The Union Finance Minister Mrs. Nirmala Sitharaman’s tabling of the Union Budget for 2023-24 has made one thing quite evident, i.e., the government is keen on driving a technology and knowledge-based economy. The budget gives a fresh thrust to ‘Make In India’ initiatives while also focusing on the uplifting of the youth, job creation, skill enhancement, and strengthening of the overall economy. Technology certainly will drive these efforts, helping India achieve its economic goals.
The government’s decision to set up 100 5G labs to boost the development of 5G apps alongside the setting up of 3 Centres of Excellence for AI will only bolster the creation of Artificial Intelligence-based apps, boosting the growth of healthcare, agriculture, and sustainable industries simultaneously. These announcements will not only aid the Indian tech sector but will also drive positive results for enterprises and individuals alike.
Here, read the views of some of the prominent tech experts post the announcement of the Union Budget for 2023-24.
Vishak Raman, Vice President of Sales, India, SAARC and Southeast Asia at Fortinet.
“A steep increase of 33% in capital investments to 10 Lakh Crore almost three times the outlay made in 2019 shows why India is one of the most buoyant economies in the world. While Investments and development programs are all tech-driven the budget realises the potential of 5G by setting up 100 labs in engineering institution to develop Apps to assists in all verticals including smart classroom, precision farming, smart transport systems and healthcare.
The capital flowing into AI-Startups last year was $2.7 billion globally. The race in AI is heating up after the success of ChatGPT and the budget has realised this potential with the vision of Make AI in India and Make AI Work for India. The setting up of 3 centers of excellence for artificial intelligence in top educational institutions will combine tech and computing power with some of the best engineering brain power in our country.
A robust financial sector, expanding the scope of Digilocker to allow more documents to be made available and setting up of e-courts will all go hand in hand with maintaining data privacy. There simply cannot be any data privacy without data protection and cybersecurity will require an entire system of people and technology working together to protect data and networks.”
Pramod Sharda, CEO, IceWarp, India and Middle East
The Union Budget 2023-24 by FM today has announced attractive incentives and rebates. The Income limit for rebate of Income Tax increased from 5 Lakhs to 7 Lakhs is a welcome note for the employee base. The budget includes renovations in the digital framework of the nation focusing on increasing the accessibility of these services for rural and tribal areas. We highly support the government’s initiatives to create jobs, and are keen on contributing towards the projected employment generation initiatives.
We are excited to witness the development of a tech-driven economy while contributing towards the same and enabling the growth-bound MSMEs sector, which will be infused with Rs 9,000 crore in revamped credit guarantee scheme, with our affordable, seamlessly integrated, secure Email & Collaboration solutions to effectively communicate and collaborate towards the growth path.
It certainly boosts our morale when we noticed that investment and job creation continue to be the government’s top priority as they announce capital investment outlay being increased by 33 per cent to Rs 10 lakh crore, which would be 3.3 per cent of GDP. Announcement of National Data Governance policy is also a positive move to protect the data privacy.”
Pinaki Chatterjee, CEO & Founder of AADONA
“The Union Budget 2023 has given a fresh push to make in India for the electronics sector. We are pleased with the government’s decision of lowering custom duties on several components while increasing them on the finished product. The Budget extending concessional custom duty on several input parts by one more year to boost local manufacturing investment is a great move of the government and a good opportunity for manufacturers like us.”
Sanjeev Chhabra, MD & CEO, Beetel Teletech
“The Amrit Kaal spirit sets the foundation for future technology and innovation in India. At Beetel Teletech, we are encouraged by the government’s commitment to advancing Artificial Intelligence in the country and the establishment of three Centres of Excellence for cutting-edge technology is a significant step forward. We believe that AI has the power to transform our lives and work, and with the government’s initiative, we look forward to being a part of this journey and contributing our expertise in making AI work for India.
We also welcome the Finance Minister’s step of setting up 100 labs for developing applications using 5G services in engineering institutions to realize a new range of opportunities, business models, and employment potential.”
Ms. Chandrika Behl, Managing Director, Exhibitions India Group
“This budget embodies a vision of inclusive growth for the country, building on the vision for India@100. The emphasis on sustainable cities and development, combined with investment in new age technologies, highlights the government’s commitment to create a prosperous and inclusive future for all. The efforts to transform our cities into sustainable urban centers through urban planning reforms and the establishment of an Urban Infrastructure Development Fund are commendable and provide the impetus for fresh investment. We envision an India in which the fruits of development reach citizens in all corners of the country. At Convergence India and Smart Cities India Expo, we are particularly excited about the government’s efforts to encourage innovation and development in new-age technologies, which will further accelerate India’s growth.”
Srividya Kannan, Founder and Director of Avaali Solutions
“The Union Budget presented by the Indian government is truly ambitious with its seven ‘Saptarishi mantras’. Many welcome announcements are in line with a focus on the country’s technological development and commitment to becoming a global superpower. It is heartening to hear the adequate emphasis on digital skill investment, including CoEs in the education ecosystem, tech and AI innovation announcements, 5G apps, and other digitalization priorities. This will create more jobs across the country, increase economic activity, and add value to the nation’s GDP. Companies across various sectors are expected to benefit from this investment which will help them become more competitive by accelerating their digitization process. It is also heartening to see announcements focused on green growth and ensuring various initiatives focused on sustainability. Additional infusion into CGTMSE and interest rate reduction thereon are also very welcome moves. Overall, it will be interesting to see how these investments will be made and how we can ramp up the digital talent pool to build various tech innovations that will be useful for our country.”
