Dr. Preet Pal Thakur, Co-founder of Glamyo Health.
“At Glamyo health, we would expect the honorable finance minister to rationalize tax compliance, especially the aspect of tax withholdings. Furthermore, to encourage Indian start ups to get domestic capital, tax rates for resident investors should be harmonized at par with the Foreign investors. We also expect the government to increase the healthcare outlay to INR 1 Lakh crores.”
Mr. Archit Garg, Co-founder of Glamyo Health.
“There has been a global rise in the healthcare industry, and India is a key player at the forefront. We expect that there will be measures taken to encourage start-ups for the overall growth of the Indian economy. One of the ways is to Incentivize domestic capital to fund Indian startups in their growth phase. We expect harmonizing the tax rate for resident investors on unlisted shares in registered startups”.
Mr. Manikanth Challa, CEO & Founder of Workruit
“In the upcoming Budget 2023-24, there is an expectation for increased funding for schools, colleges, and universities to improve infrastructure, resources, and technology. Investing in digital classrooms, e-learning platforms, and teacher training programs could all fall under this category. Furthermore, the government needs to invest in programs promoting educational equity, such as initiatives to bridge the digital divide and provide education to underserved and marginalized communities.
The government should consider investing in research and development for edtech products and services. Tax breaks for companies that develop and implement innovative edtech solutions could be included. Furthermore, we need investment in programs that promote the use of edtech in schools and other educational settings, such as providing teachers with training and support on how to use edtech tools effectively.
Overall, the education and edtech industries expect the government to invest in initiatives that will help to improve the quality of education and make it more accessible to all.”
Mr. Vijender Reddy Muthyala, Co-founder & CEO of DrinkPrime
While we applaud the government for making drinking water more accessible through initiatives like the Jal Jeevan Mission-Har Ghar Jal, we believe it is critical to make safe drinking water more affordable. Lowering or eliminating GST on water purifiers, as consumer durable, will help treat them as an essential service required by all Indians. It will encourage people to invest in their health while helping mission-oriented brands like DrinkPrime provide everyone with clean, safe, healthy drinking water.
Lake rejuvenation and groundwater regeneration is the need of the hour. Some several NGOs and startups would benefit greatly if the government sanctioned some budget for the same or launched initiatives that serve the purpose.
Similarly, taxation on ESOPs should occur at the final sale of shares rather than when they are offered. This makes attracting good talent difficult in an already competitive market with a severe talent shortage. If this is addressed, organisations can offer additional benefits to potential or high-performing employees.
As more smart city plans flow out, we request the government to also focus on IoT technology, as it is definitely the future of smart ownership.
Mr. Ali Sait, CEO of Tech Avant-Garde
“The Union Budget should create an enabling educational environment by focusing on the sector’s digital transformation. While the primary goal of the NEP is to ensure everyone has access to education, it suffers from a lack of infrastructure, especially digital, in rural and semi-urban areas. We believe there should be dedicated funds to assist educational institutions in building and scaling digital infrastructure to become hybrid learning centers. Given that India is one of the world’s youngest and largest countries, hybrid learning is the best way to ensure that quality education reaches every corner of the country.”
Mr. Pranat Bhadani, President, Business Growth, SigTuple
“India currently imports the bulk of its medical devices. Even for companies like us, which have completely designed and assembled the device in-house, we are forced to import a lot of the essential parts – from PCB to ball screws.
For Make in India to work, the following should be the government’s focus (similar to the smartphone industry):
- Make it easier to import spare parts and difficult to import the device
- Incentivise exports
- Incentivise the development of an ecosystem – by rolling out SEZ benefits, PLI schemes, etc.
With a focus on building a sustainable ecosystem, the med-tech industry has the potential to add billions of dollars to the nation’s economic output!”
Mr. Pradeep KP, Co-founder and CEO of Dhiway
“The Indian IT ecosystem is perfectly positioned to build the web3 and blockchain economy of the future and is poised to play a crucial role in fulfilling the Government of India’s vision and mission of ‘Make in India’ for the world.”
With the Digital Economy and web3 making deep inroads into various use cases and the purposing of the blockchain for use as a Public Digital Infrastructure, it is time for the government to actively bring in fiscal reliefs and policies that incentivise the use of these technologies. The push for the CBDC and the regulatory framework for digital wallet companies is much awaited. ”
Mr. Vidyarthi Baddireddy, CEO and Co-founder of PickMyWork
“Despite pandemic-induced inflation, the nation witnessed flourishing entrepreneurial ventures as a consequence of early-stage acceleration and venture capital, as well as a push from the gig economic model to initiate and prepare businesses for the future of work. Given the prospects the Indian startup ecosystem holds for global investors, this year’s Budget will be worth watching out for. While this is a promising indicator, the urgent priority of the hour is to devise a policy that further encourages a sturdy startup ecosystem through easier loan disbursements, e-approvals, and more government-led incentives in India’s tier-I and tier-II cities. Although the Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS) has played an integral role in mobilizing domestic capital in the Indian startup ecosystem, government interference should occur directly in this respect to ramp up the startup perks being offered, particularly for early-stage startups. Moreover, the government should also recognize relieving angel tax constraints in Budget 2023, as startups are frequently in the early stages of their growth and may not generate the same level of income or revenues as established businesses. Taxing the funds startups secure from investors may demotivate them from advancing creative solutions and developing new technologies.”
Mr. Mayank Arya, Co-founder of Yes Madam
While the Union Budget 2023 aims to drive nationwide comprehensive holistic growth, it should also recognize the critical need for tax structures that make it easier and more advantageous for startup entrepreneurs – especially those who are bootstrapped – to raise capital. Furthermore, it should applaud reforms that promote the expansion of women-led or pro-women empowerment enterprises. Given the high GST in the salon and wellness industries, customers are often motivated to pay cash instead of using credit cards or other forms of payment processing; thus, there needs to be a proper tech solution created to circumvent this issue. To encourage a thriving tech-driven salon industry similar in stature to Zomato – and stimulate online transaction usage – we believe that GST should be decreased from 18% for salons and related wellness establishments.
Ms. Sujata Pawar, Co-Founder & CEO of Avni
“While the Union Budget 2023 will primarily focus on promoting comprehensive, holistic growth across the nation, it would be great if women’s health and wellness, particularly menstrual hygiene, are kept on high priority. For India to spring up from its menstrual waste problem, we eagerly await government policies that foster the marketing and sale of organic biodegradable menstrual products. This small step can potentially reduce the tons of commercial plastic sanitary napkins that create mountains of landfills. Although the emphasis should be ‘Make in India’, lowering import taxes on raw materials could assist in addressing the initial bottlenecks and motivate more female-led businesses to contribute to a greener India.
In terms of financing, the seed fund scheme is a great initiative; however, it needs to be more transparent and structured so that startups can easily navigate it. A central database of all possible schemes through which startups can access funding must be established. Having a counsellor or guide accompany the startup to the appropriate incubator will also be beneficial. Moreover, a single-window policy for all registrations such as incorporation, Pan, GST, MSME certificate, and so on will help save time, effort, and money.”
Mr. Ananth Narayanan, Founder and CEO of Mensa Brands
“Ahead of the Union Budget 2023-24, we expect to see more incentives for startups to create manufacturing and employment in India. Taxes on employee stock options should be rationalized, and listing processes simplified to encourage startups to go public earlier in their growth journey.”
