union budget 2022: Union Budget 2022: Tech industry’s ‘wishlist’ is ready

The countdown has started for the Union Budget 2022. We are just days away from the biggest annual financial event. The industry, across sectors, is ready with their Budget wishlist for Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman. A look at the IT industry’s wish list:
Ketan Patel, Managing Director, HP India
“Ensuing the pandemic, the world has seen accelerated adoption of virtual learn and work. This has created a need for digital infrastructure that can sustain the hybrid model in the new normal. In addition to providing the teachers and students with digital tools to ensure uninterrupted learning, the government must support training programs to upskill government school teachers and prepare them for online teaching needs in the future.”
“Similarly, to ensure safety and improve efficiencies across government departments, we expect the finance minister to enable millions of government employees with the adequate technological infrastructure to discharge their duties remotely, in case of any emergencies.”
Anuj Khosla, CEO, Digital Business, Hitachi Payment Services
“The Budget 2022 should incentivise the MSME sector to adopt digital payments progressively. The digital payment ecosystem can unlock value for MSMEs by helping them expand customer base, improving cash flows through faster realization of funds, providing upsell opportunities, reducing costs and creating a digital footprint that would enable easy access to credit at cheaper rates. With the impact of the pandemic and the shift towards online purchases and adoption of digital payment modes by consumers, MSMEs need to be adequately equipped to cater to changing customer needs and behaviour while enabling them to thrive in an evolving digital landscape.”
Hari Om Rai, Chairman and Managing, Director, Lava International Limited
Industry has two major demands: “One, To make a separate budget head for building National Champions – To acquire strategic skills and become global Indian champions have a remarkable potential to create national wealth and become beacons of economic progress for India’s long term technological and financial independence. It is highly imperative to develop and bolster Indian champions to bring strategic skills & technology and augment GDP, employment, and foreign exchange. Two, no further increase in component duties in this budget as it impacts our global competitiveness. We are looking at creating economies of scale to create global competitiveness, value addition will follow.”
Ramanujam Komanduri, Country Manager, India, Pure Storage
“With restrictions in place amidst the third wave of Covid, large enterprises as well as small businesses are seeing a dip in their business activities. Both corporates and taxpayers expect relief in the form of rebates in direct and indirect taxes in the upcoming budget. We also expect the introduction of simplified compliances to facilitate the ease of doing business. The Finance Ministry could also introduce special stimulus packages to the MSME sector which is vital for economic revival. There may also be a positive surprise in the form of a relaxation of GST regulation and relief for sectors that have particularly suffered during the pandemic. The Government, to provide further impetus to business growth, could also introduce fiscal policy initiatives to build a strong digital infrastructure for MSMEs and enterprises.”