling opportunities for the youth, clearly reflect the focus on preparing the youth for jobs of tomorrow. Also, the introduction of online degree programs highlights the growing acceptance of online education in its capability. Aided with a boost in infrastructure and high quality content, online education will not only accelerate skill development initiatives but also help ‘right-skill’ the workforce of the future. We anticipate that the announcement to improve the online education ecosystem will facilitate greater collaboration between educational institutions and online education platforms.”
Sonica Aron, Managing Partner, Marching Sheep
"This is a welcome change. Will increase take home and in hand disposable income leading to higher consumption. Will have a positive spiral effect on economy.Reduction of corporate tax will lead to freeing up of capital, and enable organisations to invest in growth engines. Also, will attract foreign investment. A welcome step again. Positive spiral impact on economy with more employment opportunities".
Rohan Parikh, Director, The Green Acres Academy
As a country gearing up to have the largest ‘working population’ in the age group of 15 to 65 years of age by 2030, the Budget 2020 has adequately focused on building a robust structure to drive higher education and skill development. From creating an efficient workforce of engineers, doctors, bio-medics and IT professionals to nurturing skill-based qualities for entrepreneurs, sales and marketing professionals or commercial fine arts etc., the budget has taken into consideration the inclination of the youth and aligned it to the economic growth targets, thereby strengthening the role of education in building the $5 Trillion economy! Initiative like ECB and FDI in education, access to full-fledged degree courses on the online platform, offered by top 100 institutions and the apprenticeship training at 150 institutes for general studies, is a remarkable step that will boost the access to education and training for the youth! The pivotal initiative of this budget, however, is the introduction of Ind-SAT, a general entrance and scholarship examination for international students seeking higher education opportunities in India. I think this move will help put India officially on the global map for education and boost the Indian education system and infrastructure by welcoming international students to study in India. This is a vital move in transforming India’s education infrastructure by bringing in Foreign Exchange, collaboration opportunities and developing world-class courses and curriculums. We look forward to the new education policy announced by the government and believe this to be the start of a new era in Indian education and skill development sector.
Vikramjit Singh Sahaye, Founder and CEO, Hiring Plug
"This is a positive budget by the Finance Minister, given the current economic circumstances. Reduction of tax slabs for salaried individuals is likely to increase their disposable income, consumption and a better quality of life".
Ravi Goyal, Chairman & MD, AGS Transact Technologies Ltd's
“The removal of dividend distribution tax will reassure the flow of FDI and make Indian equities more attractive. This year’s budget focused on entrepreneurship and early stage start-ups and the FM has provided a series of measures, that will encourage Indian start-ups whilst focusing on positioning entrepreneurs as job creators. The overall focus on boosting transport infrastructure will help pursue greater commercialization of highways to raise finance operating road assets. Recent developments to promote digital payments such as zero MDR are pre budget announcements and there was an expectation of a clear roadmap from the government on supporting digital payments infrastructure given the sector will be a major catalyst towards achieving the $5.5 trillion target.”
Deepak Mittal, CEO and Co-founder, TO THE NEW
"Being the first budget of the decade, this budget holds immense value & importance and we are glad to see the government’s continued commitment towards positioning India a digital hub and fostering emerging technologies.We are thrilled with the announcement of a soon to be rolled out policy to enable private sector to build data center parks throughout the country. This would reap benefits such as on-demand access to ICT infrastructure, cater to Indian regulatory requirements as well as drive scalability for businesses in India. We were, however, also expecting the government to announce measures with respect to Data Protection keeping in mind the amount of Data being created and stored at unprecedented rates.
Moreover, the government’s move to set up an Investment Clearance Cell for entrepreneurs to offer assistance in funding, will certainly encourage more start-ups to set up their businesses in India. This will, in turn, lead to the growth of the Indian economy. With a slew of growth measures announced, the emphasis of the government is very clear on the overall economic development."
Ms. Yogita Tulsiani, Co-founder, iXceed Solutions
"For the budget in 2020, it is a great achievement that India's economy is 5th largest economy now. It's very promising and the avenues for recruitment in India are more now. Now local bodies will also offer an internship to fresh engineers. FM proposes a national recruitment agency to conduct an online common test for no gazetted posts which will speed up the things. The focus on AI, ML, IoT, Data Centre, etc across India is the need of the hour in today’s fast-paced technological revolution."
