Dr. Navneet Gupta, Founder & CEO at YPay, said, “India’s fintech system was a silver lining in the difficult times of lockdown and the pandemic. The nation has been bullish with digital payments, and the current budget has further fueled the same by announcing 75 digital banking units in 75 districts. Including 1.5 lakh post offices under a banking system with digital infrastructure, enablement will promote financial inclusion and accelerate shifting the micro-economy in the mainstream banking system. Gradually, all the efforts will strengthen credit access, and payments in the MSME system will certainly reflect in the nation’s economic growth at large.”
Mr. Kumar Gaurav, Founder & CEO of Cashaa, said, “The industry was waiting for the government to recognise crypto technology and innovation. Today, it is the beginning of a revolution when the government has announced the launch of digital cryptocurrencies. We, as an industry, have taken a step ahead towards the adoption of digital currencies. Yes, currently, taxation imposed is a little on the higher side. Still, the industry which was already growing rapidly in the absence of regulation will now thrive with the government’s clear support.”
Mr Sujit Jha, Co-founder, Legal Salah, said, “This budget has something or other for all Industries. It’s a more growth-focused budget to achieve a $5 trillion economy. This budget will foster startups and SMEs in the technology and digital sector. Making cryptocurrency and virtual assets taxed created a positive environment in India and globally as it clarified their investments’ investors.
We expected more incentives and financial support for startup sectors as they are growing humongous with every passing year and contributing mainly to the Indian economy. Besides, I also feel that the government must ease the tax burden on the startup industry, which is already dealing with the COVID-19 situation.”
Mr Nikhil Sahni, Country Corporate Officer, India & Division President, South Asia, Mastercard, said, “Mastercard welcomes the continued focus on digital and financial inclusion in the Finance Minister’s Budget 2022 speech. Setting up Digital Banking Units (DBUs) and bringing post offices into the core banking system will help expand the reach of financial services to the last mile. The extension of the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) will boost MSME recovery and growth by providing them with liquidity and helping them meet working capital requirements. Start-ups will benefit from tax benefits that will spur further innovation and boost employment in the country.”
Mr Subhankar Mitra, Managing Director, Advisory Services, Colliers India, said, “The total effective Capex spend by the government is about 10.7 lakh crore. There is an emphasis on PM Gati Shakti mission which is targeted towards improving connectivity and logistics infrastructures of the country. On the Reform side, the most significant shift is towards City Planning. The budget emphasizes the modernization of Building By laws, Digitization of land records, and enabling registration of properties of any location. The budget casts its attention towards training and development of urban planning practice by setting up six centres of excellence with budgetary support. Since land is mostly state subject, a particular interest-free loan for 50 years is offered to the state government, who would participate in the reform process announced by the central government. It is expected to incentivise the state governments to collaborate with the centre to fast track the reforms.
The budget is also focused on encouraging digital drive and fintech. The issuance of digital currency by the RBI and bringing Data centres into the infrastructure category is expected to boost the fintech and digital drive of the nation. Setting up the International tribunal in GIFT city will help the corporate sector address any disputes cost-effectively; it will also help promote India as an attractive investment destination.
The Budget is focused on the futuristic technological shifts; it also attempted to ease doing business, encouraging private sector investments and job creation. However, there is not much focus on the consumption side. There is nothing significant in the proposal to boost discretionary spending at the household level, which could boost sectors like retail, hospitality, F&B, leisure, and entertainment”.
Ms. Yamini Bhat, Co-Founder & CEO, Vymo, said, “The best years of growth are just coming up. And to be ready for the future, there is an immediate need to digitize, build, and invest across agriculture, education, healthcare, mental health, infrastructure, and financing. Growth also needs to be climate-conscious, and new asset classes must be cautiously embraced. Another priority focus area for unlocking new avenues of growth is the ease of doing business. Overall, if all that is planned is executed well, income tax benefits will not be missed. We rightly focus on growth vs fiscal consolidation in this third year of the pandemic. However, there are underleveraged levers for bringing in growth capital. For instance, in 2021, 5.5 lakh crore was raised as venture/PE capital by Indian companies, which is about 30% of the fiscal deficit. In this light, policies around capital gains, TDS exemptions on early revenue streams can help accelerate practical applications of new-age technology by unblocking startups and investors.”
Mr Chirag Agarwal, Co-Founder, TravClan, said, “Being a B2B travel tech Startup, we are happy to see that the ministry has prioritised our needs and has extended the tax incentive until March 2023. This is a much-needed relief for new businesses such as ours to sustain, and it’ll also help a lot of new startups take off. From a travel perspective, since travel agents are considered our primary partners, we welcome the much-deserved loans introduced to give this sector some relief. The pandemic has been tough on the industry, and this decision will not only aid our business but will also impact the entire industry on the whole.”
Mr Rishubh Satiya, Co-Founder, Plix, said, “Being a startup, we are pleased to see that the budget has once again prioritised our needs. The decision to extend tax incentives to March 2023 is a welcomed move. The pandemic has been difficult for a lot of businesses. Many startups had to pivot overnight, and this extension is a great way to support the fraternity. Plix, a plant-based wellness brand, welcomes the attention given to the sustainability movement. The budget also focuses on the need to prioritise mental health. However, we were hoping to see some decisions to support overall health and well-being. We also hope that the ministry prioritises the need for sustainable and clean living.”
Mr Nitin Sharma, Partner at Antler India and Global blockchain Lead at Antler, said, “This is a huge development. For the first time, a budget speech at the highest level has framed things in terms of “virtual digital assets” which can be regulated and taxed as a legitimate asset class in the future.
The devil will be in the details, but I see this as possibly a step 1 towards a regulatory framework that many of us have been advocating for since 2018 to ensure India plays a huge role in developing Web3 – the new Internet.
Until now, the debate was slightly misguided by assuming all digital assets were “private cryptocurrencies”, while most cryptos aren’t meant to be currencies. It was still a positive surprise because the RBI continues to have serious opposition to non-sovereign digital assets and only supports a government CBDC.
At the same time, it was essential to curtail rampant speculative retail activity, and with the tax brackets and TDS, the government wants to disincentivise some of that.
We have to wait for the crypto bill later this year to understand the details around whether the CBDC will mean any further constraints concerning digital assets. Still, the overall intent seems positive and clear.
At Antler, our thesis remains the same. Indian developer talent can shape the future of blockchain and Web3. We understood early that regulation would be a multi-year process and had reiterated our commitment last year to backing 25-30 startups developing Web3 infrastructure from India for the global market.”
