Budget reactions of some industry leaders

2 Feb 2023 , 01:57 PM

Mr Anshul Gupta, MD, Okaya Electric Vehicles

“The Union Budget 2023-24 is pro-development, with sustainable planning; energy transition for a cleaner tomorrow and inclusive growth through tech-enabled economy at its core. Moreover, the impetus on the EV sector in budget is quite encouraging for all Industry players.  Drawing from its core, the decision to exempt Lithium-ion cells of custom duties for another year is a welcome move, as its majorly impacts the affordability of EVs in India. Furthermore, the viability gap funding announced to support the Battery Energy Storage Systems, along with a framework of Pumped Storage Projects, is designed to reduce the revenue required to recover costs and offer better returns, especially for the Private sector.”

Mr. Rohit Saboo, President & CEO, National Engineering Industries Ltd

“This is indeed a growth-oriented and optimistic budget that is aimed at providing ample opportunities to the citizens, especially youth, by creating jobs, and stabilizing the overall economy of the country after a long 3-year fight with the pandemic. 

We believe that the significantly higher capex allocation will further strengthen the commercial vehicles industry which will be positive for multi-axle vehicles and tippers. As a responsible brand that also encourages sustainability, we are also happy about the government’s initiative of replacing old polluting vehicles for a greener economy. This initiative by the government will also give further impetus to auto sales and electric vehicles. This budget is also focused on the highest-ever Railway outlay at Rs 2.4 lakh crore, boosting affordable regional connectivity and logistics of cargo freights. We at National Engineering Industries align with the government’s vision and will work towards building a robust ecosystem to bolster growth.”

Mr. Naren Vijay, EVP Growth, Lumenore

‘The government has continued focusing on Digital India and building robust digital infrastructure in the country. The announcement to set up three Centres of Excellence for artificial intelligence to enable ‘Make AI for India’ and ‘Make AI work for India’ will strengthen the adoption of AI across the various sectors like education and healthcare among others. The introduction of the National Data Governance Policy to enable access to anonymized data will improve the data management framework. The government has recognized the importance of artificial intelligence & data and how it can be used by businesses and government to bring change.”

Delphin Varghese, Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer at Adcounty Media, 

“The Vivad Se Vishwas scheme, declared by FM Nirmala Sitharaman in the Budget 2023, provides a ray of light to failed MSMEs. MSMEs will receive 95% of the performance security from the government under this scheme in cases of failure to execute contracts. The credit guarantee programme for MSMEs had a rocky start, but by getting banks on board and encouraging them to lend, the scheme has helped reduce stress in the sector. According to the FM, the updated Credit Guarantee Scheme for MSMEs would go into operation on April 1, 2023, with an injection of Rs 9000 crore into the corpus. This will permit an additional Rs 2 lakh crore in collateral-free credit guarantees, lowering the cost of credit by 1%.”

Raghunandan Saraf, Founder & CEO, Saraf Furniture

 “MSME credit assurance  was proposed last year to revamp the credit guarantee scheme for MSMEs. The revamp scheme, with a corpus infusion of 9000 crores, will go into effect on April 1, 2023. This will enable another two lakh crores of rupees in collateral-free guaranteed credit. Credit costs will also be reduced by about 1%. The infusion of Rs 9,000 crore into the corpus of the Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) should allow for better and broader scheme implementation, as well as improved claim meeting.  This decision is expected to offer a significant benefit to India’s MSME sector, which is regarded as a major economic growth driver. Supplemental collateral-free credit is expected to aid MSMEs in meeting the obstacles posed by the global epidemic and allowing them to continue to grow and create employment. It  could be a positive step in safeguarding the well-being and expansion of India’s MSME sector.”